Photo Flash: JUDGEMENT DAY Rehearsals At The Almeida

The cast includes David Annen (Alfons), Suzanne Burden (Mrs Hudetz), Laura Donnelly (Anna), Ben Fox (Kohut/Customer), Tom Georgeson (Landlord), Daniel Hawksford (Ferdinand), Jack James (Salesman/Detective/Platelayer), Joseph Millson (Thomas Hudetz), Jake Nightingale (Policeman), Julie Riley (Leni), Andy Williams (Woodsman/ Inspector) and Sarah Woodward (Frau Leimgruber). Lewis Lempereur-Palmer and Thomas Patten will alternate the role of the child.

Written and set in 1937 in a small village in Austria, diligent station master Thomas Hudetz is a well respected member of his local community. That is until the charms of flirtatious young Anna distract him momentarily from the operation of the signals. There are no survivors from Express Train 405. The small town seeks a culprit but it seems only Anna knows the truth about the conscientious station master.

David Annen's theatre credits include A Disappearing Number for Théâtre de Complicité, Chains of Dew and Suppressed Desires for the Orange Tree, Henry VIII for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Guantanamo for the Tricycle Theatre, After Mrs. Rochester for Shared Experience and Andorra for the Young Vic. His screen credits include Something For Nothing, Criminal Justice, The Commander, The Chatterley Affair, Gideon's Daughter, Mile High, Doctors, Dream Team and Casualty.

Suzanne Burden's extensive theatre credits include The Chalk Garden at the Donmar Warehouse, Macbeth for Chichester Festival Theatre, The Comedy of Errors, Solstice and Les Liaisons Dangereuses for the Royal Shakespeare Company, King Lear and When We Dead Waken for The Almeida Theatre Company, as well as many productions for the National Theatre including Hedda Gabler, The Voysey Inheritance and The Shaughraun. Her many television credits include Murphy's Law, My Family, Life Begins, Between the Lines and The Lost Prince. Her film credits include 1939, The Escort and Strapless.

Laura Donnelly was last on stage in Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park. Her television credits include Merlin, Occupation, Be More Ethnic, Sugar Rush and Rough Diamond. On film her credits include Dread, Insatiable and Right Hand Drive.

Ben Fox's theatre credits include Awaking Beauty, A Trip to Scarborough and Forget-me-not-Lane for the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Laurel and Hardy and Some Like It Hot for the Woolsey Theatre, Ipswich and Troilus and Cressida and Bedroom Farce for Theatre Clwyd. His screen credits include Sweeney Todd, Holby City, Behind Closed Doors and Bubble and Squeak.

Tom Georgeson's theatre credits include When We Are Married for West Yorkshire Playhouse, Glass Eels for Hampstead Theatre, Incomplete and Random Acts of Kindness for the Royal Court and Frozen and Dealer's Choice for the National Theatre. His screen credits include Ashes to Ashes, Our Mutual Friends, Hancock and Joan, Land Girls, Notes on a Scandal and Morality Play.

Daniel HawksFord's Theatre credits include King Lear at the Globe, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other and Much Ado About Nothing for the National Theatre as well as Memory, Aqua Nero and Troilus and Cressida all for Theatre Clwyd, and The School of Night, Cymberline and The Taming of the Shrew for the Royal Shakespeare Company. His screen credits include Colditz, Pelican Blood and Flesh and Blood.

Jack James was last at the Almeida in Marianne Dreams. His other theatre credits include Cyrano de Bergerac for Chichester Festival Theatre, Frozen at Riverside Studios and Richard II at the Old Vic, as well as many credits for the National Theatre including The Menu, The Coast of Utopia and The Merchant of Venice. His screen roles include Trial and Retribution, Canary Wharf and Madharasapattanam.

Joseph Millson's theatre credits include Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and Pillars of the Community for the National Theatre, Fear and Misery for the Royal Court, Cinderella for the Old Vic and numerous productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company including Much Ado About Nothing, King John and The God in the Manger. Joseph Millson is best known on screen as Sam Morgan in Peak Practice and Jason James in EastEnders. His other screen credits include Ashes to Ashes, Survivors, New Tricks, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Casino Royale and Telstar.

Jake Nightingale's stage credits include Monty Python's Spamalot at the Palace Theatre, Mr Puntilla and his Man Matti for the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Steptoe and Son at the Comedy Theatre, Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads for the National Theatre and many productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company. His screen credits include Oliver Twist, Consenting Adults, The Vice, Hustle, Gulliver's Travels and To Kill a King.

Julie Riley's theatre credits include Amateur Girl for Hull Truck, Road and Spring and Port Wine for Bolton Octagon, Feed for Oldham Coliseum, Beautiful Thing for Nottingham Playhouse,

Dust to Dust at the Assembly Rooms and Messiah at the Riverside Studios. Her screen credits include Doctors, Holby City, Emmerdale and Donovan.

Andy Williams' theatre credits include Brief Encounter, A Matter of Life and Death and Night at the Circus for Kneehigh as well as roles for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. His screen credits include Heartbeat, Doctors, Wire in the Blood and Ghost Squad.

Sarah Woodward's theatre credits include Rookery Nook for the Menier Chocolate Factory, Merry Wives of Windsor, The Comedy of Errors and Much Ado About Nothing for The Globe, A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park, Tom and Clem at the Aldwych and Habeas Corpus and The Real Thing for the Donmar Warehouse. Her screen credits include Bright Young Things, Doctors, Final Demand and New Tricks.

Christopher Hampton's version of Yasmina Reza's Conversations After a Burial was presented by the Almeida in 2000. He has also collaborated with Reza on Art and God of Carnage. He has previously adapted von Horváth's Tales from the Vienna Woods, Faith Hope and Charity and Don Juan Comes Back from the War and in his own play, Tales from Hollywood, von Horváth features as a major character. Hampton's other plays include White Chameleon and The Talking Cure both for the National Theatre where his version of An Enemy of the People was also staged. More recently his adaptations of The Seagull and Three Sisters were produced in London. His other theatre work includes Les Liaisons Dangereuses - for which he also wrote the Academy Award winning screenplay, and Sunset Boulevard. His film work includes Carrington, Mary Reilly, The Quiet American and Atonement.

James MacDonald last directed The Triumph of Love for the Almeida. His other more recent directing credits include Top Girls on Broadway with Marisa Tomei and Martha Plimpton, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other for the National Theatre and Glengarry GLen Ross at the Apollo Theatre. His other credits include Drunk Enough to Say I Love You and Dying City, both for the Royal Court, and Exiles for the National Theatre. Previously he has directed Love's Labour's Lost and Richard II for the Royal Exchange Theatre, Roberto Zucco and The Tempest for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Blasted, The Changing Room, Cleansed and A Number all for the Royal Court. His opera credits include Eugene Onegin and Rigoletto for Welsh National Opera, Wolf Cub Village/Night Banquet for Almeida Opera and Lives of the Great Poisoners for Second Stride/Riverside Studios. James MacDonald's production of Caryl Churchill's A Number, starring Tom Wilkinson and Rhys Ifans, has recently been shown on BBC2.

Phone 020 7359 4404 (24 hour)
In person 10.00am - 7.30pm, Monday - Saturday
On line www.almeida.co.uk
Tickets £32.00 - £8.00, concessions available

PERFORMANCES SCHEDULE
Regular performances are Monday - Saturday at 7.30pm, Saturday matinees at 3.00pm, Press Nights at 7.00pm.

Extra midweek matinees for Judgment Day are on 30 September and 14 October at 2.30pm.

WEBSITE www.almeida.co.uk

Photo Bridget Jones