A filmed performance of the 2021 London production of Duncan Sheik and and Steven Sater's Spring Awakening will screen in select cinemas in the U.K. beginning in November. Directed by Rupert Goold, the Almeida production stars Laurie Kynaston as Melchior and Amara Okereke as Wendla. Watch a trailer for the upcoming release above.
No word yet on which theatres will be showing the performance. Check Almeida.co.uk for the latest.
Also in the cast are Nathan Armarkwei-Laryea as Hanschen, Asha Banks as Thea, Carly-Sophia Davies as Ilse, Kit Esuruoso as Otto, Bella Maclean as Martha, Joe Pitts as Georg, Maia Tamrakar as Anna, Stuart Thompson as Moritz, and Zheng Xi Yong as Ernst. Rounding out the ensemble are Taylor Bradshaw and Emily Ooi, with Catherine Cusack playing the adult women and Mark Lockyer playing the adult men.
The production features choreography by Lynne Page, set design by Miriam Buether, costume design by Nicky Gillibrand, lighting by Jack Knowles, sound by Tony Gayle, and orchestrations by Sheik and Simon Hall with music direction by Jo Cichonska.
The London theatre has also announced that it will bring a new stage adaptation of the 2018 film Cold War to its stage this November, with a book by Conor McPherson (Girl From the North Country) and music by Elvis Costello. Almeida Artistic Director Rupert Goold will direct, with performances running November 30-January 27, 2024.
The work follows Zula, a singer, and Wiktor, the composer who's drawn to her in communist-controlled Poland. The new stage adaptation will feature traditional Polish songs alongside music from Grammy winner Costello, with Anya Chalotra (The Witcher), Luke Thallon (Patriots), and Elliot Levey (Cabaret) set to star. The production will be presented in association with Tanya Seghatchian and John Woodward.
Goold's creative team for Cold War will include music supervisor, orchestrator, and arranger Simon Hale; choreographer Ellen Kane; set designer Jon Bausor; costume designer Evie Gurney; lighting designer Paule Constable; sound designer Sinéad Diskin; and music director Jo Cichonska. Casting is by Amy Ball.
“When I first saw Paweł Pawlikowski’s film Cold War, I was swept away by its beauty, passion, and style," says Goold. "Its theatricality struck me as ripe for a stage adaption. So, I’m incredibly excited to be presenting Conor McPherson’s adaptation, with music by Elvis Costello. Cold War follows a run of musicals at the Almeida over the last couple of years, including Spring Awakening which played through the peak of the Omicron COVID wave. It’s fantastic that more people will get to see it now, with our film of the production showing in cinemas this November."
Almeida has also revealed six new writers joining its Genesis Almeida New Playwrights, Big Plays program for 2023-2025: Georgia Bruce, Shahid Iqbal Khan, Martha Loader, Nikhil Parmar, Eoghan Quinn, and Kirsty Rider. More information on that program is available at Almeida.co.uk.
