Hannah Arterton, Sîan Brooke, Tracey Ullman & More Lead MY CITY at the Almeida Theatre

Stephen Poliakoff will direct the world premiere of My City, his first new play for 12 years, running at The Almeida Theatre from 8 September - 5 November, with press night on 15 September 2011.

The cast comprises Hannah Arterton (Waitress), Sîan Brooke (Julie), Sorcha Cusack (Summers), Tom Riley (Richard), David Troughton (Minken) and Tracey Ullman (Lambert). Designs are by Lez Brotherson with lighting by Oliver Fenwick and sound and music by Ben and Max Ringham.

How would you feel if, 15 years after you last saw them, you bumped into the one person who had the biggest influence on your life? On a dusky evening, Richard Kenton finds his primary school headmistress lying on a park bench in the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral. As he becomes reacquainted with her and the other teachers that helped shape him, memories of their vivid and imaginative lessons come to life and their tales of London inspire him once more.

Hannah Arterton (Waitress) is making her professional stage debut in My City, having graduated from RADA.
Sîan Brooke (Julie) has recently played Jean in Mike Leigh's Ecstasy at the Duchess and Hampstead Theatres. Previously her theatre credits include Joseph K at the Gate Theatre, Wanderlust for the Royal Court, Dido, Queen of Carthage for The National Theatre, The Birthday Party at the Lyric Hammersmith and A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear for the Royal Shakespeare Company. On television her credits include Silk, New Tricks, Doc Martin, The Commander and Cape Roth.

Sorcha Cusack's (Summers) theatre credits include Madagascar for Theatre 503, The Grapes of Wrath for Chichester Festival Theatre, A Miracle for the Royal Court, as well as Romeo and Juliet, King John and Antony and Cleopatra for the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Five Wives of Maurice Pinder, Peer Gynt and Playboy of the Western World for The National Theatre. Her many television credits include Pete V Life, White Heat, Mrs Brown's Boys, Casualty, The Bill, Jane Eyre and Judge John Deed. Her film credits Middletown and Snatch.

Tom Riley (Richard) has recently played Septimus Hodge in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia on Broadway. For the Royal Court his many credits include Paradise Regained, The Verticle Hour, Posh, Censorship and Victory. He was last on stage in London at the Riverside Studios in Hurts Given and Received. His television credits include ITV's Monroe, A Bouquet of Barbed Wire and Lost in Austen as well as roles in Poirot, Lewis and Miss Marple. Riley's film credits include Romeo in St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold and Freddie Butler in Happy Ever Afters as well as Return to the House of the Haunted Hill, I want Candy and A Few Days in September.
David Troughton (Minken) has worked extensively for the Royal Shakespeare Company playing the title roles in Richard III and Henry IV as well as Bolingbroke in Richard II, Caliban in The Tempest, Kent in King Lear and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He played Harvey in Season's Greeting, George Aldred in Playing With Fire and The Duke in Measure for Measure, all for The National Theatre. His other roles include Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit The Wind at the Old Vic and Dad in Alan Bennett's Enjoy at the Gielgud Theatre and on tour. His television credits include New Tricks, Doctor Who, Fingersmith, A Very Peculiar Practice, All The King's Men and on film his credits include Madam Bovary, Dance with a Stranger and The Chain.

Tracey Ullman (Lambert) began her theatre career at the Royal Court where she was seen in Four In A Million and Rita Sue and Bob Too. More recently she appeared in New York opposite Morgan Freeman in The Taming of the Shrew. On film her many credits include Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway and Small Time Crooks, as well as I Love You to Death, A Dirty Shame, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, Robert Altman's Pret a Porter and David Hare's Plenty. Her many television appearances include A Kick up the Eighties, Three of a Kind and Girls on Top. In 1987 Ullman launched The Tracey Ullman Show which, after receiving much success in the UK, was taken to the US becoming the long-running series Tracey Takes On...

Stephen Poliakoff's first new theatre play for over a decade celebrates the power of storytelling to raise the human spirit. Award-winning playwright, director and scriptwriter, Poliakoff began his career in the theatre becoming resident playwright at The National Theatre at the age of 22. He won the Evening Standard most promising playwright award in 1976 for Hitting Town and City Sugar and has since written over 20 plays which have premiered in the UK including Pretty Boy, Heroes, Strawberry Fields, Breaking the Silence, Coming In To Land, Sweet Panic, Blinded by the Sun, Talk of the City and Remember This. He wrote and directed his first feature film Hidden City which was selected for the Venice Film Festival in 1987. His extensive credits for television and film include the award-winning Caught on a Train, Bloody Kids, She's Been Away, Close My Eyes, Century, Shooting The Past, Perfect Strangers, The Lost Prince, Friends and Crocodiles, Joe's Palace, and most recently, Glorious 39 which starred Julie Christie, Romola Garai, Christopher Lee, Bill Nighy, Eddie Redmayne and David Tennant.

PRINCIPAL PARTNER

The Almeida Theatre is grateful to its Principal Partner Aspen whose new three year commitment starts this Summer, building on the existing long term relationship between the two companies. Aspen's commitment to The Almeida Theatre will ensure continued bold programming, artistic endeavour and risk taking. Aspen, established in 2002, is a leading specialty insurance and reinsurance company with over 670 employees in eight countries. www.aspen.bm

The Almeida Theatre is supported by Arts Council England.

Access Performances Almeida Access Line 020 7288 4999 or email access@almeida.co.uk

Address Almeida Theatre, Almeida Street, Islington, London, N1 1TA

Cafe-Bar The Almeida Cafe-Bar is open from 11.30am -11.00pm, Monday to Saturday, serving food, drinks and snacks.

Box Office

Phone 020 7359 4404 (10am - 6pm)
On line www.almeida.co.uk
In person 10.00am - 7.30pm, Monday - Saturday
Tickets preview prices £8 - £26, concessions available
after press night price £8 - £32, concessions available
day seats will go on sale at 10.30am on day of performance, in person from Box Office
Islington First (if you live or work in Islington) £20 - My City 8-20 September

Performance schedules
Regular performances are Monday - Saturday at 7.30pm, Saturday matinees at 2.30pm, Press Nights at 7pm

Extra matinee Wednesday matinee performances at 2.30pm for My City on 19 and 26 October, 2 November 2011

Website www.almeida.co.uk