PRESS RELEASE 8 July 2016 Almeida Theatre Associate Director Robert Icke will adapt and direct a production of Friedrich Schiller’s MARY STUART at the Almeida this autumn Juliet Stevenson and Lia Williams trade the play’s central roles, decided at each performance by the toss of a coin Laura Marling joins the creative team to compose original music for the production As rehearsals begin, full casting is announced for THEY DRINK IT IN THE CONGO Fiona Button plays Stef in a cast which includes Kirsty Besterman, Richie Campbell, Sidney Cole, Tosin Cole, Roger Evans, Richard Goulding, Joan Iyiola, Anna-Maria Nabirye, Pamela Nomvete, Richard Pepple and Sule Rimi Nabil Elouahabi and Sam Swann join the previously announced Anne-Marie Duff and Yolanda Kettle in OIL The Almeida Young Company present FROM THE GROUND UP at Shoreditch Town Hall from 4 – 6 August MARY STUART by Friedrich Schiller adapted and directed by Robert Icke Friday 2 December 2016 – Saturday 21 January 2017 Press Night: Friday 9 December at 7pm Following his critically acclaimed productions of Uncle Vanya and Oresteia, Associate Director Robert Icke will adapt and direct Friedrich Schiller’s MARY STUART. Playing both Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart, Juliet Stevenson and Lia Williams trade the play’s central roles, decided at each performance by the toss of a coin. Two queens. One in power. One in prison. It’s all in the execution. Schiller’s political tragedy takes us behind the scenes of some of British history's most crucial days. Mary Stuart will be designed by Hildegard Bechtler, with lighting by Jackie Shemesh, video by Tim Reid, and original composition by Laura Marling. Casting is by Julia Horan CDG. Juliet Stevenson returns to the Almeida Theatre having previously appeared in Duet for One alongside Henry Goodman. Most recently she played Winnie in Beckett’s Happy Days at the Young Vic. Other theatre credits include The Seagull, Private Lives, Caucasian Chalk Circle, Hedda Gabler and Yerma at the National Theatre; Les Liaisons Dangereuses, As You Like It, Troilus and Cressida, Measure for Measure and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the RSC; The Heretic, Alice and Death and The Maiden (Olivier Award for Best Actress) at the Royal Court. Her film credits include Departure, Mona Lisa Smile, Bend it Like Beckham, Emma, Truly Madly Deeply and the upcoming Let Me Go. Her television credits include The Enfield Haunting, The Village, White Heat, The Accused, The Road from Coorain, The Politican’s Wife and the forthcoming BBC drama One of Us. She was awarded a CBE in 1999 for her services to drama. Lia Williams returns to the Almeida having previously appeared in Oresteia (Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress) and Harold Pinter’s Celebration. Other theatre credits include Old Times in the West End; Arcadia and Skylight on Broadway, at the National Theatre and in the West End (Tony and Olivier Award nominations for Best Actress); Earthquakes in London, The Hothouse and Mappa Mundi at the National Theatre; Oleanna, King Lear and My Child at the Royal Court; The Homecoming at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, in the West End and on Broadway; and The Lover and The Collection at the Donmar Warehouse. Her television credits include The Crown, Secret State, Doc Martin, May 33rd, The Russian Bride, Imogen’s Face, A Shot Through the Heart, Flowers of the Forest, Seaforth and Mr Wroe’s Virgins. Film includes: Jonathan Toomey, The King is Alive, Different for Girls, The Fifth Province, Firelight, Dirty Weekend and La Suite Blanche-Neige. As Director, her credits include The Match Box for the Liverpool Playhouse and the Tricycle Theatre and the films Feathers, The Stronger, Dog Alone, and the feature documentary Nanabozhung. Since joining the Almeida in 2013, Associate Director Robert Icke has created and directed new adaptations of Uncle Vanya, Oresteia (also West End; winner of the Olivier, Critics' Circle and Evening Standard Awards for Best Director) and the multi-award winning 1984 with Duncan Macmillan (also West End as well as UK, USA and international tours) at the Almeida. His work as a director includes The Fever (The May Fair Hotel), and Mr Burns at the Almeida, and Boys and Romeo and Juliet for Headlong. He will make his National Theatre debut directing The Red Barn, at the Lyttelton Theatre in October. Laura Marling is a Brit Award winning and multiple Mercury Music Prize nominee who has released 5 studio albums and garnered global critical acclaim. Debut album Alas I Cannot Swim cemented Laura’s place at the helm of a new wave of young acoustic musicians spearheading a folk revival. Her following albums are I Speak Because I Can, A Creature I Don’t Know, Once I Was An Eagle and Short Movie. Laura Marling has a timeless sound which transcends the folk origins and has seen her regaled as one of the greatest singer-songwriters of her generation. Tickets for Mary Stuart and Hamlet will go on public sale on Thursday 8 September. Priority Booking will open to Almeida Members at Designers’ Circle level and above on Tuesday 30 August. Booking for Friends opens on Thursday 1 September. Box Office: 020 7359 4404 (10am – 7.30pm) Online: almeida.co.uk CASTING UPDATE: THEY DRINK IT IN THE CONGO World Premiere THEY DRINK IT IN THE CONGO a new play by Adam Brace directed by Michael Longhurst Friday 12 August – Saturday 1 October Press Night: Friday 19 August at 7pm The cast of the world premiere of THEY DRINK IT IN THE CONGO is Kirsty Besterman, Fiona Button (Stef), Richie Campbell, Sidney Cole, Tosin Cole, Roger Evans, Richard Goulding, Joan Iyiola, Anna-Maria Nabirye, Pamela Nomvete, Richard Pepple and Sule Rimi. What can we do for the worst thing in the world? The Democratic Republic of Congo. Home to the deadliest conflict since World War II. London. Home to a festival to raise awareness of the Congo. (That is, if Stef can get the festival off the ground.) Hilarious and anarchic, Adam Brace’s provocative new play unpacks the problems of doing something good about something bad. Following their collaboration on Stovepipe (Sunday Times’ 10 Best Theatre Events of the Decade), Michael Longhurst returns to the Almeida to direct. This is Adam Brace’s second full length play following his collaboration with Michael Longhurst on Stovepipe. Shorter plays include Midnight Your Time, a one woman play for Diana Quick, directed by Michael Longhurst. His first script for film, Best, won the 2013 Sundance London Short Film contest and was officially selected for Sundance Festival 2014 in Utah. Adam is Associate Dramaturg at Nuffield Theatre, Southampton and lectures in Southampton University’s English Department; he regularly works in live comedy as a director and script editor. Michael Longhurst has previously directed Carmen Disruption for the Almeida. His production of Nick Payne’s Constellations opened at the Royal Court before transferring to the West End and Broadway, and won the Evening Standard Award for Best Play in 2012. His other credits include The Winter’s Tale and ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore at Shakespeare’s Globe; Linda at the Royal Court; Bad Jews at the Theatre Royal Bath, St James Theatre and Arts Theatre, London; A Number for Nuffield Theatre; The Art of Dying and Remembrance Day for the Royal Court; Dealer’s Choice for The Royal and Derngate; The World of Extreme Happiness for the National Theatre; The History Boys for Sheffield Crucible; If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet starring Jake Gyllenhaal on Broadway; and dirty butterfly for the Young Vic, where he was recipient of the Jerwood Directors Award. They Drink It In The Congo will feature live music performed by Joseph Roberts, Crispin Robinson and Alan Weekes. The production will be designed by Jon Bausor, with movement by Diane Alison-Mitchell, lighting by Jack Knowles, sound by Giles Thomas, composition and musical direction by Michael Henry. The accent and voice coach is Zabarjad Salam, the dialect consultant is Donovan Lee McGrath. Casting is by Anna Cooper CDG. Kirsty Besterman’s theatre credits include Tipping The Velvet at the Lyric Hammersmith; Arcadia for English Touring Theatre; Playhouse Creatures at Chichester Festival Theatre; The Great Gatsby at Wilton’s Music Hall; The Importance of Being Ernest at the Rose Theatre, Kingston; Much Ado About Nothing and The Merchant of Venice at Shakespeare’s Globe. Fiona Button plays Stef. Her theatre credits include Wendy and Peter Pan at the RSC; ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse; King Lear at Theatre Royal, Bath; Heartbreak House at Chichester Festival Theatre; An Ideal Husband at the Vaudeville Theatre; Posh at the Royal Court; Vanya at the Gate Theatre; and Madame De Sade for the Donmar Warehouse at the Wyndham’s Theatre. Television credits include Grantchester, You, Me and the Apocalypse, Pramface, The Cardinal Burns Show, We’ll Take Manhattan, How Not To Live Your Life, Outcasts, Lip Service and The Palace. Richie Campbell’s theatre credits include To Kill A Mockingbird at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; Truth and Reconciliation and 93.2FM at the Royal Court; Lower Ninth at the Donmar Warehouse; and dirty butterfly at the Young Vic. Film and television credits include: The Frankenstein Chronicles, Waterloo Road, Mid-Morning Matters, Top Boy, Random, The Bill and Babyfather. Film credits include The Mummy, Anuvahood and The Firm. Sydney Cole’s theatre credits include Our Town for the Almeida; The Initiate for Paines Plough; Les Blancs for the National Theatre; The Full Monty in the West End / UK tour; Macbeth for Out of Joint / world tour; A Jamaican Airman Forsees His Death at the Royal Court; The Shelter; The Balcony, Two Noble Kinsmen, The Great White Hope, Every Man in his Humour and The Rover for the RSC.