The Almeida Theatre Announces Dominic Cooke’s First Season As Artistic Director

The Almeida Theatre has announced Dominic Cooke's first season as Artistic Director.

Almeida Artistic Director Dominic Cooke said, “we announce my first season as Almeida Artistic Director. It brings together four world premieres, ambitious revivals and a landmark co-production. The season explores ideas around a world in crisis and brings together groundbreaking artists whose work I have long admired."

“We begin with Caryl Churchill's Three and a Bit, a collection of biting short plays directed by James Macdonald. Caryl has shaped British theatre for decades, and she continues to find new ways to surprise us. Her partnership with James is one of the great collaborations in theatre, and it feels right to begin my tenure with their work. My first production as Artistic Director will be Jamie Bogyo's Musculus, a bold exploration of gender roles in contemporary relationships. We welcome Chris Bush back to the Almeida with The Right Woman, directed by striking young talent Sophie Drake. Chris has written an ambitious, entertaining and formally inventive take on women in politics. It is a privilege to bring these distinctive voices to the Almeida and to give audiences the chance to encounter these works for the first time.

“Alexander Zeldin joins us with The Inequalities, bringing Beyond Caring, LOVE and Faith, Hope and Charity together in repertory for the first time. Seen together, these are contemporary 'state of the nation' plays which give voice to those our society often overlooks. I'm proud that this co-production with A Zeldin Company will tour, taking these plays to audiences well beyond the Almeida.

“Alongside all this, we are returning to some extraordinary plays from the past. The iconoclastic Sacha Wares directs Terence Rattigan's The Winslow Boy, while David Tennant leads John Osborne's The Entertainer. Written little more than a decade apart, both plays examine Britain's changing sense of itself, and both feel strikingly alive today. I am curious to see them in conversation with the work of contemporary writers in the season.

“I am delighted that Ola Ince, who directs Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona's anti-apartheid masterpiece The Island, will also join us as Associate Director. We first worked together in 2016, and I have admired her ever since. She is a director of real courage and clarity.

“Ola also directs Hammaad Chaudry's provocative Dinner in Leith, which launches Almeida Out There, a new annual initiative taking our work out of the building. I am excited by what this opens up: new spaces to make work in, and new ways to meet audiences.

“This season reflects what I hope the Almeida can be: a place for bold ideas and work that entertains while asking something of us. Our aim is artistic excellence for the widest possible audience, and I look forward to sharing this next chapter with everyone.”

World Premiere
THREE AND A BIT

by Caryl Churchill

Director: James Macdonald; Set Designer: Miriam Buether; Costume Designer: Evie Gurney; Lighting Designer: Paule Constable; Sound Designer: Christopher Shutt; Casting Director: Amy Ball CDG; Costume Supervisor: Sabia Smith; Props Supervisor: Laura Flowers; Assistant Director: Marlie Haco

Thursday 14 January - Saturday 13 March 2027

Press Night: Thursday 21 January, 7pm

Go on then.
You're sure you want to?
I want to see if you can because I'm sure you can't.

Has Dex met a conjuror with something up his sleeve — or someone much worse?
What did Pete do to afford a second-hand robot?
Dance with Uncle, or what might happen to you?
And
A day that can only get better.

Following the sold-out success of Triumph, Caryl Churchill (Fen; Cloud 9) returns to the Almeida Theatre for the world premiere of Three and a Bit, a number of new plays performed together and directed by James Macdonald (Christmas Day; Waiting for Godot).

Dominic Cooke's inaugural season as Artistic Director begins with these biting new works from Britain's “most influential playwright” (The Huffington Post).

An Almeida Theatre and A Zeldin Company co-production

THE INEQUALITIES TRILOGY
BEYOND CARING 
LOVE

FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY

Writer and Director: Alexander Zeldin; Set Designer: Rosanna Vize; Costume Designer: Natasha Jenkins; Lighting Designer: Marc Williams; Sound Designer: Josh Anio Grigg; Movement Director: Marcin Rudy; Casting Director: Jacob Sparrow

Monday 22 March - Saturday 22 May 2027

Press Day: Wednesday 14 April, 1pm, 4.30pm and 7.30pm

For the first time ever, Alexander Zeldin's plays Beyond Caring, LOVE and Faith, Hope and Charity will be performed together as a trilogy: The Inequalities.

“Rivetingly naturalistic, searing and gasp-inducing” (The Guardian), Alexander Zeldin's work has toured the globe. Together, new productions of these three critically acclaimed plays will present intimate stories of work, home and community across the UK. Watch all three in one day for the full experience of this epic theatrical event - only available on selected dates across the run.

An Almeida Theatre and A Zeldin Company co-production.

In association with Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, Royal Shakespeare Company, Athens Epidaurus Festival, and Compagnie A Zeldin.

The Inequalities trilogy is supported by Arts Council England and The Charlotte Aitken Trust.

Beyond Caring

Why do we call it the beast? Cos you've got to tame it, yeah, control it. Get it to listen to you.

Susan, Grace, and Becky clock in for the night shift, contract cleaners at a meat-packing factory, alongside Phil and their unrelenting supervisor Ian. Under the harsh fluorescent lights, they find themselves getting closer to one another in their snatched tea breaks. The question is: What will it take to make it to the end of the shift?

LOVE

The sooner you get us out of here, the better.

In the run-up to Christmas, families and strangers are placed in temporary accommodation, each bringing with them a lifetime packed into carrier bags. Colin, a carer for his elderly mum Barbara, is in the room next to Emma and Dean, with their family of four— soon to be five. Unexpectedly forced together, boundaries start to blur, and an unlikely community is born.

Faith, Hope and Charity

I'm just doing what I can with what I am.

In a community hall, Hazel volunteers to cook for those in need. After lunch, choir practice provides an opportunity for new beginnings: for Mason, who has just finished serving a prison sentence, for Beth and her son Marc, for Tharwa whose daughter has just joined her from Sudan. Voices and stories fill the space, but the community centre's days are numbered. As the hall itself comes under threat, so does everything they've built inside.

World Premiere
MUSCULUS

by Jamie Bogyo

Directed by Dominic Cooke

June - July 2027

Musculus

(noun) Latin: 'muscle'; literally 'little mouse'.

Charlotte and Luke are models of modern marriage. She's a high-powered investment banker; he's a teacher at an all-girls school. They're eschewing gender stereotypes and proud of it. Or at least they want to be.

When disaster strikes in their own home, Luke and Charlotte's neatly curated life begins to tear at the seams. Soon they must decide what to do when politics gets personal.

In his first production as Artistic Director of the Almeida, multi-Olivier Award winner Dominic Cooke (Game of Thrones: The Mad King; Hello, Dolly!) directs this darkly comic world premiere from playwright Jamie Bogyo (Safe Space) about marriage, masculinity, and the gap between what we believe and what we expect from the people we love.

World Premiere
THE RIGHT WOMAN

by Chris Bush

Directed by Sophie Drake

August - September 2027

If politics teaches us anything, it is that the impossible happens with great frequency.

Following yet another leadership crisis, the race is on to elect Labour's first female Prime Minister. Each candidate offers a distinct vision for Britain. With every move scrutinised and every principle up for negotiation, who would you trust to lead the country? Three candidates. Three endings. At the interval, the audience decides.

From Olivier Award winner Chris Bush (Otherland; Standing at the Sky's Edge) and directed by The Stage Debut Award winner Sophie Drake (Patriots; The Bleeding Tree), The Right Woman is a fast-moving political thriller about what it costs to reach the top, and what it asks of you once you do.

THE ISLAND

Devised by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona

Directed by Ola Ince

October - November 2027

I was sentenced to Life, brother, not bloody Death.

In South Africa's most notorious maximum-security prison, John and Winston are counting down the seconds in a relentless battle for survival. But as night falls and they return to their cell, they find unlikely comfort in the words of Sophocles. Friendship, humour and imagination become weapons of resistance as they question: what is the true cost of freedom?

In her first production as Almeida Associate Director, “trailblazing visionary” (Pride Magazine) Ola Ince (The Crucible; Othello) directs this Tony Award-winning masterpiece of anti-apartheid theatre. Devised by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona, this legendary play remains a raw, vital celebration of artistic protest in the face of tyranny.

THE WINSLOW BOY

by Terence Rattigan

Directed by Sacha Wares

December 2027 - January 2028

If ever the time comes that the House of Commons has so much on its mind it can't find time to discuss a Ronnie Winslow… this country will be a far poorer place than it is now.

With Europe on the brink of war, an energy crisis and civil unrest at home, MPs seem to think there are bigger things to worry about than a kid who's been excluded from school.

But Ronnie's dad and sister have no intention of letting an injustice go unchallenged.

Terence Rattigan's uncompromising drama is reimagined by director Sacha Wares (Boy; Sucker Punch; Museum of Austerity), featuring an ensemble of riotous young musicians demanding to be heard.

THE ENTERTAINER

by John Osborne

Directed by Dominic Cooke

Early 2028

Don't clap too hard - it's A VERY OLD building.

Conflict in the Middle East, the end of an empire and the crumbling of British identity. Behind the faded velvet curtain of a dying music hall, showman Archie Rice is performing a desperate double act: keeping the cheap jokes flowing while his family rapidly unravels. Archie masks his private misery with public glitter, refusing to face the final curtain call.

In his first production at the Almeida, multi-award winner David Tennant takes on Archie in Dominic Cooke's piercing revival of John Osborne's modern classic.

World Premiere
Almeida Out There

DINNER IN LEITH

by Hammaad Chaudry

Directed by Ola Ince

You're no gettin it cause, cause, cause no one listens tae us, no listens tae our side.

In his family's Pakistani restaurant in Edinburgh, student Riaz is holding everything together. When he meets English teacher Stuart, their unlikely and increasingly complicated relationship starts to reveal their inner beliefs. In the rising heat of their debate, they question what freedom of speech really is- and who's allowed to have it.

Associate Director of the Almeida Ola Ince (The Crucible; Othello) directs Hammaad Chaudry's (An Ordinary Muslim; Security) urgent and ferocious Dinner in Leith. This depiction of systemic ignorance explores what it means to embody cultural histories in modern-day Scotland.

Dinner in Leith is the first production in Almeida Out There, a series of annual site-specific productions coming soon. Further details to be announced in 2027, sign up to our e-list to be the first to hear.

ANGEL TO OLYMPUS

by Flora Wilson Brown

Directed by Takiyah Kamaria

Sunday 6 December 2026

We know from the outside – this seems completely insane. But that's what all the myths are about, really.

One hot summer, as the pressure is dropping and a storm approaches, two girls hear voices on the wind. The veil is thin – and the gods are bored – and so begins their quest to the underworld to reclaim their lost loved ones.

In a modern-day Odyssey across North London, Orpheus and Demeter meet Gods, Fates, Muses and three-headed dogs alike, who may give them advice to reach the underworld or perhaps decide the final fate of their epic journey…

Angel to Olympus, directed by Takiyah Kamaria and performed by the Almeida Young Company, is an amalgamation myth by Flora Wilson Brown in which Greek mythology descends upon Islington.

Angel to Olympus is supported by the Chapman Charitable Trust and the Boris Karloff Foundation.
 

 The Almeida Theatre is located at Almeida Street, London, N1 1TA  Tickets can be purchased online at almeida.co.uk or by phone at 020 7359 4404 .