Cleansed

Sarah (1971-1999) wrote five plays and one screenplay which, despite initial hostility from professional theatre critics, are now regarded as modern classics, performed and studied around the world. 

Blasted (produced at the Royal Court in January 1995) employed an innovative dramatic structure and cast an unflinching eye on the links between the atrocities of war, rape, and abusive relationships.  

Phaedra’s Love (directed by Sarah at the Gate Theatre in May 1996) and Cleansed (which opened in the Royal Court’s temporary home, the Duke of York’s, in May 1998) received unappreciative reviews at home but were highly acclaimed elsewhere. 

Her screenplay, Skin, was first televised in June 1997. Originally scheduled for early evening, it screened later over concerns about its depictions of racism and violence. 

Crave previewed at the Chelsea Centre Theatre in August 1998, before touring to the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, the Royal Court, Berlin, Dublin, and Copenhagen. Its poetry and experimental form were appreciated both at home and abroad. 

4.48 Psychosis premiered posthumously at the Royal Court in June 2000. Its unique form, and the honesty and power with which it communicates the experience of suicidal despair, have made it one of her most performed works. 

Rebecca is a multi-Olivier Award-winning director, who has directed in the UK and internationally. Rebecca is the Associate Director at The Old Vic, and Ibsen Artist in Residence at the Internationaal Theater Amsterdam. She was Associate Director at the Almeida Theatre from 2019-2026 and was previously on the Almeida’s Resident Director scheme supported by the Eranda Rothschild Foundation.   

For the Almeida: A Moon for the Misbegotten; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Romeo and Juliet; A Streetcar Named Desire (also West End/ BAM, New York/ Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, Olivier Award for Best Revival and Olivier Award nomination for Best Director); Nine Lessons and Carols: stories for a long winter; The Duchess of Malfi; Three Sisters; Summer and Smoke (also West End/ Olivier Award for Best Revival and Olivier Award nomination for Best Director).  

Theatre includes: Cabaret (West End/ Broadway, seven Olivier Awards including Best Director and Best Musical Revival, nine Tony Award nominations including Best Revival of a Musical, and Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Director); The Architect; Julie (Internationaal Theater Amsterdam); The House of Bernarda Alba (National Theatre); Sanctuary City (New York Theatre Workshop, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play); Julie (Northern Stage). 

For the Almeida: A Streetcar Named Desire (Also West End/ Internationaal Theater Amsterdam). 

Theatre includes: Frankenstein Adjusts His Ringlight (And Then Starts Dancing) (Donmar Warehouse UK schools tour); The Importance of Being Oscar (Reading Rep Theatre/ Park Theatre/ West End); Amélie the Musical (West End/ The Other Palace Theatre/ The Watermill Theatre/ UK tour, Broadway World UK Award for Best Set Design of a New Production); The Windsors: Endgame; The Importance of Being Earnest (West End); The Winter’s Tale; Always Orange; Fall of the Kingdom, Rise of the Foot Soldier; Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again; The Ant and the Cicada (RSC); Valued Friends (Rose Theatre Kingston); CinderELLA the Musical (Nuffield Southampton Theatres); The Taming of the Shrew (Sherman Theatre, Cardiff/ Tron Theatre); Blue Door (Theatre Royal Bath); The Weir (ETT); Steel (Sheffield Crucible); Julie (Northern Stage); The Double Dealer; Little Light (Orange Tree Theatre); Kindertransport; A Skull in Connemara (Nottingham Playhouse); The Open House (Theatre Royal Bath/ The Coronet Theatre); The Shape of the Pain (China Plate Theatre); Go Between (Young Vic); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre); Right Now (Theatre Royal Bath/ Bush Theatre/ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh); The Harvest (Theatre Royal Bath/ Soho Theatre). 

Dance includes: Embrace (Birmingham Royal Ballet/ Sadler’s Wells). 

Debbie was the winner of the Black British Theatre Awards for Theatre Design in 2023. 

For the Almeida: 

As Costume Designer: Romeo & Juliet. 

Theatre includes: 

As Costume Designer: Now, I See (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Alice in Wonderland (Brixton House). 

As Set & Costume Designer: Sting; Beneatha’s Place (Young Vic); ROT. HUSK. LOSER. (Park Theatre); Fatherland; Ravenscourt (Hampstead Theatre); A Christmas Carol; A White Card (Northern Stage); Bright Places (Birmingham Rep); How I Learned to Swim (Edinburgh Fringe/ Brixton House); Run Rebel (Mercury Theatre, Colchester/ Pilot Theatre, York); Two Billion Beats (Orange Tree Theatre); A Song Project (Royal Court); …cake (Theatre Peckham); Josephine (Theatre Royal Bath).  

As Associate Designer: Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical (West End); Dick Whittington (National Theatre); Mandela (Young Vic). 

Dance includes: 

As Costume Designer: Tellus (DanceEast, Ipswich/ The Lowry); Twice Born (Scottish Ballet/ UK tour). 

Opera includes: 

As Set and Costume Designer: woman.life.song (Birmingham Opera Company); Re:Discover Festival (Streetwise Opera). 

For the Almeida: A Doll’s House; Romans, a novel; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Roots; Look Back in Anger; King Lear; Romeo and Juliet; A Streetcar Named Desire (also West End/ BAM, New York); Summer and Smoke (also West End); Dance Nation. 

Theatre includes: Constellations (West End/ Broadway/ Royal Court); Jesus Christ Superstar (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre/ West End/ International tour); Next to Normal (West End/ Donmar Warehouse); Woman in Mind (West End); Player Kings (West End/ UK tour); The House of Bernarda Alba; The Welkin; Protest Song (National Theatre); Henry V;  Berberian Sound Studio (Donmar Warehouse); Titus Andronicus;  Julius Caesar (RSC); Bán (Abbey Theatre, Dublin); The Song Project; Gundog; X; Linda (Royal Court); The Glass Menagerie; West Side Story (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester); The Two Character Play (Hampstead Theatre); This Bitter Earth (Soho Theatre); Harm (Bush Theatre); BURGERZ (Hackney Showroom). 

Opera includes: Orphée et Eurydice (Royal Opera House); Aida; Fidelio; Nothing (Royal Danish Opera); Tosca (Opera North/ Opera Australia). 

Dance includes: Cycles, Blak Whyte Gray (Boy Blue); Tellus; Enowate (Dickson Mbi); The Fifth Sun (Luail); The Limit (Royal Opera House); We Are As Gods (James Cousins Company); Sun; Political Mother; Uprising (Hofesh Shechter Company); Untouchable (Royal Ballet); Tomorrow (Rambert). 

For the Almeida: Roots; The Duchess of Malfi; Three Sisters. 

Theatre includes Clarkston; The Homecoming; Born with Teeth; The Seagull; Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons; Pinter at the Pinter 1 & 2 & 7; The Importance of Being Earnest (West End); Intimate Apparel; Clyde’s (Donmar Warehouse); Sweat (Donmar Warehouse/ West End); Twelfth Night; Love’s Labour’s Lost; Venice Preserved (RSC); Alterations; Blues for an Alabama Sky; An Octoroon (National Theatre); Nine Night (National Theatre/ West End); The Effect (National Theatre/ The Shed, New York); The Architect; Julie (Internationaal Theater Amsterdam); English (Kiln Theatre/ RSC); The Cabinet Minister (Menier Chocolate Factory); The Homecoming (Olivier Award nomination for Best Sound Design); Further than the Furthest Thing; The Mountaintop (Young Vic); The Southbury Child; Two Ladies (Bridge Theatre); Straight Line Crazy (Bridge Theatre/ The Shed, New York); Mom, How Did You Meet The Beatles?; Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads; The Deep Blue Sea; The Norman Conquests (Chichester Festival Theatre); Hedda Tesman (Chichester Festival Theatre/ The Lowry); A Taste of Honey; Glee & Me (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester); Talent; Frost/Nixon; Tribes (Sheffield Crucible); Spring Awakening (UK tour); Much Ado About Nothing; Imogen; The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare’s Globe); Harrogate; Fireworks; Liberian Girl (Royal Court).  

Angus is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist, known for his innovative scores for stage and screen and a number of acclaimed solo albums.  

For the Almeida: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; A Streetcar Named Desire (also West End); Three Sisters; Summer and Smoke (also West End).

Theatre includes: Much Ado About Nothing; Swive (Shakespeare’s Globe); Man and Boy; Coriolanus (National Theatre); Mrs. Warren’s Profession (West End); Cabaret (West End/ Broadway). 

Film includes: When I’m Done Dying; Fighting for a City; Little; The Snail Man; Confection; Lost Boy; The Listener; Interlude.

Television includes: Gypsy’s Revenge; The Trials.

Dance includes: exisTence (Hessisches Staatsballett); 공·空·Zero: Restriction, Body and Time (ARKO Arts Theater, Seoul); Vestige (The Place); Traces Imprinted (Ballet Cymru). 

For the Almeida: 

As Movement Director and Choreographer: Portia Coughlan. 

Theatre includes: 

As Intimacy Director:  Cats; Shucked; Brigadoon (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Dracula; Stranger Things: The First Shadow; Evita; The Tempest; Much Ado About Nothing;  Romeo & Juliet; Sunset Boulevard (West End); One Day  (Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh);  Les Liaisons Dangereuses;  The House of Bernarda Alba; Phaedra (National Theatre); The Importance of Being Earnest (National Theatre/ West End); Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 (Donmar Warehouse). 

As Movement Director and Choreographer:  We Had A World (Hampstead Theatre); Twelfth Night or What You Will; Princess Essex; The Duchess of Malfi (Shakespeare’s Globe); Noughts & Crosses; Romeo and Juliet (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Toto Kerblammo! (Unicorn Theatre); Skeleton Crew; Trouble in Butetown (Donmar Warehouse); The School for Scandal; The Merry Wives of Windsor (RSC); Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (National Theatre); The Big Life (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Choir Boy (Theatre Royal Stratford East/ Bristol Old Vic); That Face (Orange Tree Theatre); The Meaning of Zong (Barbican/ Bristol Old Vic/ UK tour); Enough of Him (National Theatre of Scotland). 

Opera includes: 

As Intimacy Director: Angel’s Bone (ENO); Festen (Royal Ballet and Opera). 

As Movement Director and Choreographer: Blue (ENO). 

For the Almeida:  A Moon for the Misbegotten; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; King Lear; Romeo and Juliet; A Streetcar Named Desire (also West End/ BAM, New York); The Clinic; The Tragedy of Macbeth; The Duchess of Malfi; The Doctor (also West End); Three Sisters; The Wild Duck; Machinal; The Writer; Summer and Smoke (also West End); The Twilight Zone (also West End); The Treatment; Hamlet (also West End/ Park Avenue Armory, New York); Mary Stuart (also West End); Oil; Uncle Vanya; Medea; Oresteia (also West End/ Park Avenue Armory, New York); Game; Mr Burns; Chimerica (also West End). 

Theatre includes: Archduke; John Proctor is the Villain; Manhunt (Royal Court); Romeo and Juliet (West End); Oedipus; Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (West End/ Broadway); Choir Boy (Theatre Royal Stratford East/ Bristol Old Vic); Jaja’s African Hair Braiding; School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Lyric Hammersmith); The Winter’s Tale; Edward II (RSC); Kyoto (RSC/ West End/ Lincoln Center Theater, New York); Pass Over (Kiln Theatre); Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) (Kiln Theatre/ West End/ Broadway); The Wife of Willesden (Kiln Theatre/ BAM, New York); Broken Glass (Young Vic); The Inheritance; A View From the Bridge (Young Vic/ West End/ Broadway); The Jungle (Young Vic/ West End/ St. Ann’s Warehouse, New York/ Curran Theatre, San Francisco); Yerma (Young Vic/ Park Avenue Armory, New York). 

Film includes: Hamlet; Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere; The Exception; Departure. 

Television includes: The Read; Together (BAFTA for Best Single Drama); The Trial; A Murder in the Family. 

Chris received a Special Tony Award in 2025 for his work as Illusions and Visual Effects Designer on Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Chris is also a member of The Magic Circle and works worldwide as International Illusions and Magic Associate for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. 

Theatre includes: Black Swan (American Repertory Theater); The Tempest (RSC); The BFG (RSC/ Chichester Festival Theatre/ Esplanade Theatre, Singapore);  Paranormal Activity (West End/ US tour); The Psychic (Theatre Royal York); Dr Strangelove; The Time Traveller’s Wife (West End); The Hunger Games On Stage (Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre); Stranger Things: The First Shadow (West End/ Broadway); Ballet Shoes; The Witches; Peter Gynt; Treasure Island; Julie (National Theatre); Angels in America (National Theatre/ Broadway); Back to the Future The Musical (West End/ Broadway/ US tour/ JR-East Shiki Theatre, Tokyo); The Ghost and the Lady (JR-East Shiki Theatre, Tokyo); Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Leeds Playhouse/ UK tour); The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (West End/ UK tour); 2:22 A Ghost Story (West End/ Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne/ Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles). 

Opera includes: The Magic Flute (Santa Fe Opera); Don Giovanni (Festival d’Aix-en-Provence). 

Dance includes: Cinderella (The Royal Ballet); Merlin (Northern Ballet). 

For the Almeida: Machinal; The Game; Mr. Burns; Medea; The Treatment; Carmen Disruption; Oresteia; Hamlet (also West End). 

Theatre includes: Grace Pervades; As You Like It; Small Hotel (Theatre Royal Bath); Becoming Nancy (Birmingham Rep); Player Kings (UK tour); Macbeth (UK tour/ US tour); A Little Life; Noises Off; The Grinning Man; The Time Traveller’s Wife; Everybody’s Talking About Jamie; Grace Pervades; Player Kings (West End); The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Bugsy Malone; Ghost Stories (West End/ UK tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream; A Very, Very, Very, Dark Matter; Julius Caesar (Bridge Theatre); Death of a Salesman (Young Vic/ West End); Hamlet; The Cherry Orchard (Theatre Royal Windsor); Coram Boy; The Other Boleyn Girl; The Long Song; Anna Karenina; Assassins; Plenty (Chichester Festival Theatre); Carousel (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of The Dead (UK tour/ International tour/ Bristol Old Vic); Is God Is; Hangmen (Royal Court); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (The Old Vic); The Way of the World; The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Donmar Warehouse); Witness for the Prosecution (County Hall). 

Film includes: Frank and Percy; My Sister’s Bones; Hamlet; Ambleside; The Show; Showpieces; Skeletons. 

Olivia has worked in theatrical costume for 16 years. 

For the Almeida: 

As Costume Supervisor: Under the Shadow; A Moon for the Misbegotten; “Daddy” A Melodrama. 

Theatre includes:  

As Costume Supervisor: The Collaboration; The Second Woman; Passing Strange; Nachtland; A Face in the Crowd; Beneatha’s Place (Young Vic); Kabul Goes Pop (Brixton House); We Started to Sing (Arcola Theatre); The Trials (Donmar Warehouse); Ballet Shoes (National Theatre). 

As Associate Costume Designer: Macbeth (Dock X, Canada Water); Hedda (Theatre Royal Bath). 

As Assistant Costume Supervisor: Plenty (Chichester Festival Theatre); Ballet Shoes (National Theatre); Hamlet (Young Vic). 

Roberta is a theatre director and facilitator.  

For the Almeida: 

As Director: Reverb; The Wave (Almeida Young Company). 

Theatre includes: 

As Director:  The Wolves (LAMDA); The Trojan Women (Lyric Hammersmith); Reset the Stage (Southwark Playhouse/ UK tour); No Planet B (Jacksons Lane); The Burning (Pleasance Theatre); All Quiet on the Western Front (Pleasance Theatre/ SoHo Playhouse, New York); Zero for the Young Dudes! (Orange Tree Theatre/ The Albany/ National Theatre). 

As Associate Director: Pinocchio; Troilus and Cressida; Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Globe). 

As Assistant Director: The Duchess of Malfi; The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare’s Globe); Henry VI: Rebellion and Wars of the Roses (RSC); The Enfield Haunting (West End).  

Opera includes: 

As Assistant Director: La Cenerentola (Nevill Holt Festival). 

Andy is a director, lyricist, and illusions consultant. He is a member of The Magic Circle. 

Theatre includes: 

As Illusions Associate: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; Back to the Future The Musical (West End); The Greatest Showman (Bristol Hippodrome); Then, Now & Next (Southwark Playhouse). 

As Director: HONK! (Union Theatre/ UK tour); Colliery Boys (Laurels Theatre, Whitley Bay); WishYouWas (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance); Doctor Faustus (St Jude & St Paul’s Church, Islington). 

As Associate Director: The Psychic (Theatre Royal York); Ghost Stories (UK tour/ Peacock Theatre). 

As Assistant Director: I Found My Horn (Riverside Studios/ UK tour); Soldier On (The Other Palace Theatre/ Berkeley Street Theatre, Toronto); Peter Pan Goes Wrong (West End); Three Little Pigs (West End/ UK tour); The Tempest (St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden); Absent Friends (Wells Theatre Festival); This Much (or An Act of Violence Towards the Institution of Marriage) (Soho Theatre). 

As Lyricist: Hummingbird (VAULT Festival); The Healing (Soldier’s Arts Academy); The Night our Parents Disappeared (The Other Palace Theatre/ The Lowry). 

For the Almeida: Otherland; Roots; Look Back in Anger; Portia Coughlan; King Lear; Alma Mater; Romeo and Juliet; The Secret Life of Bees. 

Theatre includes: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (RSC/ West End); Shifters (Bush Theatre/ West End/ Cherry Lane Theatre, New York); Prima Facie (UK tour); After Sunday (Belgrade Theatre/ Bush Theatre); Romeo & Juliet; Born with Teeth; Elektra; Barcelona; Slave Play; Romeo and Juliet; Wicked; Cabaret; Hamilton; Moulin Rouge! The Musical; MJ the Musical (West End); The Tempest; Falkland Sound; The Empress; Julius Caesar (RSC); Driftwood (RSC/ Kiln Theatre); Cowbois (RSC/ Royal Court); Intimate Apparel; Clyde’s; Love and Other Acts of Violence; The Trials (Donmar Warehouse); Alterations; Blues for an Alabama Sky; Rockets and Blue Lights (National Theatre);  Red Pitch (West End/ Bush Theatre); A Strange Loop (Barbican); For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy (West End/ Royal Court/ New Diorama Theatre); Now, I See; Beautiful Thing; Tambo and Bones (Theatre Royal Stratford East). 

Film includes: The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands; The Changing Room; Empire of Light; Chevalier.