- Carrie Cracknell (Oil; The Deep Blue Sea) returns to the Almeida to direct Alison Oliver (Women, Beware the Devil; Best Interests) in Marina Carr‘s modern Irish classic Portia Coughlan.
- Following his acclaimed performance in Hymn at the Almeida in 2021, Danny Sapani (Killing Eve; Les Blancs) takes the title role in King Lear, directed by Yaël Farber (The Tragedy of Macbeth; Blood Wedding).
Almeida Artistic Director Rupert Goold said, “I first saw Danny Sapani at the Almeida in the extraordinary Big White Fog in 2007 – for me, it remains one of the defining performances in our theatre. Then in 2021, at the peak of the third Covid lockdown, he moved and inspired us in Lolita Chakrabarti’s live streamed Hymn, alongside Adrian Lester. Next year, Danny returns to the Almeida as King Lear – one of our greatest stage actors in one of the greatest stage roles.
“Before then, we welcome back Alison Oliver to play the eponymous Portia Coughlan in Marina Carr’s breathtaking, haunting play. Alison is an incredible talent – this year alone she has received acclaim for Women, Beware the Devil here at the Almeida, Dancing at Lughnasa at the National Theatre and on TV in the BBC’s Best Interests.
“Helming these productions are two visionary directors – two years ago Yaël Farber gave us a spectacular Macbeth and Carrie Cracknell directs her first Almeida show since the epic Oil in 2016.”
Portia Coughlan
by Marina Carr, Directed by Carrie Cracknell
Tuesday 10 October – Saturday 18 November 2023
There’s a wolf tooth growin in me heart and it’s turnin me from everywan and everthin I am.
A young woman unravelling.A twin reappearing. A family torn asunder by the living and the dead.
Today is Portia’s birthday. But it’s not a day for family and celebrations. Because Portia is making terrible choices, lurching between past and present, and wondering if the hand of fate has already set her course. Tormented by her dead twin Gabriel, who disappeared into the depths of the Belmont River 15 years ago, she wreaks havoc on all she loves in a desperate bid to save herself. Carrie Cracknell (Oil; The Deep Blue Sea) returns to the Almeida to direct Alison Oliver (Women, Beware the Devil; Best Interests) in Marina Carr’s heart-wrenching modern Irish classic about destructive families and obsession.
King Lear
by William Shakespeare, Directed by Yaël Farber
Thursday 8 February – Saturday 30 March 2024
Nothing shall come of nothing. We all must face the moment of truth that we won’t live forever.
Lear, father and king of unquestioned power, must divide his realm between his three daughters. The first two quickly declare the love he is desperate to hear, yet his favourite Cordelia shuns the performative circus. “Nothing” she answers, when asked to speak. And towards that nothing Lear’s world begins to slide. As the new generation unleashes the consequences of their father’s choices, Lear takes us into the eye of the storm and its trail of destruction. Following her Olivier Award-nominated The Tragedy of Macbeth, Yaël Farber directs Danny Sapani (Killing Eve; Hymn) as King Lear in Shakespeare’s poignant, morally ambiguous, and subversive epic.
About the Almeida
Since 2013, the Almeida has been led by Artistic Director Rupert Goold and Executive Director Denise Wood. During their tenure, notable productions have included American Psycho: a new musical thriller (transferred to Broadway); Ghosts (transferred to the West End and won three Olivier Awards); Chimerica (transferred to the West End and won five Olivier Awards); 1984 (transferred to the West End, Broadway and Australia); King Charles III (transferred to the West End, won the Olivier Award for Best New Play, transferred to Broadway, toured the UK and Sydney, and was adapted for BBC television); Oresteia and Hamlet (both recently transferred to Park Avenue Armory, New York after successful West End runs); Mary Stuart (transferred to the West End and toured the UK) and Summer and Smoke (transferred to the West End and won two Olivier Awards including Best Revival). Recent highlights include A Streetcar Named Desire (transferred to the West End and won 3 Olivier Awards including Best Revival); Patriots (currently running in the West End) and The Doctor which ran in the West End in 2022 (now playing at Park Avenue Armory, New York until August 2023), as well as critically acclaimed productions of Spring Awakening, The Tragedy of Macbeth and Tammy Faye.
You must log in to post a comment.