Romans
A NOVEL
By Alice Birch, Directed by Sam Pritchard
Event details
Tue 9 Sep - Sat 11 Oct 2025
Adventure and Truth. Sacrifice everything for it. It is worth it.
HE is a motherless child. A bullied schoolboy. An adventurer scaling mountains. A coloniser of land, of people. Brother. Father. Soldier. Cult leader. He is sipping champagne at his book launch. He is up by 4am for weights, cardio, ice bath. He is recording a podcast. He is living as a badger.
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 explores how male narratives have shaped the world we know, featuring Olivier Award winner Kyle Soller (The Inheritance; Andor) and directed by former Royal Court Associate Director Sam Pritchard.
Evenings 7.30pm
Matinees 2pm
Content Warnings Recommended for ages 14+. Read more about our production guidance and warnings>
Introducing the 2025-26 Season
Cast & Creatives
Further casting to be announced.
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Cast
Kyle Soller
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Creatives
Alice Birch
Writer
Sam Pritchard
Director
Merle HenselMerle Hensel
Set & Costume Designer
Merle Hensel
Merle works internationally in a wide variety of styles and genres. She is also a lecturer at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, Goldsmiths and Rose Bruford College.
Theatre includes: Cock (West End); The Glow; Ear for Eye; a profoundly affectionate passionate devotion to someone (-noun); X; The Mistress Contract (Royal Court); Under Milk Wood; Top Girls; Protest Song (Nation Theatre); Enemy of the People (Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis); Macbeth; The Shawl; Parallel Elektra (Young Vic); Arden of Faversham (RSC); Macbeth (National Theatre of Scotland/ Lincoln Center/ Broadway/ Japan tour); Green Snake (National Theatre of China); Glasgow Girls (National Theatre of Scotland/ National tour); 27; The Wheel (National Theatre of Scotland); Shun-Kin (Complicité); Diener Zweier Herren (Schlosstheater, Vienna); Der Verlorene (Sophiensaele, Berlin).
Opera includes: Aida (Royal Danish Opera); Until the Lions (Opéra National du Rhin); Maria Stuarda (Vereinigte Bühnen, Mönchengladbach/ Krefeld); Der Vetter Aus Dingsda (Oper Graz); Lunatics (Kunstfest Weimar).
Dance includes: The Barbarians In Love; Sun; Political Mother (Hofesh Schechter Company); Il Combattimento; Contagion (Shobana Jeyasingh Dance); 8 Minutes (Alexander Whitley Dance Company); Lovesong (Frantic Assembly); James Son Of James; The Bull; The Flowerbed (Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre).
Film includes: Morituri Te Salutant; Baby.
Lee CurranLee Curran
Lighting Designer
Lee Curran
For the Almeida: Roots; Look Back in Anger; King Lear; Romeo and Juliet; A Streetcar Named Desire (also West End); 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/ US tour/ Barbican); Next to Normal (West End/Donmar Warehouse); Player Kings (West End/ UK tour); Henry V; Berberian Sound Studio (Donmar Warehouse); The House of Bernarda Alba; The Welkin; Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear – The Musical; Protest Song (National Theatre); Britannicus (Lyric Hammersmith); The Song Project; Gundog; Road; Nuclear War; a profoundly affectionate, passionate devotion to someone (-noun); X; Linda (Royal Court); The Glass Menagerie; West Side Story (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester/ UK tour); Nora: A Doll’s House (Young Vic/ Citizens Theatre, Glasgow); The Two Character Play (Hampstead Theatre); Harm (Bush Theatre); Burgerz (Hackney Showroom); Julius Caesar; Doctor Faustus (RSC).
Opera includes: Orphée et Eurydice (Royal Opera House/Teatro alla Scala); Aida; Fidelio; Nothing (Royal Danish Opera); Tosca (Opera North/Opera Australia); Phaedra (Royal Opera House).
Dance includes: Cycles, Blak Whyte Gray (Blue Boy Entertainment); The Limit (Royal Opera House); We Are As Gods (James Cousins Company); Enowate (Dickson Mbi); Clowns; Sun; Political Mother; In Your Rooms; Uprising (Hofesh Shechter Company); Don Quixote (Royal Danish Ballet); Untouchable (Royal Ballet); Grey Matter; Tomorrow; Frames (Rambert).
Benjamin Grant
Sound Designer
Amy Ball CDGAmy Ball CDG
Casting Director
Amy Ball CDG
For the Almeida: Rhinoceros; Otherland; Look Back in Anger; Roots; The Years (also West End); Alma Mater; Cold War; Portia Coughlan; Women, Beware the Devil; “Daddy” A Melodrama; Albion; The Hunt; Shipwreck; Dance Nation; Boy.
Theatre includes: Hamnet (RSC); Unicorn; Slave Play; Lyonesse; The Hills of California; Jerusalem; Leopoldstadt; Uncle Vanya; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; The Night of the Iguana; Rosmersholm; True West; The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?; The Pillowman (West End); The Son (Kiln Theatre/ West End); Sweat (Donmar Warehouse/ West End); The Ferryman (Royal Court/ Broadway/ West End); The Moderate Soprano (Hampstead Theatre/ West End); The Birthday Party; Consent (National Theatre/ West End); Hangmen (Royal Court/ West End/ Atlantic Theater Company); Berberian Sound Studio (Donmar Warehouse); Stories; Exit the King (National Theatre); White Noise; A Very Very Very Dark Matter (Bridge Theatre); The Brothers Size (Young Vic); Maryland; ear for eye; Girls & Boys; Cyprus Avenue (Royal Court).
Access Performances
Audio Described Sat 4 Oct 2pm (Touch Tour 12pm)
Captioned Fri 26 Sep 7.30pm
Relaxed Environment Wed 1 Oct 2pm & 7.30pm
For full information about how to book for our access performances please visit our Access For All page.
Concessions
All concession tickets are limited and subject to availability. Proof of eligibility is required. Concessions in the final week of performances are only valid on access performances or for Deaf and disabled bookings. More info
Deaf and disabled patrons and a companion can buy discounted tickets by calling the Box Office on 020 7359 4404 or email boxoffice@almeida.co.uk.
£5 tickets will be available to those aged 25 and under for performances from Tue 9 – Mon 15 Sep. Enter code 25UNDER when selecting your seats. Tickets go on sale at 5pm on Thu 14 Aug. More info
If you are aged 30 or under, over 65 or are unemployed you can book tickets at a discounted rate. Not applicable on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday.
If you live or work in the Islington area you can book best available seats for £27.50 for performances from Tue 9 – Thu 18 Sep, subject to availability. Enter promo code ISFIRST when selecting your seats. Find applicable postcodes here.
Talks & Events
Talkback
After Thu 25 & Tue 30 Sep performances.
A post-show talk with members of the company. Free to same-day ticket holders.
Almeida For Free
Thu 2 Oct 7.30pm
A free performance and festival of events exclusively for those aged 25 and under. Sign up to our emails for Tickets & Events for 16-25s to be notified when tickets are available.
