David Tennant will play Archie Rice in The Entertainer at the Almeida in early 2028, the headline revival in Dominic Cooke's first season as artistic director. The season opens in January with new plays by Caryl Churchill, and also brings a Chris Bush premiere and Alexander Zeldin's three-play cycle.
The Almeida Theatre has unveiled Dominic Cooke's first season as artistic director. It runs from January 2027 into early 2028 and takes in eight productions. The first two go on sale this month, with priority booking from Tuesday 20 October and general sale from Tuesday 27 October at 12pm.
The star name comes last. David Tennant makes his Almeida debut as Archie Rice in John Osborne's The Entertainer, directed by Cooke and due in early 2028. Archie keeps the cheap gags coming on the stage of a dying music hall while his family comes apart behind him, against a backdrop of conflict abroad and a country unsure of itself.
Cooke said: "Today we announce my first season as Artistic Director of the Almeida. 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 ground-breaking artists whose work I have long admired."
Three and a Bit
Caryl Churchill returns straight after Triumph with Three and a Bit, a world premiere made up of several new plays staged in one programme. James Macdonald directs, with set by Miriam Buether, costumes by Evie Gurney, lighting by Paule Constable and sound by Christopher Shutt. It runs from Thursday 14 January to Saturday 13 March 2027, evenings at 7.30pm and matinees at 2pm, and is recommended for ages 14 and over.
The Inequalities
Alexander Zeldin's Beyond Caring, LOVE and Faith, Hope and Charity play together for the first time as a trilogy, The Inequalities, in new productions that Zeldin writes and directs. One follows night-shift cleaners at a meat-packing factory, one families moved into temporary accommodation before Christmas, and one a community hall under threat, where a volunteer cooks lunch ahead of choir practice. The run is Monday 22 March to Saturday 22 May 2027. On selected Wednesdays and Saturdays all three can be seen in a day, at 1pm, 4pm and 7.30pm.
The set is by Rosanna Vize and the costumes by Natasha Jenkins. This is the season's co-production, staged with A Zeldin Company in association with Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Athens Epidaurus Festival and Compagnie A Zeldin.
Both productions open to Patrons, Gold and Friends Plus members on Tuesday 20 October at 12pm, to Almeida Friends on Thursday 22 October at 12pm, and to the general public on Tuesday 27 October at 12pm. Anyone aged 25 or under can get £5 tickets for the first week of Three and a Bit, from 14-20 January.
Musculus
Cooke's first production as artistic director is Musculus, a world premiere by Jamie Bogyo, in June and July 2027. It is a dark comedy about Charlotte, an investment banker, and Luke, a teacher, whose determinedly modern marriage starts to fray after a crisis in their home. Cooke's credits include Game of Thrones: The Mad King.
The Right Woman
Chris Bush follows in August and September 2027 with another world premiere, The Right Woman, directed by Sophie Drake. Three candidates are fighting to become Labour's first female prime minister, and the audience votes at the interval to decide which of three endings it sees.
The Island
Ola Ince starts as the Almeida's associate director with The Island, devised by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona, in October and November 2027. The Tony Award-winning play follows two prisoners, John and Winston, who turn to Sophocles to get through life in an apartheid-era maximum-security jail.
The Winslow Boy
Terence Rattigan's The Winslow Boy runs from December 2027 into January 2028 in a new version by director Sacha Wares, with an ensemble of young musicians on stage.
The Entertainer
Tennant's The Entertainer follows in early 2028. Dates and booking for it, and for every production from Musculus onwards, are due in 2027.
Dinner in Leith
Ince also directs Hammaad Chaudry's Dinner in Leith, set in a family's Pakistani restaurant in Edinburgh, where a student, Riaz, and an English teacher, Stuart, argue over who gets to speak freely. It is the first show in Almeida Out There, a new yearly series of site-specific productions, with details to follow in 2027.
