Casting Announced For JUDGMENT DAY And MRS KLEIN At Almedia

James MacDonald returns to the Almeida to direct the world premiere of Christopher Hampton's new version of Ödön von Horváth's Judgment Day. Judgment Day will run at the Almeida from 3 September - 17 October 2009, with press night on 10 September. Set designs are by Miriam Buether with costume design is by Moritz Junge, lighting by Neil Austin, sound by Chris Shutt and music by Matthew Herbert.

The cast is Suzanne Burden (Mrs Hudetz), Alan David (Pokorny/Prosecutor), 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.

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.

Alan David was last at the Almeida in Jonathan Kent's productions of The Tempest, Richard II and Coriolanus. His other theatre credits include Dido Queen of Carthage for the National Theatre, directed by James McDonald and many productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company including Brand, The Prisoner's Dilemma and Hamlet. His screen credits include Green Green Grass, High Hopes, Gavin and Stacey, The Oxford Murders and Wimbledon.

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.

Thea Sharrock DIRECTS Clare Higgins IN TITLE ROLE AS Nicholas Wright'S
MRS KLEIN
Thea Sharrock will direct Clare Higgins in the title role of Mrs Klein in the first London revival of Nicholas Wright's play. Mrs Klein previews at The Almeida Theatre from 22 October 2009 with press night on 29 October 2009 and will run until 5 December 2009. Joining Clare Higgins are Nicola Walker as Paula and Kate Ashfield as Melitta. Designs are by Tim Hatley with lighting by Neil Austin and sound by Ian Dickinson.

London,1934. Melanie Klein is one of the most admired, yet controversial, psycho-analysts of her time, renowned for her unique insight into the secret world of childhood. But her relationship with her psycho-analyst daughter Melitta has been damaged almost beyond repair, and an unexpected message from abroad brings it to bitter confrontation. The news also poses a mystery that even Mrs. Klein, despite her genius for analysis, cannot solve. It is left to her new assistant, a refugee from Hitler's Berlin, to find a possible answer.

Kate Ashfield's theatre credits include The Importance of Being Earnest for the Royal Exchange, Peaches, Blasted and Shopping and f-ing for the Royal Court, The Positive Hour for Hampstead Theatre and Closer at the Lyric Theatre. Her television credits include The Diary of Anne Frank, Talk to Me, Tsunami and Crime and Punishment as well as This Little Life for which she won the RTS Best Actor Award. Her film credits include The Kid, The Lowdown, Princess Caraboo and Late Night Shopping for which she won the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress.

Multi award-winning actor Clare Higgins will make her Almeida debut as Mrs Klein. She is currently playing the Countess de Rossillion in All's Well That Ends Well at the National Theatre where her previous credits include Nicholas Wright's Vincent in Brixton as well as Oedipus, The Secret Rapture, Children's Hour, Sweet Bird of Youth, Absence of War, Napoli Millionaria and King Lear. Her many other theatre credits include The Fever at the Royal Court, Death of a Salesman and Night of the Iguana, both at the Lyric Theatre, Hecuba and Phaedra for the Donmar Warehouse, Ride Down Mount Morgan at Wyndham's Theatre and Heartbreak House for Chichester Festival Theatre. Her television credits include Minder, Midsomer Murders, Being Human, Murder in Suburbia, Casanova and Kavanagh QC. On film her credits include Spring 1941, Caught in the Act, The Libertine, Stage Beauty, House of Mirth and Small Faces.

Nicola Walker was last at the Almeida in Thea Sharrock's production of Cloud Nine. Her other theatre credits include Gethsemane for the National Theatre, Relocated, Fresh Kills, The Libertine, Man of Mode and Hated Nightfall all for the Royal Court, Tales from Vienna Woods, Edmond and Free for the National Theatre, The Dead Eye Boy for Hampstead Theatre and A Lie in the Mind and Passion Play for the Donmar Warehouse. Her television credits include Spooks, Oliver Twist, People Like Us, Red Cap, Moll Flanders and Milner. Her film work includes Shooting Dogs, Thunderbirds, Shiner and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

In 1988 Peter Gill directed Mrs Klein for the National Theatre. The cast comprised Gillian Barge, who played the title role, Francesca Annis and Zoe Wanamaker. The production subsequently transferred to the West End. In 1995 Mrs Klein opened on Broadway, directed by William Carden, with Uta Hagan in the title role. This will be the first revival of the play in London.

As well as Mrs Klein, Nicholas Wright's other plays include Cressida for the Almeida at the Albery and The Reporter and Vincent in Brixton for the National Theatre. His many adaptations include Wedekind's Lulu for the Almeida at King's Cross, Pirandello's Naked for the Almeida in the West End and Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman, Chekhov's Three Sisters and Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, all for the National Theatre. Wright's adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials premiered at the National Theatre in 2003. He and Richard Eyre collaborated on the book Changing Stages, a personal view of the British theatre in the twentieth century, upon which Eyre's BBC TV series was based.

Thea Sharrock previously directed Cloud Nine for The Almeida Theatre. Her production of As You Like It is currently playing at The Globe Theatre. Previously her credits include Equus at the Gielgud Theatre and on Broadway, A Voyage Round My Father which transferred from the Donmar Warehouse to Wyndham's Theatre where she also directed Heroes. For the National Theatre her credits include Emperor Jones and Happy Now? For Bath Theatre Royal she has directed Private Lives, Don Juan, Blithe Spirit and Betrayal, as well as The Deep Blue Sea and The Fight for Barbara, both for the Peter Hall Season. Thea Sharrock was previously Artistic Director of Southwark Playhouse and The Gate Theatre.

ACCESS PERFORMANCES

Judgment Day

Captioned Performances 3 October at 3pm and 13 October at 8pm
Audio Described Performance 10 October at 2.30pm with Touch Tour at 1.30pm

Mrs Klein

Captioned Performances 25 November 2.30pm and 1 December at 7.30pm
Audio Described performance 28 November at 3pm with Touch Tour at 1.30pm

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 (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.
Extra midweek matinees for Mrs Klein are on18 and 25 November at 2.30pm.

WEBSITE www.almeida.co.uk