Almeida Theatre's FIGURES OF SPEECH to Feature Sir Ian McKellen, Lucian Msamati, and Fiona Shaw

Today, Almeida Theatre has launched its major new digital film project for 2017, bringing brings together artists to take risks and interrogate the present, dig up the past and imagine the future.

For the next five days, Figures of Speech will release one film per day, with the goal to put history's greatest speeches back on the map. The speeches will be available for free at www.speech.almeida.co.uk/speeches/.

The featured artists include Ashley Walters, Nicola Walker, Sir Ian McKellen, Lucian Msamati, and Fiona Shaw. McKellen will close out the week with Harvey Milk's Hope Speech, first delivered on the steps of San Francisco City Hall. Msamati will read a speech by Nelson Mendala, Shaw will read Virginia Woolf, and Walker to read a speech by AIDS activist Elizabeth Glaser. Ashley Walter's reading of COLLECTIVE STRENGTH kicked off the week, and is available now.

The project is directed by Anthony Almeida and conceived by Rupert Goold.