Following 12 years as Artistic Director of the Almeida, Rupert Goold announces his final season. Featuring 10 new productions ranging from musical thrillers to film adaptations, community productions, world premieres and classic revivals. This season marks the culmination of the past decade of artistic programming, read on to find out more about each production.
“Today we announce my final season as Artistic Director at the Almeida. A season that, I hope, captures the spirit and values of our past 12 years. We present 10 productions including four world premieres, four revivals of classic plays and a revisit of the musical from my first season at the Almeida.
I look forward to seeing you over the next 18 months and thank you to everyone – artists, makers, supporters and above all audiences – for your support over the last decade.”
Rupert Goold
On sale this June
This September sees the world premiere of award-winning writer Alice Birch’s (Anatomy of a Suicide; Normal People) monumental, kaleidoscopic portrait of masculinity from the nineteenth century to the present day which explores how male narratives have shaped the world we know. Romans will feature Olivier Award winner Kyle Soller (The Inheritance; Andor) and be directed by former Royal Court Associate Director Sam Pritchard (all of it).
Following Romans is The Line of Beauty a captivating portrait of Thatcher’s Britain at its most decadent and divisive, based on the Booker Prize-winning novel by “one of the greatest writers of our time” (The Guardian) Alan Hollinghurst. Olivier Award nominee Jack Holden’s (Cruise; Kenrex) new adaptation of this poignant book will be directed by Tony Award winner Michael Grandage.
On Sale Dates
Romans and The Line of Beauty go on sale this June:
Patrons, Gold & Friends Plus Tue 3 Jun 12pm
Almeida Friends Thu 5 Jun 12pm
General Public Tue 10 Jun 12pm
Join as a member to access priority booking and support our artistic vision.
On sale later this year
Going on sale later this summer is the second instalment of our ‘Islington Trilogy’, 81 (Life), produced in partnership with All Change and Cardboard Citizens. With Creative Direction by Dani Parr and Stephanie Bain, 81 (Life) is part poetry performance, part concert, and part play. Co-created by playwright Rhianna Ilube, and in collaboration with associate artists Darragh O’Leary, Francesca Beard, Ella Zgorska and Jordana Golbourn, plus over 80 people from three community groups, 81(Life) is an epic and heartfelt investigation into what it means to be human.
This winter, James Macdonald (Infinite Life; The Children) directs the world premiere of Olivier Award winner Sam Grabiner’s (Boys on the Verge of Tears) Christmas Day a viciously funny new play about identity, belonging, and the rituals we perform with the people we love.
In 2026 Rupert Goold (Tammy Faye; Patriots) revives his 2013 musical thriller, American Psycho. From the composer of Spring Awakening this ★★★★★ (WhatsOnStage) darkly satirical commentary on capitalism “leaves us all dangerously entertained” (The Guardian).
Christmas Day and American Psycho will go on sale this autumn. Sign up to our mailing list to be the first to know when tickets go on sale >
Coming up in 2026
Romola Garai returns to the Almeida, following her Olivier Award-winning performance in The Years, to play Nora in Henrik Ibsen’s subversive domestic tragedy A Doll’s House. In a new version by Critics’ Circle Award-winner Anya Reiss (Becoming Elizabeth; The Seagull), Joe Hill-Gibbins (The Tragedy of King Richard the Second; Ghosts) directs this provocative drama about the lies we tell to keep things sweet at home.
Next spring, Nadia Latif (Fairview; Marys Seacole) directs Leila Farzad (I Hate Suzie; Kaos) in Carmen Nasr’s (The Maladies; The Climbers) eerie adaptation of Babak Anvari’s BAFTA-winning horror film Under the Shadow. Set in the 1980s amid the Iran-Iraq War, Under the Shadow explores the boundary between the rational and the irrational, and the question of whether to leave or stay.
In summer 2026, Almeida Associate Director Rebecca Frecknall (A Streetcar Named Desire; Cabaret) directs a rare revival of Sarah Kane’s masterpiece, Cleansed, which explores the brutality of desire and asks what happens to love when there’s nothing else worth living for?
Following Cleansed, Olivier Award winner Sam Yates (VANYA; Magpie) directs BAFTA winner Josh O’Connor (The Crown; Challengers) in a searing revival of Clifford Odets’ knockout American classic Golden Boy. Brought to life with a live string quartet, this propulsive drama explores ambition, identity, and the high price of success.
Completing the season is a new production of Desire Under the Elms. Former Almeida Resident Director Ebenezer Bamgboye (The Lonely Londoners) directs Zackary Momoh (Seven Seconds; Harriet) in four-time Pulitzer Prize winner Eugene O’Neill’s shattering twentieth-century classic, inspired by Greek tragedy, about a raging battle between the passion of the heart and the reason of the mind.
