Almeida Theatre

(Off West End)

Address: Almeida Street, Islington, London, N1 1TA

Tube: Angel

Architect: Roumieu and Gough

Opened: 1837 as a building (as a theatre 1980)

Capacity : 325

Technically the Almeida is not a West End theatre, but it is in the very heart of London in Islington, and is one of London’s newest theatres. It also has an interesting history; it was the first place in England to house an Egyptian mummy. At the time it was not a theatre, it was part of the Islington Scientific and Literary Institution. During a rather eventful history, the building has been a music hall, and a Salvation Army Citadel. It was finally converted to a theatre in 1980, and rather prosaically given the name of the Street. As a theatre, it has a formidable reputation, and as the Almeida Opera, it stages contemporary music, every summer.

It is a non-profit producing theatre that has produced 14 productions between and 2002 that have transferred to the West end mainstream or to Broadway. In November 1999, the Almeida Theatre was awarded £1.5 million by the Arts Council of England to renovate the theatre and build a modern foyer. The theatre closed in 2001, and the Almeida Theatre Company moved to a converted bus station at King's Cross. However, a complete renovation was possible because £5.8 million given from the National Lottery fund topped up the arts council grant.

Past Productions at the Almeida Theatre:

Scenes from an Execution by Howard Barker with Glenda Jackson and Jonathan Hyde 1990
Betrayal by Harold Pinter directed by David Leveaux with Martin Shaw and Cheryl Campbell 1991
Medea by Euripides directed by Jonathan Kent with Diana Rigg 1992 transferred to the West End and Broadway 1994
The Deep Blue Sea by Terence Rattigan directed by Karel Reisz with Penelope Wilton (1993) transferred to Apollo Theatre
Moonlight by Harold Pinter directed by David Leveaux with Ian Holm (1993)
Tartuffe by Molière directed by Jonathan Kent with Ian McDiarmid and Tom Hollander (1996)
Ivanov by Anton Chekhov translated by David Hare directed by Jonathan Kent with Ralph Fiennes and Harriet Walter (1997)
The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill directed by Howard Davies with Kevin Spacey (1998, transferred to the Old Vic Theatre and to Broadway)
The Tempest by William Shakespeare directed by Jonathan Kent (final production) (2000)
The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? by Edward Albee directed by Anthony Page with Jonathan Pryce (2004)
Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen directed by Richard Eyre with Eve Best (2005)