Almeida Theatre announces new Greek Season

The Almeida Theatre in north London has now announced full details of its new season titled 'Almeida Greeks' which will see a series of Greek dramas, talks and events running from May to November 2015.

Almeida Artistic Director Rupert Goold introduced the season by saying:

"We are delighted to announce our Greek festival this summer at the Almeida: three major productions of Greek tragedy in our theatre from May to November...At the Almeida we strive to create theatre that asks questions of its audiences, of who they are and the world they live in, work that is alive and resonant. When we came to the writers of Ancient Greece we wanted to be true to their plays - staging them in full complexity, presenting their formal iconoclasm, their humour, musicality, politics, violence and unswerving drama."

The season includes:

"Orestes' parents are at war. A family drama spanning several decades, a huge, moving, bloody saga, Aeschylus' greatest and final play asks whether justice can ever be done - and continues to resonate more than two millennia after it was written."

The production will star Lia Williams as Klytemnestra and feature design by Hildegard Bechtler, lighting by Natasha Chivers, sound by Tom Gibbons and video by Tim Reid.

"Pentheus has banned the wild, ritualistic worship of the god Dionysos. A stranger arrives to persuade him to change his mind. Euripides' electrifying tragedy is a struggle to the death between freedom and restraint, the rational and the irrational, man and god."

Ben Whishaw makes his Almeida debut as Dionysos, alongside Almeida alumnus Bertie Carvel. Using three actors and a chorus, this new production will echo the original Ancient Greek performance model.

The chorus will include Ameira Darwish, Eugenia Georgieva, Kaisa Hammarlund, Hazel Holder, Melanie La Barrie, Elinor Lawless, Catherine May, Louise Mills and Belinda Sykes. It will feature design by Antony McDonald, lighting by Peter Mumford, sound by Paul Arditti, composition by Orlando Gough and musical direction by Lindy Tennent-Brown. Choreography is by Jonathan Burrows and Gillie Kleiman.

"Medea's marriage is breaking up. And so is everything else. Testing the limits of revenge and liberty, Euripides' seminal play cuts to the heart of gender politics and asks what it means to be a woman and a wife."

Kate Fleetwood will make her Almeida debut in the title role. Design will be by Ian McNeil, costumes by Holly Waddington, composition and sound by Adam Cork and choreography by Scott Ambler.

Tickets for the new productions will go on sale to the public on Tuesday 24 March.