Anne-Marie Duff returns to the Almeida Theatre to star in the world premiere of Beth Steel’s new play The House of Shades, which runs 19 May to 27 June 2020, with a press night on 26 May.
Nothing cuts into us like the family knife.
The Webster House.
1965. 1979. 1985. 1996. 2019.
Death silences no one, least of all the dead.
Inside their home, set against the ever-changing industrial landscape of working-class Britain, some chase dreams of a brighter future and others are haunted by the nightmares of the past.
Anne-Marie Duff stars as Constance. She returns to the Almeida having previously appeared in Oil in 2016 and in the Almeida’s 1999 production of Vassa at the Albery Theatre. Further casting will be announced soon.
Blanche McIntyre directs the world premiere of Beth Steel’s new play which spans five decades of the lives, and deaths, of the Webster family. The production is designed by Anna Fleischle, with lighting by Richard Howell, sound by Gregory Clarke and movement by Lucy Hind.
In other Almeida Theatre news, the stellar cast announced for the UK premiere of Jeremy O Harris‘ melodrama Daddy are: John McCrea (best known for originating the title role in musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), Katie Brayben (who also has musical renown, having been the West End’s original Carole King in Beautiful), Tanya Moodie, Alexander Hanson, Keisha Atwell, Rebecca Bernice Amissah, Jabari Braham, David Jonsson and Ioanna Kimbook. Danya Taymor directs the production, running from 30 March to 9 May 2020.
Bios
The House of Shades writer Beth Steel’s other plays include Labyrinth, Wonderland and Ditch. She was awarded the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2014.
Director Blanche McIntyre returns to the Almeida having previously directed The Writer. Her other credits include Botticelli in the Fire (Hampstead Theatre); Bartholomew Fair, A Winter’s Tale, As You Like It and The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare’s Globe); Tartuffe (National Theatre); The Norman Conquests (Chichester Festival Theatre); Titus Andronicus and The Two Noble Kinsmen (RSC); Noises Off (Nottingham Playhouse); Welcome Home, Captain Fox! (Donmar Warehouse); The Oresteia (HOME, Manchester); Arcadia (English Touring Theatre and Ambassador Theatre Group); Accolade (Finborough Theatre); Tonight at 8:30 and The Nutcracker (Nuffield Southampton Theatres); Ciphers (Out of Joint, Bush Theatre and Exeter Northcott); The Birthday Party (Royal Exchange Theatre) and The Seagull (Headlong Theatre, Nuffield Southampton Theatres and Derby Theatre – winner of Best Director at 2013 UK Theatre Awards); Foxfinder and Accolade (Finborough Theatre). She was the winner of the 2011 Critics’ Circle Most Promising Newcomer Award.
Anne-Marie Duff‘s other theatre credits include Sweet Charity; Berenice; Days of Wine and Roses (Donmar Warehouse); Macbeth; Common; Husbands and Sons; Strange Interlude; Saint Joan; King Lear; War and Peace; La Grande Magia (National Theatre); Cause Célèbre (Old Vic); The Soldier’s Fortune; The Daughter in Law; (Young Vic); Playboy of the Western World (Druid Theatre Company); A Doll’s House (Shared Experience Theatre Comp) and Collected Stories (Haymarket Theatre Royal). For television, her work includes Sex Education; His Dark Materials; Watership Down; From Darkness; Murder; The Accused Mo’s Story; Parade’s End; Margot; The History of Mr Polly; The Virgin Queen; Shameless; Doctor Zhivago; Wild West; The Way We Live Now; Aristocrats; Amongst Women. Her film credits include On Chesil Beach; Suffragette; Before I Go to Sleep; Molly Moon; Sanctuary; Closed Circuit; Nowhere Boy; The Last Station; Is Anybody There; French Film; Born Equal; Garage; The Waiting Room; Magdalene Sisters and Enigma.