Ian McKellen, Stanley Tucci, Jeremy Irvine, and Andrew Scott Lead Almeida's Greek Season Finale, THE ODYSSEY

An army of artists including Ian McKellen, Stanley Tucci, Andrew Scott, Bertie Carvel, Jeremy Irvine, Jessica Brown Findlay, and many more will read Homer's sequel, THE ODYSSEY, which will be live-streamed free from unusual and iconic locations across London to celebrate the end of Almeida Greeks, on Thursday 12 November 2015.

There are four locations on The Odyssey route where audiences are invited to experience the readings live. Capacity is limited at all locations and tickets will be issued at each venue on a first-come, first-served basis.

The full lineup includes: Adrian Scarborough, Anna Madeley, Amanda Boxer, Amanda Hale, Andy de la Tour, Annette McLaughlin, Annie Firbank, Ashley Zhangazha, Bryony Hannah, Carmen Munroe, Charlotte Randle, Cherrelle Skeete, Douglas Henshall, Elizabeth Chan, Emily Berrington, Forbes Masson, George MacKay, Hara Yannas, Ian Hart, Indira Varma, Ivanno Jeremiah, Janet Suzman, Jenna Russell, Jonjo O'Neill, Joshua Higgott, Juliet Stevenson, Justin Salinger, Kate Fleetwood, Lia Williams, Lorna Brown, Louise Brealey, Luke Thompson, Michael Shaeffer, Michele Austin, Miranda Richardson, Naomi Frederick, Noma Dumezweni, Olivia Williams, Paul Chahidi, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Rhashan Stone, Richard Cant, Robert Sheehan, Rudi Dharmalingam, Scott Handy, Simon Russell Beale, Susannah Fielding, Toby Jones, Tom Bateman, Tom Goodman-Hill and Vanessa Kirby.

Times/locations are as follows:

8.30am Almeida Theatre

11.00am Tower Pier

3.00pm Islington Town Hall

5.00pm Secret Location*

* Meet at the Almeida Theatre and be taken to an undisclosed location nearby

The Odyssey will be live-streamed at almeida.co.uk/odyssey and to join the conversation on twitter please go to @AlmeidaOdyssey and use #Odyssey. For those that can't attend the reading on location, the live stream will be shown throughout the day in the Almeida Theatre foyer and at a pop-up viewing shop on Upper Street (next to the John Salt Bar).

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London said "Homer is without doubt one of my favourite writers, so I'm thrilled his wondrous Odyssey is being brought to life with a city-wide performance as the finale of the stupendous Almeida Greeks festival. It's an exciting marriage of two of my dearest loves: the Classics and London. What could be more exciting than a great poem performed in and around our great city?"

The Odyssey follows the huge success of The Iliad. Involving more than 60 readers, The Iliad reached an audience of over 50,000 people across the world, watching online, or in person at the British Museum and the Almeida Theatre.

The Almeida has captured an online visual and audio record of the Almeida Greeks season throughout its run. The Iliad provided an opportunity for a groundbreaking level of online engagement, partly due to the 16 hour live stream of the event, and video footage of this unique theatrical achievement is available on the Almeida website. All panels and discussions have been captured through film or audio podcasts, while three short films illustrating the making of the entire season will be made available shortly.

For an overview of the full Almeida Greeks Season please visit almeida.co.uk/greeks

The Almeida Greeks season is supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

THE ALMEIDA THEATRE

A small room with an international reputation, the Almeida began life as a literary and scientific society - complete with library, lecture theatre and laboratory. From the very beginning, its building existed to investigate the world. Today, the Almeida makes bold new work that asks big questions; of plays, of theatre and how we live. It brings together the most exciting artists to take risks, to provoke, inspire and surprise its audiences, to interrogate the present, dig up the past and imagine the future. Whether new work or reinvigorated classic, whether in its theatre or elsewhere, the Almeida makes work to excite and entertain with extraordinary live art, every day.

Founded by Pierre Audi in 1980, his successors were Jonathan Kent and Ian McDiarmid in 1990, and Michael Attenborough in 2002. Productions including Hamlet with Ralph Fiennes in 2005, Rufus Norris' Festen, Ruined by Lynn Nottage and most recently Chimerica, Ghosts and King Charles III have given the theatre international renown.

In summer 2013, Rupert Goold joined the Almeida as Artistic Director. His first production as Artistic Director was American Psycho: A new musical thriller, which opens March 2016 on Broadway. In 2014 the Almeida productions of Ghosts and Chimerica won eight Olivier Awards including Best Actress, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best New Play, Best Director and Best Revival and enjoyed transfers to the West End and Broadway respectively. This was followed by King Charles III which then transferred to the West End at the Wyndham's Theatre and won the Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2015. King Charles III opened on Broadway on November 1, is currently on a national UK tour this autumn, and will open in Sydney in March 2016. He co-directed The Iliad with Almeida Associate Director, Robert Icke and is currently directing Medea.

Other notable productions include: 1984 by George Orwell in a new adaptation created by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan who won Best Director at the 2014 UK Theatre Awards for 1984; and The Merchant of Venice, directed by Rupert Goold and originally produced for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2011. The Almeida is currently presenting Almeida Greeks which includes three major new productions of Oresteia, Bakkhai and Medea with a festival of events, performances, talks and readings running alongside.

Rupert Goold was Artistic Director of Headlong from 2005 until 2013 where his work included The Effect, ENRON, Earthquakes in London and Decade. Other theatre credits include The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at the Almeida, Macbeth at Chichester Festival Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway and No Man's Land at The Gate and in the West End. In 2014 he directed Made in Dagenham at the Adelphi Theatre. He was Associate Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company from 2009 to 2012 and was Artistic Director of Northampton Theatres from 2002 to 2005. He has twice been the recipient of the Laurence Olivier, Critics' Circle and Evening Standard Awards for Best Director. For television he has directed Macbeth and Richard II for the BBC and Neal Street Productions, the latter of which was nominated for a BAFTA. His first feature film, True Story, which stars James Franco and Jonah Hill for Plan B and Fox Searchlight, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

The Almeida is grateful to its Principal Partner Aspen, in its second term as the Almeida's most significant corporate supporter. Aspen was established in 2002 and is a leading global insurance and reinsurance company. www.aspen.co

The Almeida is supported using public funding by Arts Council England