Findlay, Garai, and More Set for THE YEARS at Almeida Theatre; Additional Season Casting Announced

The Almeida Theatre has announced casting for Eline Arbo’s The Years and the Angry and Young season. 

Deborah Findlay, Romola Garai, Gina McKee, Anjli Mohindra and Harmony Rose-Bremner cast in the UK premiere of Eline Arbo’s adaptation of Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux’s novel, The Years. 

Morfydd Clark, Iwan Davies, Billy Howle and Ellora Torchia have been cast in the repertory company performing in both Arnold Wesker’s Roots, directed by Diyan Zora, and John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger, directed by Atri Banerjee, as part of the Almeida’s Angry and Young season. 

UK Premiere   

THE YEARS  

Directed by Eline Arbo  
Adapted as De jaren by Eline Arbo, in an English version by Stephanie Bain  

Based on Les Années by Annie Ernaux  

Music Supervisor and Sound Designer: Thijs van Vuure; Set Designer: Juul Dekker; Lighting Designer: Varja Klosse; Costume Designer: Rebekka Wörmann; Casting Director: Amy Ball CDG 

  
Saturday 27 July – Saturday 31 August   
Press Night: Thursday 1 August, 7pm   
  

Memory never stops. It pairs the dead with the living, real with imaginary beings, dreams with history.  

She strikes a pose and the camera shutter clicks:  

A child playing in the debris of the Second World War. Click. A student discovering parties and men’s bodies. Click. An activist fighting for the right to choose. Click. A wife picking out a velvet sofa. Click. A mother taking her eldest to judo. Click. A lover, seducing a younger man. Click. A grandmother presenting her granddaughter to the camera. Click  

Internationaal Theater Amsterdam’s new Artistic Director Eline Arbo directs her inventive stage adaptation of Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux’s critically acclaimed “masterpiece” (The Guardian) The Years. Five different actors bring one woman’s personal and political story to life, set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing post-war Europe.   

The full cast includes Deborah Findlay, Romola Garai, Gina McKee, Anjli Mohindra and Harmony Rose-Bremner. 

The original production and adaptation of The Years was first produced as De jaren by Het Nationale Theater in The Hague, Netherlands, in 2022. 

ROOTS  

by Arnold Wesker   
Directed by Diyan Zora  

 
Tuesday 10 September – Saturday 23 November  
Press Performance: Tuesday 1 October, 7pm 

The press performances of Roots and Look Back in Anger will both be performed on Tuesday 1 October, as part of a press day.     

What’ve you done since you come in? Hev you said anythin’? I mean really said or done anything to show you’re alive?  

Beatie Bryant returns to her rural home in Norfolk, inflamed with political zeal from her time spent living in London. As the family anxiously prepares for the arrival of her firebrand activist boyfriend Ronnie, Beatie struggles to fit back into her old way of life.     

As Beatie’s radical new ideals fail to land with her traditional family, the differences between young and old are laid bare.  

Diyan Zora (Tom Fool; Klippies) directs a new production of Arnold Wesker’s lyrical, impassioned play about a young woman’s journey to self-discovery which, together with John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger, changed British theatre forever. The mirror they held up to 1950s society is now angled towards 2024, with the two plays running alongside each other in repertory for 13 weeks, as part of the Almeida’s Angry and Young season. 

Cast includes Morfydd Clark (Beatie), Iwan Davies (Mr Healey), Billy Howle (Frankie) and Ellora Torchia (Pearl), with further casting to be announced. 

 

LOOK BACK IN ANGER  

by John Osborne  

Directed by Atri Banerjee  

 
Friday 20 September – Saturday 23 November  

Press Performance: Tuesday 1 October, 1.30pm 

The press performances of Roots and Look Back in Anger will both be performed on Tuesday 1 October, as part of a press day. 

  
You see, I learnt at an early age what it was to be angry – angry and helpless. And I can never forget it.  

  
Jimmy Porter is frustrated by his post-war life running a local stall. Embittered by the disapproval of his wife Alison’s wealthier family and a world that has shut him out, he frequently spirals into fits of rage. 

  
One night, when Alison’s friend unexpectedly turns up at their home, this uneasy marriage descends further into freefall, with their friends left trying to keep the peace.  
  
Former Almeida Resident Director Atri Banerjee (The Glass Menagerie; Julius Caesar) directs a new production of John Osborne’s ground-breaking, furious play which, alongside Arnold Wesker’s Roots, changed British theatre forever. The mirror they held up to 1950s society is now angled towards 2024, with the two plays running alongside each other in repertory for 13 weeks, as part of the Almeida’s Angry and Young season.  

Cast includes Morfydd Clark (Helena), Iwan Davies (Cliff), Billy Howle (Jimmy) and Ellora Torchia (Alison), with further casting to be announced.   

  
Biographies:  

Eline Arbo is the Artistic Director at Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, where she was previously Associate Artistic Director and Ibsen Artist in Residence. Her works include Penthesilea; Prima Facie; The Years; The Hours (Internationaal Theater Amsterdam); The Passion of Young Werther (2018 BNG Bank Theater Prize and the 2018 Toneelkijkers Award); The Revolutionaries; The End of Eddy (The Hague, Winner of the 2020 Directing Prize); Three Sisters (Toneelschuur Productions). In January 2021, Arbo won the prestigious Mary Dresselhuys Award for her work in recent years. 

Atri Banerjee returns to the Almeida having previously directed Name, Place, Animal, Thing as part of Six Artists in Search of a Play. He was previously on the Almeida’s Resident Director Scheme, is a recipient of the 2022-24 Peter Hall Bursary at The National Theatre and is Creative Associate at The Gate Theatre. His theatre credits include Julius Caesar (RSC); The Glass Menagerie (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester/ Rose Theatre, Kingston/ UK tour); Hobson’s Choice (The Stage Debut Award for Best Director); SHED: EXPLODED VIEW (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester); Britannicus (Lyric Hammersmith); HARM (Bush Theatre); Kes (Octagon Theatre, Bolton/ Theatre by the Lake). 

Morfydd Clark’s theatre credits include The Colours (Soho Theatre); The Cherry Orchard (Sherman Theatre, Cardiff); King Lear (The Old Vic); Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Donmar Warehouse); Romeo and Juliet (Sheffield Theatres); Violence & Son (Royal Court). Her work for television includes Murder Is Easy; The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Dracula; His Dark Materials. Her film credits include Saint Maud (BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actress, The London Film Critics’ Circle Award for British/Irish Actress of the Year, British Independent Film Award nomination for Best Actress and an EE BAFTA Rising Star Award); Eternal Beauty; The Personal History of David Copperfield; Crawl; Love and Friendship; The Falling. 

Iwan Davies’ theatre credits include Backstairs Billy (West End); The Corn is Green (National Theatre); The Sound of Music (UK tour). His work for television includes A Small Light; Anatomy of a Scandal; A Christmas Carol; Gwaith/Cartref. 

Deborah Findlay’s theatre credits include Orlando (West End); Allelujah! (Bridge Theatre); The Children (Bridge Theatre/ Broadway, Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play); Escaped Alone (Royal Court/ BAM, New York); Rules for Living; Timon of Athens (National Theatre); Coriolanus; Moonlight (Donmar Warehouse). Her work for television includes Dalgliesh; The Split; The Drowning. Her film credits include The Lady in the Van; Vanity Fair; Arthur Christmas.  

Romola Garai returns to the Almeida having previously appeared in The Writer. Her other theatre credits include Queen Anne (RSC); Measure for Measure (Young Vic); Indian Ink (Roundabout Theatre Company); The Village Bike (Royal Court). Her television credits include Vigil; The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies; Becoming Elizabeth. Her film credits include Scoop; One Life; The Critic; Miss Marx; Last Days on Mars; Atonement.  

Billy Howle’s theatre credits include Dear Octopus (National Theatre); Hamlet (Bristol Old Vic); Europe (Donmar Warehouse); Life of Galileo (Young Vic); Ghosts (BAM, New York). His work for television includes The Perfect Couple; Under the Banner of Heaven; Chloe; The Beast Must Die; The Serpent. His film credits include Kid Snow; Infinite Storm; Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker; Outlaw King; Dunkirk; On Chesil Beach.  

Gina McKee’s theatre credits include Dear England (National Theatre/ West End, Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role); The Forest; Di and Viv and Rose (Hampstead Theatre); Faith Healer (Donmar Warehouse); The Mother (Tricycle Theatre); King Lear (Donmar Warehouse/ UK tour/ BAM, New York). Her work for television includes Catherine the Great; The Rook; The Street (BAFTA nomination for Best Actress); The Lost Prince (BAFTA nomination for Best Actress); Our Friends in the North (BAFTA for Best Actress). Her film credits include The End We Start From; My Policeman; Notting Hill.   

Anjli Mohindra’s theatre credits include Noises Off (West End); Dara; Behind the Beautiful Forevers (National Theatre); Zaida and Aadam (Bush Theatre); Teddy Ferrara (Donmar Warehouse). Her work for television includes The Red King; The Lazarus Project; The Suspect; The Peripheral; Vigil; Doctor Who; Bodyguard. Her work for film includes Munich: The Edge of War; Miss You Already.   

Harmony Rose-Bremner’s theatre credits include Protest (National Theatre of Scotland); Hamnet (RSC); NW Trilogy (Kiln Theatre). Her work for television includes Fifteen-Love; Death in Paradise; Logan High.  

Ellora Torchia returns to the Almeida having previously appeared in The Treatment. Her other theatre credits include All’s Well That Ends Well; Two Noble Kinsmen (Shakespeare’s Globe); Boys Will Be Boys (Bush Theatre/ Headlong). Her work for television includes Generation Z; The Gold; Grantchester; The Nevers; Infiniti; The Split. Her film credits include Cold Storage; A Real Pain; In the Earth; Crisis; Ali & Ava; Midsommar.  

Diyan Zora was the 2021 recipient of the Genesis Future Director’s Award, as well as a member of the Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writers Group. Directing credits include English (RSC); Tom Fool (Orange Tree Theatre); Klippies (Young Vic, as recipient of the Genesis Future Directors Award); Mom, how did you meet the Beatles (Chichester Festival Theatre); Gather Ye Rosebuds (Theatre503, New Writing South Award for Best New Play). Zora initiated and runs the newly formed Royal Court writers group in Iraq.   

About the Almeida:  

Since 2013, the Almeida has been led by Artistic Director Rupert Goold and Executive Director Denise Wood. During their tenure, notable productions have included American Psycho: a new musical thriller (transferred to Broadway); Chimerica (transferred to the West End and won five Olivier Awards); 1984 (transferred to the West End, Broadway and Australia); King Charles III (transferred to the West End, won the Olivier Award for Best New Play, transferred to Broadway, toured the UK and Sydney, and was adapted for BBC television); Oresteia and Hamlet (both transferred to Park Avenue Armory, New York after successful West End runs); Mary Stuart (transferred to the West End and toured the UK); Summer and Smoke (transferred to the West End and won two Olivier Awards including Best Revival) and The Hunt (transferred to St Ann’s Warehouse, New York in February 2024). Recent highlights include A Streetcar Named Desire (transferred to the West End and won 3 Olivier Awards including Best Revival); Patriots (transferred to the West End and is currently playing on Broadway) and The Doctor (transferred to the West End and Park Avenue Armory, New York), as well as critically acclaimed productions of Spring Awakening (screened in cinemas UK wide), The Tragedy of Macbeth (screened on BBC Four and available on BBC iPlayer) and Tammy Faye (transferring to Broadway in October 2024).  

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