The final season of Rupert Goold's tenure as Artistic Director features 10 productions, including four world premieres, a musical revival, and reimaginings of classic plays.
Rupert Goold. Photo by Marc Brenner
Described by Goold as "A season that, I hope, captures the spirit and values of our past 12 years", will begin with 81 (Life), the second in a trilogy of plays that explores what it means to live, work, love, pray, celebrate and mourn in Islington.
Co-created by Rhianna Illube alongside 81 local people and presented in partnership with All Change and Cardboard Citizens, 81 (Life) will play from 21 - 23 August 2025.
Romans: A Novel will make its world premiere from 9 September to 11 October. Award-winning writer Alice Birch will present the new play, which takes audiences on a monumental, kaleidoscopic journey through a portrait of masculinity from the nineteenth century to the present day, exploring how male narratives have shaped the world we know. Kyle Soller will star in the production directed by Sam Pritchard.
Tony Award winner Michael Grandage will direct the world premiere of The Line of Beauty. Adapted by Jack Holden (Cruise) from the Booker Prize-winning novel by Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty showcases a captivating portrait of Thatcher's Britain at its most decadent and divisive. The production will play from 21 October - 29 November 2025 and be directed by Michael Grandage.
This festive season, Christmas Day by Sam Grabiner will premiere. Expect a viciously funny new play about identity, belonging, and the rituals we perform with the people we love. Directed by James Macdonald, it will run from 9 December to 10 January 2026.
The final world premiere, Under the Shadow, adapted from Babak Anvari’s BAFTA-winning horror film, will head to the Almeida Theatre next summer. Adapted by Carmen Nasr and directed by Nadia Latif, Under the Shadow is set amid the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and explores the boundary between the rational and the irrational, and the question of whether to leave or stay.
Other highlights of the season include the return of Rupert Goold's acclaimed production of musical thriller American Psycho from 24 January - 14 March 2026. Following her Olivier Award-winning performance in The Years, Romola Garai returns to the Almeida in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, in a new version by Anya Reiss, directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins. Rebecca Frecknall will present her final production as Almeida Associate Director as she directs Sarah Kane's masterpiece, Cleansed.
Sam Yates will BAFTA winner Josh O’Connor in Clifford Odets’ American classic, Golden Boy. The play which set in 1930s New York, at the height of the depression, will play from 8 September - 31 October 2026. And finally, former Almeida Resident Director Ebenezer Bamgboye returns to direct Zackary Momoh in a revival of Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O'Neill.
With so much on offer over the next 18 months at the Almeida Theatre, there's no better time to visit this brilliant London theatre.
