After 11 years at the Almeida, Artistic Director Rupert Goold and Executive Director Denise Wood are standing down. Goold has been appointed as Artistic Director at The Old Vic, and Wood will continue with freelance projects and productions. They will continue in their roles through 2025 while recruitment takes place for their successors.
Associate Director Rebecca Frecknall will also depart the Almeida to join The Old Vic as Associate Director.
During their 11 years, the company has produced 67 main stage productions, 14 of which have transferred to the West End and 11 of which have transferred to New York. Over a million audience members have visited the Almeida, with over a million more experiencing Almeida productions elsewhere. The theatre has received 19 Olivier Awards, 13 Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards, and has twice been named London Theatre of the Year at The Stage Awards.
Some of the award-winning productions to have transferred include Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III; James Graham’s Ink and Tammy Faye; Robert Icke’s productions of Oresteia and Hamlet; Frecknall’s production of Summer and Smoke; Duncan Sheik’s American Psycho; Peter Morgan’s Patriots; and Lucy Kirkwood’s Chimerica; and early next year two more Almeida productions will be running in the West End: Eline Arbo’s production of The Years and Frecknall’s A Streetcar Named Desire (also transferring to Brooklyn Academy of Music).
Much of the work has also been captured digitally with broadcasts of Goold’s productions of Richard III, Albion, and Spring Awakening, Yaël Farber’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, Yomi Ṣode’s and breathe and Lolita Chakrabarti’s Hymn, as well as acclaimed, live streamed performances of Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey, as part of the Almeida Greeks season.
Alongside the main stage productions, a wide-reaching community Participation programme has seen the theatre work with over 40,000 people through its free schools, Young Artists and community strands; offered 7500 free tickets to school students; offered 10,000 free tickets to 25s and under as part of the Almeida’s long-running Almeida For Free scheme, now entering its ninth year; and launch a multi-year Islington community trilogy.
Rupert Goold said, “After 11 wonderful, demanding, and richly rewarding years at the Almeida, I’ve decided to head across the river in search of a new challenge. No one could happily let go of a theatre as intimate and magical as the Almeida and it’s been the privilege of my life to have led the building over the past decade. Our mission was to be bold, provocative and to bring the best new and emerging artists to their deserved prominence. The Almeida has cemented its position within the local Islington community and grown its reach and reputation internationally, and I hope that is a tribute to the integrity, commitment and vision we have aspired to in the programme. However, I believe it’s important that our theatres are renewed through new leadership and that, in turn, can and should bring new artists and ideas into this unique space. Knowing when to leave is always the hardest thing but, although my time is up in Islington, I look forward to concluding my tenure with a final run of exciting productions.
Denise has stood beside me as my alter ego on the journey and I owe her a huge debt of thanks as a friend and colleague. Also, I want to thank and acknowledge every artist and theatre maker who has worked with us in my time and the phenomenal and passionate staff who have made the Almeida such a special family.
I join The Old Vic with excitement and trepidation in following the extraordinary work of Matthew Warchus. I look forward to producing and making work on this storied stage and continuing my path as an Artistic Director alongside Laura Stevenson. As a theatre maker who has always been interested in reaching as wide an audience as possible, I am deeply excited by the possibilities of this iconic theatre over the coming years.”
Chair of the Board of Trustees Luke Johnson said, “Rupert Goold and Denise Wood have been a spectacular double act at the Almeida over the last decade. For me, they have made it the most successful, independent producing theatre in London, originating a stream of award-winning shows. They have cultivated outstanding new writing, directing and performing talent, and leave the venue in excellent artistic and financial health. We have been lucky to work with them, and wish them the very best in their next endeavours.”
