THE ALMEIDA THEATRE ANNOUNCES
WINTER 2015/16 SEASON
THE ALMEIDA CONTINUES TO REINVIGORATE THE CLASSICS WITH A FRESH TAKE ON TWO OF THE 19TH CENTURY’S GREATEST PLAYWRIGHTS
RICHARD EYRE FOLLOWS HIS CELEBRATED HEDDA GABLER & THE MULTI-AWARD WINNING GHOSTS WITH A NEW TRANSLATION OF IBSEN’S LITTLE EYOLF
AS HIS ACCLAIMED PRODUCTION OF ORESTEIA TRANSFERS TO THE WEST END, ROBERT ICKE TAKES ON CHEKHOV WITH A NEW VERSION OF UNCLE VANYA
Artistic Director Rupert Goold introduces the new season:
“We follow our Almeida Greeks with a double-header of late nineteenth-century masterpieces by two of the world’s most important and influential playwrights. Written less than five years apart, these plays offer startlingly fresh reflections on our lives and our theatre – and how we can understand them.
First Richard Eyre follows his Hedda Gabler and Ghosts with a new production of Ibsen’s surreal and moving play Little Eyolf. Ibsen’s play is something formally more complex and contemporary than the Victorian naturalism with which he is associated: drawing instead on Norwegian folklore and symbolism, late Ibsen is a stranger, richer playwright than we might expect.
Chekhov hasn’t been performed at the Almeida in over a decade, and though Uncle Vanya was written less than five years after Little Eyolf, its focus on the minutiae of human lives never seems less than surprisingly modern. As his masterful Oresteia transfers to the West End, I’m thrilled that our Associate Director, Robert Icke, will be taking on Chekhov for the first time at the Almeida.”
THE SEASON…
LITTLE EYOLF
Henrik Ibsen
a new version created by Richard Eyre
19 November 2015 – 9 January 2016
Press Night 26 November 7pm
Completing a trilogy of revelatory Ibsens, Richard Eyre returns to the Almeida Theatre with a new version of Little Eyolf. Jolyon Coy and Lydia Leonard lead a cast which also includes Sam Hazeldine, Eve Ponsonby and Eileen Walsh.
Adapted and directed by Eyre, Little Eyolf follows the success of Ghosts and Hedda Gabler which he also adapted and directed. Hedda Gabler won great acclaim at the Almeida in 2005 before transferring to the Duke of York’s Theatre in the West End. Ghosts opened at the Almeida in 2013, transferred to the Trafalgar Studios in the West End and won three Olivier awards including Best Revival. The production enjoyed a successful run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York earlier this year.
How is a life well-lived? Alfred Allmers comes home to his wife, Rita, and makes a decision. Casting aside his writing, he dedicates himself to raising his son. But one event is about to change his life forever.
Ibsen’s Little Eyolf is a forensic examination of a marriage as it explosively falls apart.
Design is by Tim Hatley with light by Peter Mumford, sound by John Leonard and video by Jon Driscoll. Casting is by Cara Beckinsale.
Richard Eyre’s credits at the Almeida include The Dark Earth and the Light Sky, The Judas Kiss – his first production after leaving the National Theatre where he was Director from 1988 until 1997 –The Novice, Hedda Gabler and Ghosts. His recent stage credits include The Pajama Game(Chichester Festival Theatre and West End), Quartermaine’s Terms and Stephen Ward The Musical (both West End), Vincent in Brixton and The Reporter (both National Theatre), The Crucible andPrivate Lives (both Broadway) and Mary Poppins (West End, Broadway and upcoming UK Tour). For television his work includes Changing Stages – a BBC Series on the history of theatre in the 20th century, which he co-wrote with Nicholas Wright and presented – and the BAFTA award-winningTumbledown. Eyre directed the critically-acclaimed Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, part of The Hollow Crownseason shown on BBC 2, as well as the upcoming screenplay adaptation of The Dresser starring Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen, soon to be broadcast by the BBC. His film credits include Iris, Stage Beauty, Notes on a Scandal and The Other Man.
Jolyon Coy previously worked with Richard Eyre on the BBC’s critically-acclaimed Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, part of The Hollow Crown season. Previous theatre credits include Creditors (Young Vic), Holy Warriors and Anthony and Cleopatra (both Shakespeare’s Globe), Wendy and Peter Pan (RSC), Our Boys (West End) and Posh (Royal Court and West End). On television, Jolyon’s credits include Mr Selfridge and the BBC’s upcoming War and Peace. His film credits include Disney’s upcomingBeauty and the Beast, Testament of Youth, The Fifth Estate and The Deep Blue Sea.
Lydia Leonard most recently appeared on stage in Wolf Hall & Bring Up the Bodies (RSC, West End and Broadway) earning a Tony Award nomination for her performance as Anne Boleyn. Other theatre credits include Onassis (West End), Electra (Young Vic), Time and the Conways (National Theatre) and Frost/Nixon (Donmar Warehouse and West End). Her television credits include the recent Life in Squares, Ambassadors, Spooks, Whitechapel and Law and Order. On film, Lydia has appeared in The Fifth Estate, Born of War and Archipelago.
UNCLE VANYA
Anton Chekhov
in a new version by Robert Icke
5 February – 26 March 2016
Press Night 12 February 7pm
Following his bold reimagining of Oresteia, currently running in the West End, Almeida Associate Director Robert Icke directs a new production of Chekhov’s greatest play. Paul Rhys makes his Almeida debut in the title role.
Things your life could be:
(1) a farce. (2) a tragedy. (3) pointless. (4) all of the above.
Things you could do about it:
(1) keep living. (2) stop living. (3) stop someone else living. (4) nothing.
Even so, what has your life been worth?
Chekhov’s late masterpiece examines human behaviour in all of its beautiful, terrible, laughable contradiction.
Robert Icke is Associate Director of the Almeida where he most recently directed The Fever, Mr Burns and Oresteia, which is currently running in the West End at the Trafalgar Studios. Other Almeida credits include 1984, a co-production with Headlong and Nottingham Playhouse co-created with Duncan Macmillan, for which he won the 2014 UK Theatre Award. 1984 is currently running at the Playhouse Theatre in the West End, having already enjoyed one successful West End run and two UK tours. Robert was previously Associate Director at Headlong.
Paul Rhys won the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Performance in a Shakespearean Role for the Complicite and National Theatre co-production of Measure for Measure. His work at the National Theatre also includes The Invention of Love and King Lear (for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor). Further stage credits include The Master and Margarita (Barbican Theatre), Hamlet and Long Day’s Journey Into Night (both Young Vic) and Design for Living (Donmar Warehouse). Recent television credits include Casanova, The Assets, Borgia, Being Human, The Queen and Spooks. On film, Paul has appeared in Deader, The 10 Commandments, Food of Love,From Hell and Chaplin.
| Tickets for the new productions will first go on sale to Almeida Members on Tuesday 8 September and to the public on Tuesday 15 September. Box Office: 020 7359 4404 (10am – 7.30pm) Online: almeida.co.uk |
NOW AT THE ALMEIDA…
BAKKHAI
Euripides
a new version by Anne Carson
directed by James Macdonald
Until 19 September
James Macdonald directs Anne Carson’s new version of Euripides’ hedonistic, visceral tragedy. Using three actors and a chorus, this new production echoes the original Ancient Greek performance model.
The cast includes Bertie Carvel, Amiera Darwish, Aruhan Galieva, Eugenia Georgieva, Kaisa Hammarlund, Kevin Harvey, Helen Hobson, Hazel Holder, Melanie La Barrie, Elinor Lawless, Catherine May, Belinda Sykes and Ben Whishaw.
Pentheus has banned the wild, ritualistic worship of the god Dionysos. A stranger arrives to persuade him to change his mind. Euripides’ electrifying tragedy is a struggle to the death between freedom and restraint, the rational and the irrational, man and god.
Design is by Antony McDonald, with light by Peter Mumford, sound by Paul Arditti, composition byOrlando Gough and musical direction by Lindy Tennent-Brown. Choreography is by Jonathan Burrows and Gillie Kleiman. Casting is by Anne McNulty CDG.
NEXT AT THE ALMEIDA…
MEDEA
Euripides
a new version by Rachel Cusk
directed by Rupert Goold
25 September – 14 November 2015
Press Night 1 October, 7pm
Rupert Goold will direct Euripides’ masterpiece, as one of world drama’s most infamous characters is brought to life in a new version by controversial feminist writer Rachel Cusk.
The cast will include Michele Austin, Guillarmo Bedward, Sarah Belcher, Amanda Boxer,Richard Cant, Ruth Everett, Kate Fleetwood, Georgina Lamb, Emily Mytton, Charlotte Randle, Lukas Rolfe, Justin Salinger, Louis Sayers, Sam Smith, Xavier Moras Spencer, Andy de la Tour and Joseph West.
Medea’s marriage is breaking up. And so is everything else. Testing the limits of revenge and liberty, Euripides’ seminal play cuts to the heart of gender politics and asks what it means to be a woman and a wife.
Design is by Ian MacNeil, costume by Holly Waddington, composition and sound by Adam Corkand choreography by Scott Ambler. Casting is by Julia Horan CDG.
AND ELSEWHERE…
ORESTEIA
Aeschylus
a new version created by Robert Icke
Trafalgar Studios
Until 7 November 2015
The Almeida Theatre’s critically acclaimed, sold out production of Oresteia, by Aeschylus, re-imagined for the modern stage by Almeida Associate Director Robert Icke (The Fever, Mr Burns, 1984) is currently running at the Trafalgar Studios in the West End until 5 September.
Oresteia was acclaimed during its Almeida run as one of the theatre events of the year so far. The contemporary relevance and prescience of the classic piece is brought sharply to life in Icke’s bold and immediate production.
The cast at the Trafalgar Studios will include original cast members Lorna Brown, Jessica Brown Findlay, Annie Firbank, Joshua Higgott, Luke Thompson, Lia Williams, Angus Wright and Hara Yannas.
Oresteia is directed by Robert Icke, designed by Hildegard Bechtler, with light by Natasha Chivers, sound by Tom Gibbons and video by Tim Reid. Casting is by Julia Horan CDG.
The transfer of Oresteia is produced by Almeida Theatre, Sonia Friedman Productions and Ambassador Theatre Group.
KING CHARLES III
A new play by Mike Bartlett
Directed by Rupert Goold with Whitney Mosery
UK Tour
From 4 September 2015
Following critically acclaimed sell-out runs at the Almeida Theatre and in the West End, King Charles III embarks on a UK tour this autumn. Robert Powell takes on the role of King Charles. The company will also include Penelope Beaumont, Jennifer Bryden, Richard Glaves, Dominic Jephcott, Lucy Phelps, Ben Righton, Giles Taylor, Parth Thakerar, Tim Treloar, Beatrice Walker and Paul Westwood.
Written by Mike Bartlett and directed by Rupert Goold with Whitney Mosery, King Charles III is designed by Tom Scutt, with music composed by Jocelyn Pook, lighting by Jon Clark and sound by Paul Arditti.
King Charles III opens at Birmingham Repertory Theatre and then visits Richmond Theatre, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Nottingham Theatre Royal, Milton Keynes Theatre, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Canterbury Marlowe Theatre, Malvern Festival Theatre, Guildford Yvonne Arnaud, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Bath Theatre Royal, Chichester Festival Theatre and Plymouth Theatre Royal.
The King Charles III tour is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Stuart Thompson Productions, Tulchin Bartner Productions, Charles Diamond and the Almeida Theatre in association with Birmingham Repertory Theatre and by arrangement with Lee Dean.
KING CHARLES III
A new play by Mike Bartlett
Directed by Rupert Goold
Music Box Theatre, New York
From 10 October 2015
King Charles III opens on Broadway this October at the Music Box Theatre. Tim Pigott-Smith will reprise the role of Charles as performed at the Almeida Theatre and in the West End, alongsideOliver Chris, Richard Goulding, Adam James, Margot Leicester, Miles Richardson, Tom Robertson, Sally Scott, Tafline Steen and Lydia Wilson.
Written by Mike Bartlett and directed by Rupert Goold, King Charles III is designed by Tom Scutt, with music composed by Jocelyn Pook, lighting by Jon Clark and sound by Paul Arditti.
King Charles III is produced on Broadway by Sonia Friedman Productions and Stuart Thompson Productions.
KING CHARLES III
A new play by Mike Bartlett
Directed by Rupert Goold with Whitney Mosery
Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney
From 31 March 2016
King Charles III opens in Sydney in March 2016 at the Roslyn Packer Theatre. Robert Powell will reprise the role of Charles as performed on the UK Tour.
Written by Mike Bartlett and directed by Rupert Goold with Whitney Mosery, King Charles III is designed by Tom Scutt, with music composed by Jocelyn Pook, lighting by Jon Clark and sound by Paul Arditti.
King Charles III is co-produced in Sydney by Sonia Friedman Productions, Stuart Thompson Productions, Tulchin Bartner Productions, Charles Diamond and the Almeida Theatre in association with Birmingham Repertory and by arrangement with Lee Dean.
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Until 19 September 2015
BAKKHAI
Euripides
a new version by Anne Carson
directed by James Macdonald
25 September – 14 November 2015
MEDEA
Euripides
a new version by Rachel Cusk
directed by Rupert Goold
Press Night 1 October, 7pm
19 November 2015 – 9 January 2016
LITTLE EYOLF
Henrik Ibsen
a new version created by Richard Eyre
Press Night 26 November, 7pm
5 February – 26 March 2016
UNCLE VANYA
Anton Chekhov
a new version by Robert Icke
Press Night 12 February, 7pm
Address Almeida Theatre, Almeida Street, London, N1 1TA
Café Bar The Almeida Café Bar is open from 11.30am -11.00pm, Monday to Saturday
Box Office Phone 020 7359 4404 (10am – 7.30pm Monday – Saturday)
Online almeida.co.uk
In person 10am – 7.30pm, Monday – Saturday (10am – 8pm until 14 November)
Bakkhai performances Monday – Saturday at 8pm
Saturday matinees at 3pm
Wednesday matinee at 3pm on 9 September
Medea performances Monday – Saturday at 8pm
Saturday matinees at 3pm from 3 October
Wednesday matinees at 3pm on 14, 21 & 28 October, 4 November
Little Eyolf performances Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm
Saturday matinees at 2.30pm from 5 December
Wednesday matinees at 2.30pm on 2, 9 & 16 December
Christmas Matinee at 2.30pm on Monday 28 December
Uncle Vanya performances Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm
Saturday matinees at 2.30pm from 20 February
Wednesday matinees at 2.30pm on 17 & 24 February, 2 March
Website almeida.co.uk
Twitter @AlmeidaTheatre
Facebook facebook.com/almeidatheatre
Instagram @almeida_theatre
Access Bakkhai Audio Described performance by VocalEyes Saturday 5 September at 3pm, Touch Tour 1.15pm and Friday 11 September at 8pm, Touch Tour 6.15pm.
Bakkhai Captioned performance Friday 4 September at 8pm
Medea Audio Described performance by VocalEyes Saturday 24 October at 3pm, Touch Tour 1.15pm and Monday 2 November at 8pm, Touch Tour 6.30pm.
Medea Captioned performance Monday 26 October at 8pm
Little Eyolf Audio Described performance by VocalEyes Saturday 12 December at 2.30pm, Touch Tour 12.45pm and Tuesday 22 December at 7.30pm, Touch Tour 6pm
Little Eyolf Captioned performance Friday 11 December
Uncle Vanya Audio Described performance by VocalEyes Saturday 12 March at 2.30pm, Touch Tour 12.45pm and Friday 18 March at 7.30pm, Touch Tour 6pm.
Uncle Vanya Captioned performance Monday 7 March
Talkback Post-show discussion with members of the company
Free to same day ticket holders
Medea Monday 26 October
Little Eyolf Monday 21 December
Uncle Vanya Monday 7 March
ALMEIDA GREEKS FESTIVAL EVENTS STILL TO COME…
PROAGON: DISCUSSION & DEBATE
“Leave no stone unturned” – Euripides
OEDIPUS EXPLORED
When Sun 6 Sep 3 – 7pm
Where Almeida Theatre
Tickets £15 (£13 concs)
Director Bijan Sheibani (Almeida Theatre, National Theatre, Donmar Warehouse) unpacks the infamous Greek complex. The day will explore where art and psychoanalysis meet, culminating in a reading of the text. Among others, Bijan will be joined by Professor Edith Hall, Department of Classics and Centre for Hellenic Studies at King’s College London.
FROM MEDEA TO MUMSNET
When Thu 15 Oct 6pm
Where Almeida Theatre
Tickets £7 (£5 concs)
“They f*** you up, your mum and dad.” – Philip Larkin
Which is more inviolable—the love between the makers of children or their love for those children? Can you love too much? Do women and men love differently? Is becoming a parent the beginning or end of bravery? As Rachel Cusk reimagines Medea for our stage, she joins this Almeida Questions panel to examine why Medea is such an incendiary figure and what her story asks of contemporary feminism.
FROM ARISTOTLE TO ALBERT SQUARE
When Thu 22 Oct 6pm
Where Almeida Theatre
Tickets £7 (£5 concs)
“Tragedy is like strong acid—it dissolves away all but the very gold of truth.” – D. H. Lawrence
We refer to everything from environmental disaster to sporting failure as a tragedy, but what does it really mean when we use this most disputed word? From Aristotle to Wagner, the idea of tragedy with its mighty action, its awesome pity and its cleansing catharsis, has been the pinnacle of artistic endeavour. What does tragedy, in theory and in life, have to say to us now? This panel will be led by Charlotte Higgins, Guardian chief culture writer and author of It’s All Greek to Me.
DIONYSOS: MUSIC, LIVE ART AND CELEBRATION
“Call upon loud-roaring and revelling Dionysos.” – Orphic Hymn
DICKIE BEAU: MASKING TAPES
When Fri 11 Sept 10.30pm
Where Almeida Theatre
Tickets £15 (£13 concs)
Award-winning drag fabulist and lip-synch maestro Dickie Beau has made his name channelling the voices of others. From a lecture by Peter Sellars to creating LOST in TRANS based on Narcissus and Echo and the responses to that show, Dickie discovered a profound link between his own artistic investigations and the origins of theatre. In this never-before-seen performance ‘lecture’, Dickie shares the story of why he became inspired by the Greek canon and how lip-syncing became his Greek mask.
ORLANDO GOUGH: THAT FEELING
When Sun 13 Sep 4 – 8pm
Where Almeida Theatre
Tickets £25 (£20 concs)
In the spirit of Dionysos, Bakkhai composer Orlando Gough and members of the Bakkhai chorus take over the building for an eclectic day of musical Dionysia. Rising star of Greek folk music Rebetiko, Çiğdem Aslan leads the line-up with wine and feasting to complete the full festival feel.
EARLY OPERA COMPANY: MÉDÉE FURIEUSE
When Sun 4 Oct 7.30pm
Where Almeida Theatre
Tickets £30 (£27 concs)
Throughout history the story of Medea has fascinated composers, never more so than in France in the 17th and 18th centuries. The acclaimed, Olivier-Award nominated Early Opera Company and Christian Curnyn are joined by mezzo-soprano Ciara Hendrick with exerts from Bernier ‘Médée’ and Charpentier’s magnificent opera of the same name. Join the EOC ensemble of strings, lute and harpsichord on our operatic journey through the French Baroque, taking on this most dangerous of divas.
THE COMEDIES
“Comedy too can sometimes discern what is right. I shall not please, but I shall say what is true.”
– Aristophanes
WASPS
When Fri 18 Sept 5.30pm & Sat 19 Sept 10.30am
Where Almeida Theatre
Tickets £7 (£5 concs)
Director and Guardian journalist Fiona Laird premieres her adaption of Aristophanes’ Wasps.
LYSISTRATA
When Fri 16 Oct 5.30pm & Sat 17 Oct 10.30am
Where Almeida Theatre
Tickets All tickets £7 (£5 concs)
Ramin Gray (ATC Theatre, RSC, Hampstead Theatre) directs a new version of Lysistrata by Richard Bean. In association with Actors’ Touring Company.