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Duet for One 

By Tom Kempinski

Duet 

for 

One 

Photography front cover and this page: Hugo Glendinning 

By 

Tom 

Kempinski 

Production Sponsor

As Principal Sponsor, Coutts is proud and delighted to be enjoying our sixth 

consecutive year in partnership with the Almeida Theatre. It gives me real 

pleasure to welcome you to this production of Duet for One. 

Our relationship is mutual and is much more 

than a sponsorship initiative. We provide financial 

support that enables the theatre to explore an 

ambitious programme with complete artistic 

freedom. In turn, the Almeida Theatre helps 

us to improve our communication skills – an 

area fundamental to excellent client service and 

working relationships. The theatre has helped 

us devise imaginative and thought-provoking 

workshops for our people. It has also drawn 

on its expertise to help us create a film, Portrait 

of a Bank, recounting the Coutts & Co story. 

Although our current support for the Almeida 

Theatre only dates back to its post-refurbishment 

re-opening in 2003, it forms part of a longer 

tradition of philanthropy and support for the 

performing arts. For example, during the late 

18th century, Thomas Coutts supported many 

of London’s theatres through charitable 

donations. He was encouraged in this by his 

second wife, Harriot (later the Duchess of 

St Albans), who was herself a former actress. 

The Coutts archive includes a letter from 

Thomas Hull, dated 1786, that thanks Thomas 

Coutts for his contribution to a fund “for the 

relief of performers who by age or infirmities shall be 

oblig’d to retire from the stage”*. 

Angela Burdett-Coutts, Thomas Coutts’ grand 

daughter, became one of Victorian England’s most 

important philanthropists. Today we continue 

to support our community through different 

initiatives, organised directly by us and through 

partner organisations such as The Kids Company. 

The press has variously described the Almeida 

Theatre as “a powerhouse of British Theatre” 

(The Independent) and “a small stage where 

giants play” (The Times). We are proud to be 

involved with a theatre whose reputation reaches 

across the world and feel it is an exciting venue 

in which to entertain our clients. We always look 

for the best for our clients and are pleased that 

we are able to rely on the Almeida Theatre to 

consistently meet our exacting standards. 

We are thrilled to be able to work so closely 

with Michael Attenborough and have enjoyed 

the quality and daring of his artistic direction. 

On behalf of everyone at Coutts, I wish him 

and the Almeida Theatre every success with 

this production of Duet for One. 

Sarah Deaves, Chief Executive, Coutts & Co 

*Letter from Thomas Hull, on behalf of the fund’s organising committee, thanking Thomas Coutts for his liberal donation, 

1786 (in possession of the Coutts Archives, 440 Strand London) 

2

Photo: Hugo Glendinning 

Duet for One 

By Tom Kempinski 

Cast in order of speaking: 

Dr Feldmann 

Henry Goodman 

Stephanie Abrahams Juliet Stevenson 

Director 

Matthew Lloyd 

Design 

Lez Brotherston 

Lighting 

Jason Taylor 

Sound 

John Leonard 

Assistant Director Poppy Burton-Morgan 

Dialect Coach 

Julia Wilson Dickson 

Physiotherapist 

Warrick McNeill 

Violinist 

Thomas Gould 

Cover for: 

Stephanie Abrahams Lorna Beckett 

Dr Feldmann 

Barry Latchford 

There will be one interval 

Production Manager 

Company Manager 

Stage Manager 

Deputy Stage Manager 

Assistant Stage Manager 

Costume Supervisor 

Wardrobe Supervisor 

Wardrobe Deputy 

Hair and Make Up 

Supervisor 

Chief Technician 

Lighting Technician 

Sound Technician 

Theatre Technician 

Production Carpenter 

Set built by 

Set painted by 

Production photography 

Rehearsal photography 

Student on attachment to 

Stage Management 

Igor 

Rupert Carlile 

Laura Flowers 

Nicole Keighley 

Laura Draper 

Poppy Hall 

Catrina Richardson 

Eleanor Dolan 

Cally Bones 

Jason Wescombe 

Robin Fisher 

Howard Wood 

Adriano Agostino 

Eddie King 

Scott Fleary Ltd 

Charlotte Gainey 

Natasha Shepherd 

John Haynes 

Bridget Jones 

Christine Hollinshead 

3

Duet for One 

– the talking cure Lisa 

Appignanesi 

Two people sit alone in a room. One 

talks and talks, revealing intimacies. 

The other listens intently, offering up 

an occasional comment or query. 

They might be lovers, though they 

never quite touch despite the 

presence of a couch. They might be 

parent and grown child. Or they 

might be patient and analyst. 

The technology of the talking cure 

that Freud invented over a hundred 

years ago is in one sense a 

simulacrum of a love affair. 

Attentiveness to every aspect of the 

other, freedom to say anything that 

comes into your mind without 

incurring judgment, revelations about 

the self and the past seen or lived 

afresh through another’s eyes, secrets 

teased out, projections onto the other 

of versions of love learned in 

childhood, the hope of transformation 

– these are common to both kinds of 

scene. So, too, are flashes of hatred, 

of ‘passion’, and a resistance to the 

views the other may have of one. 

All this has made the ‘cure through 

love’, like love itself, a fertile terrain for 

fiction and drama. Hitchcock’s 

Spellbound, the first film to have a 

psychoanalyst as a script consultant, 

collapses love and the cure into one: 

Ingrid Bergman plays both nurturing 

shrink and lover to Gregory Peck’s 

amnesiac patient, travelling the road 

into the past to unearth the buried 

secrets which will restore him to his 

better self. She has her own analyst – 

one who comes with an accent and 

name which, like Dr Feldmann’s in 

Duet for One, stand in for the wisdom 

of central Europe. 

Philip Roth’s famous Dr Spielvogel, 

shrink to his heroes Portnoy and 

Tarnopol, is cut from similar cloth. For 

all that Roth’s writer-narrators may 

contest Spielvogel’s interpretations, 

just as Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert 

liked to play havoc with the minds of 

his psychiatrists, the shrink remains 

the (counter) expert on the human 

soul: he who is ‘supposed to know’. 

Whether he knows better or more than 

his artist-patients is part of the drama 

or comedy of what is always a 

combative encounter. Truth, after all, 

and particularly in our post-modern 

times, is hardly single or absolute or 

reducible to one of the many 

permutations on an Oedipal theme, 

whatever its attractions. 

Recent fictional versions of the 

shrink have carried far less authority, 

let alone certainty, than their earlier 

counterparts. Whether they’re of the 

medicalizing psychiatric variety or of 

the softer psychotherapeutic kind, they 

emerge as fallible and are more 

affected than their older kin by what 

goes on in the therapeutic hour. Hanif 

Kureishi’s Jamal in Something to Tell 

You is himself in the throes of 

depression. Alastair Campbell’s 

psychiatrist in his debut novel, All in 

the Mind, suffers a breakdown, while 

the therapist in the hit American 

television series, The Treatment, 

succumbs to the ‘cure through love’ 

mistaking it, against all the rules, for 

the real thing. Any single ‘truth’ about 

the self to be garnered through the 

work of analysis is displaced in these 

latter-day encounters by a sense that 

the best therapy can offer up is a goodenough 

story about the self: one that 

the patient can live with fruitfully. 

4 

First performed at the Bush Theatre in 

1980 and moving on for a long West 

End and then Broadway run, before 

becoming a film with Julie Andrews in 

the lead, Tom Kempinski’s Duet for One 

harks back to an older model of the

therapeutic relationship. Inspired by 

the tragic fate of the great cellist 

Jacqueline du Pré whose career was cut 

short by multiple sclerosis, the play 

revolves around six therapy sessions 

between the violinist, Stephanie 

Abrahams and her psychiatrist, Dr. 

Feldmann. The latter may claim he is 

not an analyst, may prescribe antidepressants 

during the first session 

and see his patient only at long 

intervals. Yet, he also asserts that ‘it is 

very important for you to discover your 

true feelings about your position’. He 

proceeds to use their sessions to 

excavate her buried past in a way that 

may enable her to understand and live 

with her present. Throughout, he is the 

wise, all-seeing doctor, caring, paternal, 

cultured. Their duet is one in which he, 

by prompting, pointing and querying, 

conducts a virtuoso performance of the 

self that is painfully and heroically hers. 

Stephanie has more to bear than 

many women on the verge of a 

nervous breakdown. Her crippling 

condition defies cure. At the very 

peak of musical success, her ability to 

play her violin, make the music which 

has been her life, is at an end. Her 

disease carries a life-sentence. 

Despite her initial insistence that she 

has come to terms with her state and 

everything is under control, 

Feldmann’s intuition, like the 

audience’s, is that she is walking or 

rather guiding her wheelchair along a 

precarious tightrope from which she 

may fling herself or fall at any 

moment unless she can muster the 

resources for a new balancing act. 

Freud once wrote that there is no 

time in the unconscious. It behaves 

as if it were immortal. Yet 

consciously, biological creatures that 

we are, we all know that we are 

condemned to death. Stephanie, 

whatever her immediate illness, is in 

that sense, akin to everywoman. One 

of Feldmann’s aims seems to be to 

bring her to that very realization. The 

crisis in her life has robbed her of 

both direction and desire. The very 

music, which ordered her days, her 

marriage, her destiny, has turned 

against her. And the character she 

shaped in order to become a virtuoso 

violinist can no longer serve. Feldmann 

provokes her back into earlier 

childhood versions of herself to lay 

bare her choices and uncover other 

strategies for living. 

The journey, here compressed by 

dramatic need into a mere six sessions, 

is hardly a straightforward one, 

whatever the coping pills Feldmann can 

provide. Stephanie resists, at first 

Feldmann’s general assumption that 

anything at all is wrong with her or in 

her relations with her composer 

husband. She resists his drugs and his 

various leads. In that game of hide and 

seek which is part of the therapeutic 

process, she argues against his 

interpretations of her childlessness, of 

her relations with a mother who died 

too young and a father who never 

believed in her (or her mother’s) music. 

All the while, she reveals herself to him, 

to us, and sometimes to herself. 

One of her ways of fighting back is 

also an acknowledgement of the 

process. She allows herself to go to 

pieces: in a sense Feldmann’s very 

presence has given her the 

permission to do just that. 

Dangerous as it is, the breakdown 

marks the turn. It is a recognition of 

the real. Old pain breaks through to 

converge with more recent shocks 

and Stephanie begins to speak in a 

new voice, one that carries a more 

truthful, less brittle note. 

Feldmann, too, breaks through, 

though in a manner which Stephanie 

herself, knowing as all post-Freudian 

patients are, judges hardly ‘analytic’. 

Impassioned on her behalf, he leaps 

across the bounds of the analytic 

game, to become the quintessentially 

good doctor. He inveighs against the 

enemy, the dark forces of the 

unconscious which will bring her 

down. He urges her to do battle with 

him. The duet for one becomes by 

the end a duet for two. 

Lisa Appignanesi is Chair of the 

Freud Museum, London, and 

President of English PEN. Her latest 

book is Mad, Bad and Sad: A History 

of Women and the Mind Doctors from 

1800 to the Present. (Virago/Little 

Brown). 

5

You’re so Lucky to be so Talented 

Karl Lutchmayer 

My old school friend, having just come 

to congratulate me after a concert, 

examines the photographs in the 

green room whilst I greet other wellwishers. 

We shall be going to dinner 

later to catch up on news and gossip, 

but in the meantime someone asks 

him how he knows me. Continuing to 

greet whilst keeping my ‘charming 

smile’ firmly upon my face (for the 

concert was not a success and I would 

rather be hugging myself in a 

darkened room) I dimly hear him 

explain that we were at school 

together where he too was a very fine 

pianist and could have become a 

concert artist, but had decided that the 

life was too insecure and had instead 

opted to become an accountant. My 

rictus grin suddenly relaxes into a 

welcoming smile (much to the 

surprise of the fur clad lady who is in 

the midst of explaining to me exactly 

how lucky I am to be so talented), as 

once more someone assures 

themselves that it would have been 

possible but for…..Of course I 

understand his point of view, and at 

least he doesn’t lay the blame on a lack 

of some mystic commodity called 

talent which most seem to favour as 

the reason for the status quo. The 

truth, which all musicians know but 

few others dare to acknowledge, is 

that talent is in fact widespread and as 

such does not alone ensure entrance 

to the citadel. The price of admission 

is actually paid in an entirely different 

currency, and my friend was simply 

one of the many who gazed longingly 

at the turnstile but balked at the fee. 

Payment starts early in childhood as 

the bright endless days of summer 

find the young musician taking the 

opportunity to do some serious 

practising whilst freed from the chains 

of school. This is no self-sacrifice 

whilst friends run through fields or go 

swimming; the joy is palpable as the 

careful crafting of each note joins the 

young musician in mystic union with 

the fellow acolyte who notated it many 

centuries before. As our artist gets 

older little changes except the nature 

of temptation – Saturdays are spent at 

Junior Music College instead of 

shopping centres, evenings in 

orchestras instead of parties and 

holidays practising, studying on 

summer courses or perhaps playing in 

competitions. And every day the 

necessary three hours needs to be 

found, apart from the geography 

homework, for the act of practice, as 

normal and inevitable as brushing the 

teeth. Thus most of our young artist’s 

own time is spent alone or amongst 

fellow worshipers at the muse’s altar. 

Through all of this, helpful teachers 

and well-meaning parents will have 

encouraged diversification, getting 

good GCSEs, A levels, even perhaps a 

‘sensible’ degree, so that options will 

be kept open and eggs distributed 

over the widest possible area. But 

what Duet for One’s Stephanie will 

have known instinctively is that art 

only exists when there are no safety 

nets. Despising their platitudes, 

because the only inference can be that 

these interlopers do not believe in her 

ability to do the one thing she does 

best, she will have to become 

increasingly self-reliant and 

determined in order to overcome the 

6 

Photos: Bridget Jones

wealth of doubters she will meet along 

the way. In fact, the very act of picking 

up the instrument gives her autonomy 

over some part of her life, and she 

becomes used to making important 

musical decisions and taking 

responsibility for them. Indeed she 

begins to shoulder with glee the same 

great responsibility which is ultimately 

borne by all Classical performers – the 

weighty duty of representing the 

composer in his absence. Thus the 

young artist becomes, in this at least, 

mature far beyond her years. 

The next step, music college, is also a 

sacrifice embraced, as the developing 

artist turns her back on the 

opportunities for breadth of 

companionship and opportunity 

offered by university. Instead, in the 

necessary quest for total mastery over 

her instrument, whilst friends are 

taking gap years in Indonesia or 

enjoying weekend benders, Stephanie 

enters a world obsessed only with 

music. A strange nirvana after years of 

balancing practice with school work, 

here the joys and frustrations of 

practising eight hours a day bring 

absolutely no guarantee of gainful 

employment. Surrounded by students 

all chasing the same dreams, with 

each college producing perhaps one 

international soloist every ten years, 

this is the very essence of 

recklessness. 

Thus, at the moment we meet 

Stephanie, having spent a lifetime 

outside normal society, almost all of 

her friends would be musicians. Most 

of her normal friends would have been 

forgotten years ago; naturally she 

would still bump into the people she 

used to know at home and school, but 

how could she relate to them? How 

could they understand the joy of 

discovering the thematic process in a 

Beethoven sonata or the exhilaration 

at finding just the right nuance to 

express one particular phrase which 

has been eluding her for years? Only 

her fellow artists would understand, 

and yet here too she would be 

marginalised; as the one who ‘made it’ 

many of her closest friends would be 

jealous, quite sure that she didn’t 

deserve her success, or hoping for a 

favour. 

Would she at least be secure in the 

knowledge that she had earned her 

place in the musical firmament? The 

composer or writer, even though 

compared to Beethoven or 

Shakespeare and found wanting, at 

least has the excuse of attempting to 

communicate in a very different or 

innovative way. However the 

performer, or re-creative artist, centres 

their life on exactly the same creative 

act as their own heroes. Stephanie 

may well believe that Heifetz recorded 

the most perfect performance of the 

Tchaikovsky concerto imaginable, and 

have felt utterly unworthy before it, but 

when she went out to play it she had to 

convince her audience, and therefore 

herself, that at that moment hers was 

the only way to play it, and that she 

had just shared the most perfect 

moment in her life. But for the true 

artist this pinnacle of self belief lasts 

only as long as the spotlight. 

Returning to the green room starts the 

process of assessment, obsessive 

analysis and self-doubt. 

Why self-doubt? Because by this 

period Stephanie would have realised 

that the performer’s life is one of 

continual insecurity. As an artist she 

aimed to bring the black dots to life by 

applying the highest possible 

standards of musicianship; however, if 

that were all, she would only have 

needed to make music in private to be 

fully satisfied. Instead the performer in 

her needed to own the souls of a 

concert hall full of strangers in order 

to gain a momentary fix and assuage 

the pangs of self-doubt. The better she 

did this the greater would be the 

disparity between her own estimation 

of her worth and that of her public, 

causing what is essentially a vicious 

circle of addiction. When the peerless 

Vladimir Horowitz was asked about 

his relationship with his audience he 

simply stated ‘I want to f*** them’, 

and yet he left the platform for 12 

years feeling unable to live up to his 

own reputation. Similarly, Jacqueline 

Du Pré, whose story has clear 

resonances with Stephanie’s, revelled 

in her on-stage charisma, but was 

privately always concerned that she 

lacked technique. 

Thus even if you set aside the tragic 

circumstances that beset Stephanie in 

Duet for One, the glamorous 

musician’s life can be seen as a 

curiously fragile existence. It 

continually walks a tightrope between 

supreme self-confidence and a 

nagging fear that exposition as a fake 

is just around the corner. It embraces 

the speed and intensity of a life on the 

move, perhaps out of fear that 

stopping might illuminate the true 

worth of the friendships therein. It 

revels in a lifetime of self-determined 

decisions which have brought it to the 

height of its powers, as long as no 

stray hiccough ever reveals a lifetime 

of joyful self-sacrifice as a litany of 

pleasures never had. 

Gosh, how lucky to be so talented. 

Karl Lutchmayer 

Karl is a concert pianist and professor 

at Trinity College of Music. 

7

Musical references in Duet for One 

Throughout the play there are 

numerous references to composers, 

players and musical styles. 

8 

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750), a 

German composer and organist whose 

sacred and secular works for choir, 

orchestra, and solo instruments drew 

together the strands of the Baroque 

period and brought it to its ultimate 

maturity. While Bach’s fame as an 

organist was great during his lifetime, 

he was not particularly well-known as a 

composer. A revival of interest and 

performances of his music began early 

in the 19th century, and he is now 

widely considered to be one of the 

greatest composers in the Western 

tradition, his works revered for their 

intellectual depth, technical command 

and artistic beauty. The Sonatas and 

Partitas for solo violin heard during the 

course of this production were 

composed in 1720. 

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827), a 

German composer and pianist. He was 

a crucial figure in the transitional 

period between the Classical and 

Romantic eras in Western classical 

music, and remains one of the most 

respected and influential composers of 

all time. Born in Bonn, he moved to 

Vienna in his early twenties and settled 

there, studying with Joseph Haydn and 

quickly gaining a reputation as a 

virtuoso pianist. Beethoven’s hearing 

gradually deteriorated beginning in his 

twenties, yet he continued to compose, 

and to conduct and perform, even after 

he was completely deaf. The recorded 

cadenza which Feldmann puts on in 

Act Two is from the Third Movement of 

Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, op. 61. 

Niccolò Paganini (1782 – 1840), an 

Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and 

composer. He was one of the most 

celebrated violin virtuosi of his time, 

and left his mark as one of the pillars of 

modern violin technique. 

Felix Mendelssohn (1809 –1847), a 

German composer, pianist and 

conductor of the early Romantic period. 

The grandson of the philosopher 

Moses Mendelssohn, he was born to a 

notable Jewish family which later 

converted to Christianity. His work 

includes symphonies, concerti, 

oratorios, piano and chamber music. 

After a long period of relative 

denigration due to changing musical 

tastes and antisemitism in the late 19th 

and early 20th centuries, his creative 

originality is now being recognized and 

re-evaluated. 

Jascha Heifetz (1901 – 1987), a Jewish 

violin virtuoso born in Lithuania; the 

son of a violin teacher and 

concertmaster he was a child prodigy 

who took up the violin when he was 

three years old, made his public debut 

at seven, and entered the St Petersburg 

Conservatory to study under Leopold 

Auer when he was nine. Heifetz soon 

gained fame in Europe and in his teens 

became a sensation in America, later 

settling there and obtaining citizenship 

in 1925. He has been hailed as the 

greatest violinist of the 20th century. 

Isaac Stern (1920 – 2001), a Jewish 

violin virtuoso born in the Ukraine. 

His family moved to San Francisco 

when he was an infant, and he 

completed much of his training at the 

San Francisco Academy of Music. 

Within musical circles, Stern became 

renowned both for his recordings and 

for championing promising younger 

players. Among his discoveries were 

cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Jian Wang, and 

violinists Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas 

Zukerman. He also played a major 

role in saving New York City’s 

Carnegie Hall from demolition in 

1960, which later had its main 

auditorium named in his honour. 

Itzhak Perlman (1945 —) is an Israeli- 

American violin virtuoso, conductor, 

and teacher. Born in Tel Aviv, he 

studied there before moving to the 

United States to study at the Juilliard 

School. He made his debut at 

Carnegie Hall in 1963 and won the 

prestigious Leventritt Competition in 

1964. While primarily a solo artist, 

Perlman has toured with the Israel 

Philharmonic Orchestra, and 

collaborated with a number of notable 

musicians. In recent years, Perlman 

has also begun to conduct, and in 

2007 was appointed Artistic Director 

and Principal Conductor of 

Westchester Philharmonic. Perlman 

also teaches, having held several 

faculty posts and chairs, and founding 

the Perlman Music Program in New 

York for gifted young string players 

in 1995. 

Photo by John Godfrey

Multiple Sclerosis 

Multiple sclerosis is a puzzle that has 

perplexed medical science since it was 

first described by the French 

neurologist Charcot in 1868. The 

disease affects the central nervous 

system and can, to varying degrees, 

interfere with the transmission of 

nerve impulses throughout the brain, 

spinal cord and optic nerves. 

Since identification, MS has been the 

subject of intense, world-wide 

research but still its cause and cure 

remain elusive. 

A simple explanation is conveyed by 

the term itself. Sclerosis is a Greek 

word meaning “hardened tissue or 

scars” and multiple means many. 

Recurring episodes of MS can cause 

many scars to appear in the central 

nervous system as a result of the 

breakdown of the myelin, the 

insulating material that covers the 

nerve fibres. This can result in 

impairment of motor, sensory and 

cognitive functions to a greater or 

lesser extent. 

But multiple describes other aspects 

of what is often a frustratingly 

unpredictable disease. Episodes can 

occur at varying time intervals 

affecting different areas of the central 

nervous system. There is no one 

symptom that indicates the presence 

of MS. No single test can establish an 

accurate diagnosis. It can be benign - 

in rare cases apparently disappearing 

altogether after one or two episodes. 

Or it can progress steadily over many 

years, bringing about a slow 

deterioration in an individual’s 

capabilities. 

[Source: MS: The Mystery Disease, MS 

Australia, 2005] 

■ Causes 

The causes of MS are unknown, but 

research suggests that a combination 

of genetic and environmental factors 

may play a role in its development. It is 

not directly inherited and, unlike some 

conditions, there is no single gene that 

causes it. It is possible that a 

combination of genes make some 

people more susceptible to 

developing MS; however, these genes 

are also common in the general 

population. 

MS is more common in areas further 

away from the equator. It is not clear 

why, but it is possible that something 

in the environment, perhaps bacteria 

or a virus, plays a role. No single virus 

has been identified as contributing to 

MS, but some researchers think that a 

common childhood virus may act as a 

trigger, although this theory remains 

unproven. 

■Types of MS 

There are different types of MS, each 

with its own characteristics. Yet MS 

remains unpredictable and no two 

people are affected in the same way. 

Some people may be only mildly 

affected throughout their lives while, 

for others, progression may occur 

quite quickly. 

• Relapsing remitting MS 

Most people are first diagnosed with 

this type of MS. They experience a flare 

up or ‘relapse’ of symptoms followed 

by a remission. In the early stages 

symptoms can disappear completely 

during remissions. However, after 

several relapses there may be some 

residual damage to the myelin, 

resulting in only a partial recovery. 

• Secondary progressive MS 

Most people who start out with relapsing 

remitting MS later develop a form that is 

known as secondary progressive MS. In 

this form of the disease symptoms do 

not go away completely after a relapse 

and there is a steady increase in 

disability. On average, 65 per cent of 

people with relapsing remitting MS later 

develop secondary progressive MS, the 

form of the disease which Stephanie is 

assumed to have in Duet for One. 

“My chief discovery in sickness and misfortune is the callousness of people to our case — not 

from hard-heartedness (everyone is kind), but from absence of sympathetic imagination. People 

don’t know the horrors and they can’t imagine them — perhaps they are unimaginable. You will 

notice how suicides time and again in farewell notes to their closest and dearest have the same 

refrain, ‘I don’t believe even you can realise all I suffer.’ Poor devil! of course not. Beyond a certain 

point, suffering must be borne alone, and so must extreme joy. Ah! we are lonely barks.” 

WNP Barbellion, The Diary of a Disappointed Man, January 8, 1919 

9

“I resolved to look the disease right in the eyes. Stare deep into the void. I knew that I couldn't 

fight the thing. It's not like cancer or financial problems where you can grit your teeth and fight 

to the bitter end - you may win and you may lose but you go down fighting. With MS, you would 

only lose. There is no cure. No one has ever beaten MS in a straight fight no matter who claims 

what. It can be kind and can suddenly leave you, but you cannot defeat it. 

For me, the key was, though I couldn't beat MS, it wouldn't beat me either. I'm unlikely to die 

from MS, at least any time soon. Some famous person with Parkinson's disease once said that 

he wouldn't die from it but he would die with it. That seemed to me to be how to treat MS. It's 

here to stay but it's not the end by any means. It's not even the beginning of the end. My life can 

go on. Maybe things have to be a little different, but they will go on nonetheless. I could be 

happy again, I could laugh again, hell, I may even find love again!” 

Paul Jones, ‘The Diary of a Hypochondriac’, All About Multiple Sclerosis, at www.mult-sclerosis.org 

10 

• Primary progressive MS (PPMS) 

Affecting only 10 to 15 per cent of 

people who have the condition, there 

are several major differences 

distinguishing this form of MS from 

the relapsing remitting form. As the 

name suggests, the change, even if 

slow, is progressive, and the pattern of 

relapses and remissions does not 

occur. People with primary progressive 

MS tend to be diagnosed when they 

are older; commonly over 40. Unlike 

relapsing remitting MS, men are just 

as likely to develop this type of MS as 

women, although we do not know why. 

■ Symptoms 

MS is unpredictable. It varies from 

person to person and can result in a 

wide variety of symptoms, none of 

which is unique to MS. 

Some of the common symptoms are 

fatigue, balance problems and vertigo, 

walking and co-ordination difficulties, 

problems with vision and speech, 

numbness or tingling, loss of muscle 

strength and dexterity, stiffness and 

spasms, anxiety, depression or mood 

swings, difficulty with memory and 

concentration, speech problems, 

incontinence, and sexual problems. 

Studies have suggested that clinical 

depression is more frequent among 

people with MS than it is in the 

general population and even more 

common than among persons with 

other chronic, disabling conditions. 

■ Treatment 

Disease modifying drugs, such as Beta 

interferons and Glatiramer acetate, 

What is MS? 

• MS is the most common 

potentially disabling disease of the 

central nervous system affecting 

young adults in the Western world. 

• An estimated 2,500,000 people in 

the world have Multiple Sclerosis - 

including 85,000 in the UK. 

• Every week around 50 people in 

the UK are diagnosed with MS. 

• Diagnosis is usually between 20 

and 40 years of age - rarely under 

12 or over 55. 

• Three women have MS for every 

two men. In rare cases it affects 

children. 

are thought to alter the immune 

response that causes myelin damage, 

and, whilst by no means a cure, can 

help to reduce the frequency and 

severity of relapses. 

However, for a significant minority of 

people affected by MS these drugs are 

innefective in reducing symptoms or 

they have such severely debilitating 

• Prognosis is uncertain - ranging 

from benign through ‘coming and 

going’ to severely disabling. 

• MS is not hereditary - but there is a 

slightly higher chance of getting it 

if a relative has it - and it is not 

contagious. 

• There is no cure for MS but there 

are now drugs which can modify 

its course for some people and 

many symptoms can be 

successfully treated or managed. 

• MRI (magnetic resonance 

imaging) is giving neurologists 

better understanding of MS, 

helping diagnosis and research 

into treatments.

side-effects they are of little use in 

managing the disease. 

■ Research 

Research into new drugs and 

approaches to treating MS is ongoing. 

Exciting recent trials include those into 

the antibody drug Alemtuzumab, with 

findings suggesting that an intensive 

course of treatment during the early 

onset of MS can dramatically reduce 

the rate of relapse (akin to intensive 

cancer treatment early after diagnosis), 

and those into Fingolimod, an oral pill 

which would provide a welcome 

alternative to regular injections. 

■ The MS Society 

The MS Society is the UK’s largest 

charity dedicated to supporting 

everyone whose life is touched by MS. 

It provides respite care, a freephone 

MS Helpline, grants for home 

adaptations and mobility aids, 

education and training, MS specialist 

nurses and a wide range of 

information. Local branches cater for 

people of all ages and interests and are 

run by people with direct experience of 

MS. The MS Society also funds over 40 

vital MS research projects in the UK. 

With its mission “to enable everyone 

affected by MS to live life to their full 

potential and secure the care and 

support they need, until we ultimately 

find a cure”, the MS Society is 

committed to bringing high standards of 

quality health and social care within 

reach of everyone affected by MS and to 

encourage and support medical and 

applied research into its cause and 

control. 

For more information on the MS 

Society please visit 

www.mssociety.org.uk or freephone 

0808 800 8000 

Information from the publication What 

is MS? (2008) reproduced with the kind 

permission of the MS Society UK. 

11

CAST 

Juliet Stevenson 

Stephanie 

Theatre includes: 

For the RSC: Beckett Shorts; Les 

Liaisons Dangereuses; As You Like It; 

Troilus and Cressida; Measure For 

Measure; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; 

The Witch of Edmonton; Money; Henry 

IV parts I & II; Once in a Lifetime; The 

White Guard; Hippolytus; Antony and 

Cleopatra; The Churchill Play; The 

Taming of the Shrew; The Tempest. 

Other theatre: Alice Trilogy; The 

Country; Other Worlds (Royal Court); 

The Seagull; Private Lives; Hedda 

Gabler; The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus; 

Yerma (National Theatre); We Happy 

Few (West End); The Caucasian Chalk 

Circle (Theatre de Complicité at the 

National Theatre and tour); The 

Duchess of Malfi (Greenwich 

Theatre/West End); Scenes From An 

Execution (Mark Taper Forum, L.A); 

Death and the Maiden (Royal 

Court/West End); Burn This 

(Hampstead Theatre/Lyric 

Hammersmith); On The Verge 

(Sadler’s Wells). 

Television includes: Dustbin Baby; 

Place of Execution; Ten Days To War; 

Hear The Silence; The Pact; Trial By 

Fire; The Road From Coorain; Cider 

With Rosie; Stone, Scissors, Paper; The 

Politician’s Wife; A Doll’s House; Out of 

Love; Stanley; Life Story; Freud; Bazaar 

and Rummage; The Mallens; Maybury; 

Oedipus at Colonus; Antigone. 

Film includes: The Secret of Moonacre; 

And When Did You Last See Your 

Father?; Breaking and Entering; 

Pierrepoint; A Previous Engagement; 

Infamous; Being Julia; Mona Lisa Smile; 

Nicholas Nickleby; Food For Love; Bend 

It Like Beckham; The Search For John 

Gissing; Beckett’s ‘Play’; Emma; A 

Secret Rapture; Who Dealt; The Trial; 

Truly Madly Deeply; Ladder of Swords; 

Drowning By Numbers. 

Radio includes: many plays, poetry 

recordings, and audio books. 

12 

Henry Goodman 

Dr Feldmann 

For the Almeida: The Hypochondriac. 

Other theatre includes: Fiddler on the 

Roof (Sheffield Crucible/West End); 

Performances (Wilton Music Hall); The 

Gondoliers (English National Opera); 

The Birthday Party; Chicago (West 

End); Tartuffe; The Producers 

(Broadway); Art (West End/Broadway); 

Feelgood (Hampstead Theatre/West 

End); Hysteria (Royal Court/West 

End/tour). 

For the National Theatre: The 

Merchant of Venice; Metropolitan 

Kabarett; Summer Folk; Guys and 

Dolls; Broken Glass; Angels in 

America; Pericles; After The Fall; Cat on 

a Hot Tin Roof; Beatrice & Benedick. 

For the RSC: Richard III; They Shoot 

Horses Don’t They; Every Man In His 

Humour; Henry V; The Devils; Redstar; 

The Comedy of Errors; Volpone; The 

Time of Your Life; Jacques and his 

Master; Henry VIII. 

Television includes: Shakespeare’s 

Happy Endings; Murder in Suburbia; 

The Mayor of Casterbridge; Foyle’s 

War; The Merchant of Venice; Secret 

Weapon; Hamilton Mattress; Murder 

Rooms; Dalziel and Pascoe; Dirty 

Tricks; The Arabian Nights; Unfinished 

Business (series); Cold Lazarus 

(series); Broken Glass; Christmas; 

Measure For Measure; Degas and 

Pissarro Fall Out; 99-1; Lovejoy; 

Spinoza; Maigret; The Gravy Train II; 

Gentlemen and Players; London’s 

Burning; This is David Lander; Bust; 

After The War; The Chain. 

Film includes: Taking Woodstock; 

Damned United; Keen Eddie; Colour 

Me Kubrik; Green Street; Out on a 

Limb; Churchill: The Hollywood Years; 

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers; The 

Final Curtain; The Labyrinth; Notting 

Hill; Private Parts; The Saint; Mary 

Reilly; Queen of Hearts; Son of the Pink 

Panther. 

Radio includes: dramas, books and 

comedies for BBC Radio. 

Teaching includes: Guildhall School of 

Drama; Royal Academy of Dramatic 

Art; British American Drama Academy; 

and U.C.L.A, Los Angeles.

CREATIVE TEAM 

Best Comedy Award), What About 

Borneo, Mayakowski, The Workshop, 

Dreyfuss, Sex Please We’re Italian, When 

The Past is Still to Come, What a 

Bleedin’ Liberty (Theatre Royal 

Stratford East), Addicted to Love 

(Bristol Old Vic), Salus Populi (Citizens 

Theatre Glasgow), Heinrich Heine & 

Nickolai Gogal, Penthisilia, and four 

plays under the title of Love and War 

(Hampstead Theatre). 

Tom Kempinski 

Writer 

Tom Kempinski’s career commenced 

as an actor. In 11 years, he was 

unemployed for only 10 months. 

During this time his roles included 

lead parts in Blitz by Lionel Bart 

(Adelphi Theatre), Love For Love by 

William Congreve (also at the National 

Theatre, and starring Laurence Olivier, 

Maggie Smith, Albert Finney and Lyn 

Redgrave) and leads in Dingo (Royal 

Court) and Apollinaire (ICA). 

As a playwright, Tom Kempinski has 

written 55 plays of which around 45 

have been produced. These include 

Sellout (National Theatre) for which he 

also composed the music, Flashpoint 

(Mayfair Theatre), as well as Duet for 

One which originally ran for over a year 

in the West End of London (with 

Frances de la Tour, to whom he was 

married, playing the lead) and was 

made into a film starring Julie 

Andrews. Duet for One has since 

played in 46 countries, been 

nominated for many awards. and won 

the London Theatre Critics Award for 

Best Play of the Year. It more recently 

played a record breaking year long run 

in Paris with Francis Huster and 

Cristina Reali who won the Stage 

Actress of the Year Award for this 

production. Further credits include 

Separation (nominated for the Olivier 

For 15 years, Tom Kempinski suffered 

severe agoraphobia and the condition 

had a significant effect on his life. He 

wrote little, his weight increased to 

twenty four stone and he was unable to 

leave his home. However, in the past 

few years and following extensive 

therapy, Tom has written fifteen plays, 

lost twelve stone in weight and he and 

his partner have a daughter. 

Matthew Lloyd 

Director 

Matthew is the Artistic Director of the 

Actors Centre and the Tristan Bates 

Theatre. He was formerly Artistic 

Director of the Royal Exchange 

Theatre, Manchester, where his credits 

include the award-winning An 

Experiment With An Air Pump, 

Dreaming (and West End transfer), 

Present Laughter, Waiting for Godot, 

The Way of the World, The Critic, An 

Experienced Woman Gives Advice, Two 

Clouds Over Eden, All’s Well That Ends 

Well, The Fall Guy, A Moon for the 

Misbegotten, and So Special. 

He was also Associate Director of 

Hampstead Theatre, where his credits 

include the multi-award-winning The 

Fastest Clock in the Universe, Slavs!, The 

Maiden Stone, Vincent River, 

Apocalyptica, Ghost From a Perfect 

Place, A Going Concern, Lion in the 

Streets, The Eleventh Commandment, 

the London transfer of An Experiment 

With An Air Pump and the multiaward-winning 

The Lucky Ones. 

13

Freelance credits include The L.A. 

Plays at the Almeida Theatre; the 

award-winning The Pitchfork Disney 

(Bush Theatre); 2 Samuel 11, Etc 

(Royal Court Theatre Upstairs); Cloud 

9 (Parco Theatre, Tokyo); The Home 

Show Pieces and La Ronde (Citizens 

Theatre Glasgow); Hedda Gabler, A 

Doll’s House and Dead Funny (all West 

Yorkshire Playhouse); The Odd Couple 

and The Flint Street Nativity (Liverpool 

Playhouse); Fly (Liverpool Everyman 

Theatre); Copenhagen and Blithe Spirit 

(Watford Palace Theatre); Tall Phoenix 

(Belgrade Theatre, Coventry); A 

Midsummer Night’s Dream 

(Haymarket Theatre, Leicester); 

Democracy (Gate Theatre); and 

Deathwatch and Measure for Measure 

(Off Broadway). 

Opera credits include The Barber of 

Seville (Scottish Opera). 

Lez Brotherston 

Designer 

For the Almeida: In a Dark Dark House; 

The Lightning Play; Dying For It; 

Brighton Rock. 

Theatre/Musicals includes: Under The 

Blue Sky; Dickens Unplugged; In 

Celebration; Bedroom Farce; A 

Midsummer Night’s Dream; Jane Eyre, 

Spend Spend Spend, Tonight’s The 

Night (West End); Hedda Gabler (Gate 

Theatre, Dublin); French and Saunders 

(UK tour); Much Ado About Nothing 

(RSC); Playing With Fire; Rosencrantz 

and Guildenstern Are Dead (National 

Theatre); Volpone; Design For Living; A 

Woman of No Importance; Nude With 

Violin; Hindle Wakes; A Midsummer 

Night’s Dream (Royal Exchange, 

Manchester); Little Foxes (Donmar 

Warehouse) ;Victoria Wood – At It 

Again 2001 Tour (Royal Albert Hall & 

tour); My One and Only (Chichester 

Festival Theatre/West End); French 

and Saunders Live in 2000 (Apollo 

Hammersmith & UK tour); David 

Copperfield (Greenwich Theatre/ 

Sheffield Crucible); The Eleventh 

Commandment (Hampstead 

Theatre);The Comedians (West 

Yorkshire Playhouse/Lyric 

Hammersmith); The School For Wives 

(Belfast Arts Theatre);The Little Foxes 

(Leeds Playhouse); Cabaret (Crucible 

Theatre, Sheffield). 

Dance includes: Into The Woods; A 

Soldier’s Tale (Royal Opera House); 

Seven Deadly Sins (Royal Ballet); Dorian 

Gray; Edward Scissorhands; Play Without 

Words (New Adventures); Les Liaisons 

Dangereuses (Tokyo); The Car Man; 

Cinderella; Swan Lake; Highland Fling 

(Adventures in Motion Pictures); Six 

Faces (Tokyo/Japanese tour); Night Life; 

Just Scratchin’ The Surface (Scottish 

Ballet); Giselle (Norwegian National 

Ballet); Carmen; The Hunchback of 

Notre Dame; Giselle; Dracula; The 

Brontës; A Christmas Carol; Swan Lake; 

Romeo and Juliet; Strange Meeting 

(Northern Ballet Theatre); Grey Matter 

(Rambert Dance Company). 

Opera includes: L’Elisir d’Amore 

(Glyndebourne Festival Opera); Maria 

Padilla (Buxton Festival); La 

Somnambula (Teatro Municipale, Rio de 

Janeiro); Hansel and Gretel (Opera 

Zuid/Opera Northern Ireland); Falstaff 

(Teatro Bellini, Sicily/Royal Danish 

Opera); Dido and Aeneas/Venus and 

Adonis (Innsbruck & De Vlaamse Opera, 

Antwerp); A Cunning Little Vixen; Le Roi 

Malgre Lui; Ariadne auf Naxos; Werther 

(Opera Zuid) Cornet Christoph Rilke’s 

Song of Love and Death (Glyndebourne 

Touring Opera); Der Rosenkavalier 

(Hong Kong Arts Festival); L’Italiana in 

Algeri (Dublin Grand Opera); Rigoletto 

(Opera Northern Ireland); Madama 

Butterfly (Opera North). 

Film includes: The Car Man; Swan 

Lake; Letter to Brezhnev. 

Jason Taylor 

Lighting 

Recent design includes: Awaking 

Beauty (Stephen Joseph Theatre, 

Scarborough); Rain Man; Absurd 

Person Singular; The Letter; Honour; 

What The Butler Saw; Some 

Girl(s);Twelfth Night; High Society; 

Pretending To Be Me (West End); 

Flashdance; Crown Matrimonial; 

Blackbird; How The Other Half Loves 

(national tour); Year of the Rat; 

Madness of George III; Little Shop of 

Horrors (West Yorkshire Playhouse); 

Pygmalion (Broadway); Peter Hall 

Season (Theatre Royal, Bath); 

Journey’s End (Broadway - Tony 

nomination for best lighting design); 

Entertaining Angels (Chichester 

Festival Theatre/national tour); 

Burn/Citizenship/Chatroom 

14

(National Theatre); Glorious 

(Birmingham Rep/West End); The 

God of Hell (Donmar Warehouse); 

National Anthems (Old Vic); Journey’s 

End (West End/national tour); Lady In 

The Van (national tour); Us and Them; 

The Dead Eye Boy (Hampstead 

Theatre); Abigail’s Party (West 

End/national tour); The Clearing 

(Shared Experience); Single Spies; 

Pirates of Penzance (national tour); 

Office (Edinburgh International 

Festival); Iolanthe; Yeoman of the 

Guard; The Mikado (D’Oyly Carte, 

Savoy Theatre); 

Jason has lit over 300 other 

productions including 20 seasons at 

the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park; 

Kindertransport, Rosencrantz and 

Guildenstern, And The There Were 

None, and Great Balls of Fire in the 

West End; and productions at the Bush 

Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, the 

Bridewell Theatre and Soho Theatre. 

He has also designed at most major 

regional theatres including 

Nottingham, Sheffield, Plymouth, 

West Yorkshire Playhouse, 

Birmingham, Edinburgh, 

Southampton, Clwyd and Liverpool. 

John Leonard 

Sound 

For the Almeida: Waste; The 

Homecoming; Big White Fog; Dying 

For It; Hedda Gabler; Macbeth; 

Brighton Rock; Whistling Psyche; Five 

Gold Rings; The Mercy Seat; I.D. and 

many more. 

Most recent work includes: The Cripple 

Of Inishmaan (Druid Theatre, Tour and 

New York); Small Craft Warning; Crazy 

Paola (Arcola Theatre); A Month In The 

Country (Salisbury Playhouse); 

Calendar Girls (Chichester & national 

tour); Long Day’s Journey Into Night 

(Druid Theatre, Galway & Dublin); 

Much Ado About Nothing; The 

Enchantment (National Theatre); Pure 

Gold (Soho Theatre); In Celebration; 

Kean; Donkey’s Years; Summer & 

Smoke; Glengarry Glen Ross (West 

End); Translations (Princeton/ 

Broadway); Leaves; Empress of India; 

The Druid Synge (Druid Theatre, 

Galway/Dublin/ Edinburgh/ 

Minneapolis/ New York). 

Other theatre includes: 2000 Years; 

Paul; The UN Inspector; Jumpers 

(National Theatre); Antony and 

Cleopatra; Much Ado About Nothing; 

The Prisoner’s Dilemma; Romeo and 

Juliet (RSC); The Old Masters; The 

Birthday Party (Birmingham Rep /West 

End); The Odd Couple; The Entertainer; 

Still Life; The Astonished Heart; Ma 

Rainey’s Black Bottom; The Anniversary 

and The Flint Street Nativity (Liverpool 

Playhouse); Cinderella; The Dumb 

Waiter (Oxford Playhouse); The Merry 

Wives of Windsor; The Merchant Of 

Venice; Cymbeline; Twelfth Night 

(Ludlow Festival); Becket; Les Liaisons 

Dangereuses; Sweet Panic; Absolutely! 

Perhaps; The Anniversary; Losing Louis; 

The Master Builder (also tour); Private 

Lives (also Broadway); Embers; Smaller 

(West End); How to Act Around Cops; 

Flush; Mercy; Colder Than Here (Soho 

Theatre); Sunday Father; Born Bad; In 

Arabia We’d All Be Kings; The Best Of 

Friends (Hampstead Theatre). 

Poppy Burton-Morgan 

Assistant Director 

Training: 

Shared Experience, Theatre de 

Complicite, Young Vic, Oxford 

University. 

Theatre includes: 

As director: Palestine Aloud (Cadogan 

Hall); Frisky & Mannish (Canal Cafe 

Theatre & Tour); His Grace’s Betting Shop 

(Staged Reading, Menier Chocolate 

Factory); The State We’re In (Staged 

Reading, Trafalgar Studios); Hamlet – a 

Re-telling (White Bear Theatre); Hidden 

Light (Barons Court Theatre/Oxford 

Playhouse); The Shakespeare Readings 

(White Bear Theatre); Here’s Tommy 

(King’s Head Theatre). 

As assistant director: A Midsummer 

Night’s Dream (Shakespeare’s Globe, 

dir. Joanathan Munby); Mirandolina 

(Royal Exchange, dir. Jonathan 

Munby); Dick Whittington (Oxford 

Playhouse, dir. Peter Duncan.) 

Opera includes: 

As director: The Elephant’s Child 

(Arcola Theatre/Trafalgar Studios); La 

Voix Humaine (Riverside Studios); 

Stabat Mater; The Devil’s Drum (Arcola 

Theatre); The Birds (Merton Chapel). 

As assistant director: Carmen; Rusalka 

(English Touring Opera); Madame 

Butterfly (Opera North, dir. Tim 

Albery);The Magic Flute (Choir of 

London, Palestine National Theatre & 

tour, dir. Samuel West); ENO gala 

concert (London Coliseum, dir. 

Phyllida Lloyd). 

Produced by arrangement with 

Jenny Topper and Lee Dean 

PRODUCTION 

THANK YOUS 

Alex and Lionel Cowan 

Dick Eyre 

Peter Davison at Cambridge University Press 

Gill Green at Royal Holloway University, 

London 

Julie Norton at Routledge Mental Health & 

Guilford Press 

Cunayt Yilmaz at South Library 

Royal College of Psychiatry and the 

American Psychiatric Publishing Inc. 

courtesy of Lee Morgan at 

Compass Academic 

Kate Pocock at Yale University Press, London 

Tony Kirby at The Lancet and 

The Lancet Neurology 

Najma Finlay at Icon Books 

Laura Brooke at Bloomsbury Publishing 

Richard Nicholas and Caroline D’Arcy at 

Charing Cross Hospital 

Jean Sim at Psychology Dept, London 

Metropolitan University 

Wayne at Hanway Print Centre 

CDs made by the CD Factory Team 

Records from Haggle Vinyl 

Chris Towers 

15

“He was just a normal neighbour. 

Kept himself to himself.” 

19 March – 9 May 2009 

European Premiere 

Parlour Song 

By Jez Butterworth 

Cast: 

Amanda 

Drew 

Toby 

Jones 

Andrew 

Lincoln 

Islington First 

Opening performance 

tickets for just £20 if you live 

or work in the Islington area 

Under 30s 

Opening performance tickets 

for just £15 for Under 30s 

Subject to availability. For more 

information or to book 

call 020 7359 4404 

Image: Getty. Almeida Theatre registered charity no 282167 

Director Ian Rickson 

Design Jeremy Herbert 

Lighting Peter Mumford 

Music Stephen Warbeck 

Production Sponsor 

Box Office 020 7359 4404 

Book and join e-list at 

www.almeida.co.uk

Photo Graham Peers. Based on ‘Another Place’ by Antony Gormley. This is not a true representation of his work as the photograph has been altered. Almeida Theatre registered charity no 282167 

14 May – 4 July 2009 

European Premiere 

When the Rain 

Stops Falling 

By Andrew Bovell 

Box Office 020 7359 4404 

Book and join e-list at 

www.almeida.co.uk 

Director Michael Attenborough 

Design Miriam Buether 

Lighting Colin Grenfell 

Music Stephen Warbeck 

Sound Paul Arditti 

Movement Imogen Knight

RECENT ALMEIDA 

PRODUCTIONS 

Eileen Atkins (Bridget) and Imelda 

Staunton (Margaret) in There Came A 

Gypsy Riding, photo by Mark Ellidge 

2003 

THE LADY FROM THE SEA 

“The Islington powerhouse opens with this 

tremendous production by Trevor Nunn… 

electrifying… leaves you reeling.” 

Daily Telegraph 

Sponsored by Hydro 

I.D. 

“A riveting production… full of wonderful 

theatrical invention… a rich and shameful 

period of history and how memorably it is 

evoked.” 

Daily Mail 

Sponsored by Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP 

THE MERCY SEAT 

“Michael Attenborough’s production has a 

high voltage charge that never dips for a 

moment. This play plumbs the depths and 

deserves to be seen.” 


FIVE GOLD RINGS 

“Bold, elegant, lyrical, finely wraught… 

gorgeously staged and beautifully 

performed.” 

Time Out 

Danny Sapani (Victor Mason), Ayesha Antoine 

(Caroline Mason) and Kedar Williams-Stirling (Phillip 

Mason) in Big White Fog, photo by Catherine 

Ashmore 

2004 

THE GOAT, OR WHO IS SYLVIA? 

“Superbly written … brilliant… flawless 

production; you won’t find more blazing 

acting anywhere… see it if you see nothing 

else.” 

Mail on Sunday 

Sponsored by Aspen Re 

FESTEN 

“Electrifying, shocking and profoundly 

moving… such talent, such skill, such 

humanity. Something to celebrate.” 

Sunday Times 

WHISTLING PSYCHE 

“An intense, haunting and beautiful play… 

two remarkable performances... 

marvellously rewarding.” 

Mail on Sunday 

BRIGHTON ROCK 

“An intelligent, edgy, adult musical which 

gives you something to think about... 

Hooray for that... a production of brilliant 

clarity... crackles with energy and evil.” 

Daily Express 

THE EARTHLY PARADISE 

“Gorgeous writing… very compelling, lovely 

and tragic. My play of the year.” 

New Statesman 


Kenneth Cranham (Max) in The Homecoming, photo by Hugo Glendinning 

2005 

MACBETH 

“The most powerful, chilling, evil – feeling 

Macbeth since McKellen and Dench.” 

The Times 


HEDDA GABLER 

“An electrifying hit… a wonderful 

production by Richard Eyre” 



BLOOD WEDDING 

“Brilliantly directed by Rufus Norris. 

Another indication of how well Michael 

Attenborough’s management is doing at 

the Islington playhouse.” 

Daily Express 

ROMANCE 

“You laugh uproariously... it’s a silly person 

who doesn’t.” 

Financial Times 

THE HYPOCHONDRIAC 

“Lindsay Posner’s exuberant, superbly 

acted production is riotously entertaining... 

has you laughing like a drain.” 


18

Corey Johnson (Judge) and Douglas Henshall (Satan) in The 

Last Days of Judas Iscariot, photo by Hugo Glendinning 

2006 

THE LATE HENRY MOSS 

“A thrilling new play... acted up to the hilt by 

a remarkable company... an astonishingly 

wrought, high drama” 

Evening Standard 

Sponsored by Pinsent Masons 

PERIOD OF ADJUSTMENT 

“You must see this play: it’s like a diamond 

cut with its own stardust.” 

Sunday Times 


ENEMIES 

“A superb theatrical achievement...an 

excellent cast...Michael Attenborough’s 

admirable staging...this is a major event in 

our theatre” 

Financial Times 


TOM AND VIV 

“A magnificent and superbly acted piece of 

theatre...the play so powerfully succeeds...a 

sublime tragedy” 

Sunday Times 

THE LIGHTNING PLAY 

“Funny, touching and consistently 

entertaining” 



2007 

Will Keen (Henry Trebell) and Phoebe Nicholls 

(Frances Trebell) in Waste, photo by Johan Persson 

THERE CAME A GYPSY RIDING 

“A magnificent and harrowing play” The Spectator 

“Unmissable” The Observer 


Season Sponsor Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP 

DYING FOR IT 

“The rediscovery of a subversive Soviet classic: 

deserves a permanent place in the British 

repertory” The Guardian 

"Desperately funny... beautifully written” 

The Observer 

Season Sponsor Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP 

BIG WHITE FOG 

“For strong gripping drama and splendid, 

heartfelt acting, the show is hard to beat... 

outstanding” Daily Telegraph 

“A long-lost gem…an excellent company… 

a riveting production” Daily Mail 

AWAKE AND SING! 

“Stirring and fabulously well performed” 

Mail On Sunday 

“Richly rewarding” Independent 

CLOUD NINE 

“An absolute treat…wholly heavenly”Daily 

Telegraph 

“Scorching stuff, and more entertaining then 

anything on in the West End” Sunday Telegraph 

MARIANNE DREAMS 

“A great Christmas show…beautiful and funny” 

Independent 

“Inspired, potent theatre” Mail on Sunday 


David Morrissey (Terry) and Steven Mackintosh (Drew) 

in In a Dark Dark House, photo by John Haynes 

2008 

THE HOMECOMING 

“A masterly production” Sunday Times 

“Exemplary…pitch perfect” The Observer 

“Michael Attenborough’s production sparkles 

like a 100-carat diamond…great theatre” 

Sunday Telegraph 


THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT 

“A sensational hit…a truly epic production” 


“A great piece of theatre…go see it, do yourself 

a favour” BBC 2 Newsnight Review 

A co-production with Headlong Theatre 

ROSMERSHOLM 

“A great production of one of Ibsen’s greatest 

plays… a masterclass in acting… book while 

you can” Sunday Times 

“An unadulterated delight” Sunday Telegraph 


WASTE 

“An overwhelming experience” Evening Standard 

“Another forgotten gem unearthed by the 

Almeida…a superlative production” 

Independent on Sunday 

“A spellbinding production of a superbly rich 

and subtle play” Daily Telegraph 

IN A DARK DARK HOUSE 

“LaBute’s most disquieting yet…and his most 

subtle” The Observer 

“Michael Attenborough gives the play a 

scorching reality…pulsates with feeling. If this 

is “directors’ theatre”, I’m all for it” Sunday Times 

19

ALMEIDA PROJECTS 

Duet for One 

Projects 

Be a Critic funded by Pinsent Masons 

Be a Critic comprises of two workshops – one pre-show and one 

post-show – which will provide young people with tools to 

successfully critique a play. In the first workshop participants will 

work with a workshop leader, Pinsent Masons staff and 

professional theatre critic Samantha Marlowe, to explore the plot, 

characters and themes of the play in detail; and to consider what to 

look out for when reviewing it. The students will then go on to 

watch the play, and then take part in a second workshop to critically 

discuss the performance, including directorial interpretation of the 

play, its design, and the actors’ performances. They will then write 

their own reviews of the play and a selection of these will be posted 

on the Almeida Theatre’s website. 

Photos: Bridget Jones 

20 

Almeida Projects is the Almeida Theatre’s 

community and learning programme. 

Inspired by the Almeida’s renowned theatre productions, Almeida 

Projects delivers a range of high quality, innovative activities to make 

theatre accessible to young people, inspire them creatively, and 

encourage an exploration of the power of theatre. 

By opening up its doors to local young people, Almeida Projects aims 

to demystify the craft of theatre making and the act of theatre going. 

“Almeida Projects provides an active, creative link between our theatre and 

its audience, more specifically an audience that may not have considered 

that the theatre might be for them. This is not simply to ensure an audience 

for the future; it is to establish the right of every individual to self-expression, 

to the belief that they possess creative potential, that theatre is a populist, 

collaborative art form as available to them as to everybody else. 

Whether any young person working with us goes on to become a 

professional writer, actor, director, designer, administrator or technician is of 

secondary interest. Our aim is to act as a catalyst to their energies, to their 

hunger to participate – celebrating the creativity of young people in the best 

way we know how: by offering them our experience, our expertise and our 

unique theatre.” 

Michael Attenborough, Artistic Director. 

If you are interested in finding out more about Almeida Projects, 

volunteering opportunities or seeing our work, contact the Projects 

team on 020 7288 4916 or email projects@almeida.co.uk 

Alongside our projects, we offer subsidised ticket programmes and 

workshops allowing both local young people and students from across 

the country to experience our productions. All schools booking to see a 

show will receive a complimentary Introductory Workshop or a 

Curriculum Workshop. Introductory Workshops give participants 

insight into the play that they are about to see and Curriculum 

Workshops are targeted at specific year groups and/or syllabi. 

What’s your Duet? 

Islington Arts and Media School 

Under the guidance of a professional director and movement 

director, participants will devise their own short performance using 

some of the key themes and ideas in Duet for One, and they will 

simultaneously see the production process through from 

conception to opening night (and look at other roles in the process 

of getting a piece onto the stage, such as design, marketing, stage 

management and technical theatre). 

Take it to the Bridge! 

The Bridge School and Holloway School 

Focussing on the theme of loss – what it means to lose something 

and how you cope with that loss – participants will work with a 

director and designer to devise their own multi-sensory 

performance for the Almeida Theatre’s stage. 

Curriculum Workshops 

Duologues in Performance 

Alongside its Introductory Workshop programme, Almeida 

Projects is offering post-show workshops aimed at AS Level 

Drama/Performing Arts students focussing on Duologues in 

Performance. 

Using the text of the play as a stimulus, workshops will give AS 

Level students an opportunity to develop their understanding of 

the text through practical exercises and rehearsal techniques. The 

sessions will enable students to consider different interpretations 

of the text for realisation in performance as preparation for their 

practical examination. 

Duologues in Performance workshops can be booked instead of an 

Introductory Workshop at no extra cost to the school. Alternatively, 

they can be booked in addition to an Introductory Workshop at an 

additional cost of £5 per participant or a minimum fee of £75. 

For more information or to make a booking contact 020 7288 4916 

or email projects@almeida.co.uk.

YOUNG FRIEND OF 

THE ALMEIDA 

Are you aged 15 – 21 years old? * 

And do you live or go to school, college or university in 

Islington, Camden or Tower Hamlets? If so, then you are 

invited to become a Young Friend of the Almeida Theatre. 

* or 25 if in full-time education 

What do I need to do to become a 

Young Friend of the Almeida Theatre? 

Visit www.almeida.co.uk/young_friends to download an 

application form, or email your name, and contact details 

to Charlie Payne at cpayne@almeida.co.uk or call 

020 7288 4916. 

What are the benefits of being a Young Friend 

of the Almeida Theatre? 

• Come and see all Almeida shows on Happy Mondays for just £3 (this 

includes a pre-show workshop and a programme); 

• Take part in a variety of inspiring theatre and performance 

workshops, related to the shows on in the theatre; 

• Attend holiday residencies where you will work with top directors, 

actors, writers and choreographers from the theatre industry; and 

work on creating and performing short pieces of theatre; 

• Go to the Almeida Theatre Bar, show your membership card and get 

25% off all food and non-alcoholic drinks; 

• Meet other like-minded young people interested in theatre and 

performing arts. 

‘I really enjoy working with the 

professionals and having discussions 

with other people my age.’ 

Young Friend of the Almeida 

Projects Online 

Resources, images and information from 

our current and previous project work 

can be viewed and downloaded from our 

website. 

www.almeida.co.uk/projects 

Principal Supporter 

Forthcoming YFA Events 

Sun 11 Jan & Sun 8 Feb 

10.30am - 6pm 

Mon 16 to Fri 20 Feb 

10am - 4pm 

YFA LAB 

Follow the progress of the LAB 

on our BLOG: 

www.yfalab.blogspot.com 

Sat 14 & Sun 15 Feb 

10am - 3pm 

Musical Theatre Masterclass 

Come and see the play, take part 

in a workshop with other Young 

Friends and get a 

complimentary programme, all 

for just £3! 

Fri 20 Feb 

10am - 4.30pm 

Duet for One Play-in-a Day 

Just what it says on the tin! 

Participants will have just five 

hours to create a brand new 

piece of theatre, to be 

performed to an invited 

audience 

Tue 3 Mar to Tue 19 May 

When The Rain Stops Falling 

Devising Project 

Working with a professional 

director and movement 

specialist, participants will 

devise a short performance for 

the Almeida Theatre Stage. 

Visit www.almeida.co.uk/projects/young_friends for more information about our Young Friends events and activities. 

21

HISTORY OF THE ALMEIDA 

THE ALMEIDA THEATRE is a 325 seat venue 

in the heart of Islington. Built in 1837, 

originally as the Scientific and Literary 

Institute of Islington, the building has 

undergone many reincarnations including a 

Victorian music hall, a Salvation Army citadel, 

when the balcony was most likely added, and a 

factory for carnival novelties. 

It was converted and founded as a theatre in 1980 by 

Pierre Audi, rapidly building up a reputation for high 

quality drama, particularly during the 1990s under the 

Artistic Directorship of Jonathan Kent and Ian 

McDiarmid. 

In 2001 the company relocated to Kings Cross, whilst 

major refurbishment took place, providing an entirely 

new front-of-house and, through massive excavation, 

extra back-stage space. The company returned to 

Islington in 2002 under the direction of present Artistic 

Director Michael Attenborough. 

The Almeida is known worldwide for producing an 

adventurous and diverse range of British and 

international drama with some of the world’s finest 

artists. In its unique space, uniting the epic and the 

intimate, the Almeida presents classics (when foreign, 

in newly commissioned versions) aiming to reveal 

them in a fresh light, alongside brand new plays from 

across the English-speaking world. 

EXPLORE THE ALMEIDA 

You can find out more about the history of 

this fascinating building on our theatre tours. 

Led by an experienced guide they offer the opportunity 

to explore the depths of the theatre including 

backstage, wardrobe, and technical departments. 

The tours also look at the history of the building 

through its many incarnations up to the present day. 

We finish the tours with a complimentary tea or coffee 

in the bar. 

For more information see www.almeida.co.uk 

or to book a place on a tour contact box office on 

020 7359 4404. 

22

YOUR VISIT 

Welcome to the Almeida Theatre 

IN THE FOYER 

The box office, bar, kiosk and toilets 

are all at foyer level. 

Access to the Circle is outside and 

upstairs through the doors on 

Almeida Street. Access to the Stalls 

is through the doors in the foyer. 

The following are available to buy 

from the kiosk in the foyer: 

• Playscripts, past & present 

• Programmes 

• Posters 

• Loseley Ice Creams 

• Almeida T-shirts 

• Copies of The Half by Simon Annand 

Infrared headsets are also available 

at the kiosk for a small deposit. 

DURING THE 

PERFORMANCE 

Please take your seats in good time. 

There will be a three minute bell 

before the start of the performance. 

EATING AND DRINKING 

The Almeida Theatre Bar offers simple, quality dishes prepared 

in our kitchen, a great wine list, fine coffees and a relaxed 

atmosphere, and in the evening becomes a lively bar for audiences 

and actors alike. 

Light and airy in the daytime, it is an ideal place to meet friends for lunch, 

make use of our free Wifi connection, or just relax and read the papers. 

The Theatre Bar is open to all. You can visit us from 11.30am – 11pm, 

Mon – Sat, and eat with us between 12 – 7pm. 

To beat the rush we recommend that you pre-order your interval drinks 

at the bar before the performance. 

For further information, or enquiries about hiring the bar please call 

020 7288 4900 or visit www.almeida.co.uk 

To avoid distracting the performers 

and spoiling the performance for 

other audience members we ask that 

you keep noise to a minimum in the 

auditorium and please switch off 

mobile phones. We kindly request no 

photography or recording equipment 

be used in the auditorium. 

Plastic cups are available at the bar 

and from ushers to enable you to 

take drinks or sweets into the 

auditorium. We request that you do 

not take food in with you. 

Strobe lighting, smoke, and gunshots 

may be used in some of our 

productions. If you would like more 

information on stage effects please 

ask to speak to the Duty Manager. 

Tell us your 

thoughts... 

We'd love to hear your thoughts on your 

experience at the Almeida Theatre and in 

particular what you thought of today’s 

performance. Please fill in a card in the 

foyer, or email us on 

marketing@almeida.co.uk 

23

JOIN THE 

ALMEIDA’S 

CIRCLE OF 

SUPPORTERS 

Every donation made through our Circle of 

Supporters scheme is vital to ensuring 

that the Almeida can continue to mount 

productions of outstanding quality in our 

beautifully refurbished theatre. 

IN ADDITION YOU CAN BENEFIT FROM: 

• Priority booking 

• Advance mailing 

• Exclusive events 

• Quarterly newsletter 

• Special offers 

• Programme accreditation 

• Personalised booking 

• Access to sold out shows 

See overleaf for more details. 

(Benefits depend on level of support) 

If you would like to help us and 

become more involved with 

the theatre and its work, please 

join our Circle of Supporters today. 

For further information please call 

020 7288 4930 or email Lizzie Stallybrass 

at lstallybrass@almeida.co.uk 

24 

Andrew Lincoln and Brendan Coyle in 

The Late Henry Moss. Photo John Haynes 

Gael Garcia Bernal in Blood Wedding. 

Photo Keith Pattison 

Paul Hilton and Helen McCrory in 

Rosmersholm. Photo Johan Persson

PLEASE SUPPORT THE ALMEIDA AT 

ONE OF THE FOLLOWING LEVELS: 

ALMEIDA FRIENDS (£50+) 

For a suggested donation of £50 or more we may 

extend the following: 

• Advance mailing and priority booking 

• Regular information about Almeida news and events 

• Invitations to Supporters’ evenings 

• Ticket offers when available 

DESIGNERS’ CIRCLE (£120+) 


extend the above and the following: 

• Accreditation in Almeida Theatre programmes 

• Advance notice of Almeida Galas 

I would like to join the Almeida’s Circle of 

Supporters at the following level: 

(The amounts listed are suggested donations only) 

ALMEIDA FRIENDS (£50+) 

DESIGNERS’ CIRCLE (£120+) 

ACTORS’ CIRCLE (£300+) 

DIRECTORS’ CIRCLE (£500+) 

PATRONS (£1,000+) 

BENEFACTORS (£2,500+) 

PRODUCTION CIRCLE (£5,000+) 

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S INNER CIRCLE (£10,000+) 

Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss 

ACTORS’ CIRCLE (£300+) 



• Personalised booking service through the Development Office 

Address 

Postcode 

DIRECTORS’ CIRCLE (£500+) 



• Regular press release mailings, including latest 

casting updates 

• Opportunity of hiring the Almeida Bar for 

private functions (subject to availability) 

• Invitation to annual Directors’ Circle reception 

PATRONS (£1,000+) 

For a suggested donation of £1,000 or more we may 


• Invitations to selected Press Nights 

• Invitations to private post-show discussions with cast 

and creative teams 

• Invitation to Patrons’ lunch with the Almeida’s 

Artistic Director 

• Access to house seats when a production is 

officially sold-out (subject to availability) 

BENEFACTORS (£2,500+) 

For a suggested donation of £2,500 or more we may extend the 

above and the following: 

• Invitations to every Press Night 

• Acknowledgement on the Benefactors’ Board in 

the Theatre Foyer 

• Private Backstage Tour 

PRODUCTION CIRCLE (£5,000+) 



• Invitations to selected dress or technical rehearsals 

• Draft scripts when rehearsals for productions begin 

• Published scripts signed by cast or creative teams 

(subject to availability) 

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S INNER CIRCLE (£10,000+) 



A unique opportunity for a small team of individuals to become 

closely involved at the heart of the theatre company. Forming an 

exclusive partnership with the Artistic Director, members will play a 

crucial and active role in enabling the theatre’s programme and the 

artistic standards for which the Almeida is renowned. 

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot photo Hugo Glendinning 

Tel (day) 

Tel (eve) 

Please acknowledge me/us in the Almeida Programmes as: 

(for gifts over £120) 

1. BY CHEQUE 

I enclose a cheque made payable to The Almeida Theatre Company for 

£ 

2. BY CREDIT CARD 

(You can also pay by calling Lizzie Stallybrass in the Development Office 

between 10am and 6pm Monday to Friday on 020 7288 4930) 

Please charge my credit card with 

Card No 

Name of cardholder 

Start date 

Issue No (Switch only) 

Security Code 

Card Type Mastercard / American Express / Switch / Visa 

(please delete as appropriate) 

GIFT AID 

I am a UK taxpayer and would like the enclosed donation and any 

Signature 

further donations I may make to the Almeida Theatre to be tax 

effective under the Gift Aid scheme until I notify you otherwise. 

The Almeida is a registered charity no. 282167. Inland Revenue number XN 64354 

PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM TO: 

ALMEIDA CIRCLE OF SUPPORTERS, FREEPOST LON18195, LONDON N1 1BR 

£ 

Expiry date 

Date

ALMEIDA SUPPORTERS 

The Almeida is a truly unique theatre. The world’s finest acting, writing, designing and directing talents produce 

some of their best work in our much loved space, ensuring that the theatre is alive each night with performances 

that inspire and excite our audiences. 

However, the freedom and the means whereby we can be bold, risk-taking and distinctive and able to produce 

work of the highest quality, costs money. £3.3m per annum to be precise. Every year we raise £1.2m of that 

ourselves – more than box office income or subsidy from Arts Council England. 

We are, therefore, hugely reliant upon the financial commitment of a group of very special individuals, trusts and 

companies who choose to become involved at the heart of our theatre. Their support ensures that we can plan 

ambitiously for the future with security and confidence, whilst keeping ticket prices affordable (with over 40 seats 

sold each night for just £6). It also means we can continue to deliver Almeida Projects - our inspirational 

programme of work with young people and the local community. 

Accordingly, we owe immense thanks to a collection of committed and enthusiastic supporters - many of whom 

are listed below and without whose kindness we simply could not exist. I do hope that you too might consider 

becoming involved with our wonderful theatre, at whatever level - helping us to continue turning our dreams into 

reality. 

Michael Attenborough 


26 

Major Donors 

Ormonde & Mildred Duveen Trust 

Christophe Gollut 

The Ingram Trust 

Harvey & Allison McGrath 

Georgia Oetker 

The Rose Foundation 

Legacy Gifts 

Arthur Donald Fleming 

Clare Hope 

Almeida Projects Supporters 

Principal Supporter: 

The Lehman Brothers 

Foundation Europe 

The Andor Charitable Trust 

Sue Baring & Andre Newburg 

Raymond Cazalet Charitable Trust 

James & Erica Dickson 

The Foundation for 

Sport and the Arts 

The Peter Harrison Foundation 

Kyte broking 

Mr & Mrs David Lakhdhir 

The Leathersellers' 

Company Charitable Fund 

The Rayne Foundation 

Jan & Michael Topham 

Lady Alexander of Weedon 

Gala Supporters 

Stamos J. Fafalios 

Mary Francis & Ian Rodger 

David Lanch 

Judith Loose 

Harvey & Allison McGrath 

The Rayne Foundation 

The Rickety Charitable Trust 

Sarka Tourres 

Artistic Director’s Inner Circle 

Eric Abraham & Sigrid Rausing 

Mrs Claus von Bulow 

Mercedes & Michael Hoffman 

Jack & Linda Keenan 

John Kinder & Geraldine Downey 

Rosemary Leith 

Midge & Simon Palley 

Jon & NoraLee Sedmak 

The Williams Charitable Trust 

Production Circle 

K.L. Breuss & G.P. Burgess 


Joachim Fleury 

Cathy & Guy Gronquist 

The Marina Kleinwort Trust 

Paul & Elizabeth O’Hanlon 

Sarah & Alastair Ross Goobey 

Rachel & Anthony Williams 

Benefactors 

Arimathea Charitable Trust 

Steve Barnett & Alexandra Marks 

Ian & Caroline Cormack 

Sarah & Louis Elson 

Tim Fosberry 

Mr & Mrs A Geczy 

Lydia & Manfred Gorvy 

Anonymous 

Barbara & Michael Gwinnell 

Matthew & Severa Hurlock 

Carlo Kapp 

Wayne Rapozo 

Jill & Paul Ruddock 

Lord & Lady Simon 

Nicola Stanhope 

Christian & Sarah Thun-Hohenstein 

Jan & Michael Topham 

Roderick & Melanie Vere Nicoll 

Andrew & Juliet Wilkinson 

Patrons 

Jeffrey Archer 

Jane Attias 

Keith & Barbara Bain 

Sue Baring & Andre Newburg 

Lord & Lady Bernstein 

Kate & Colin Birss 

Jonathan & Isabel Blake 

Tony & Gisela Bloom 

Miriam Borchard 

Katie Bradford 

Richard & Robin Chapman 

Mr William Claxton-Smith 

Mrs Denise Cohen 

Mr & Mrs Stephen Cox 

Felicia Crystal 

Mr & Mrs Dannenbaum 

Alan Davies 

Angus Deayton 

Mr Robert H.F. Devereux 

James & Erica Dickson 

Robyn Durie 

Joel van Dusen 

Richard & Linda Ely 

Mr Peter Englander 

Daniel Friel 

Jackie & Michael Gee 

Jacqueline & Jonathan Gestetner 

Richard Gildea 

Michael Goddard 

David Graham 

Nick Gray 

Byron Grote & Susan Miller 

Susan Hahn & Duncan Moore 

Andrew Haigh 

Pamela, Lady Harlech 

Maureen & Derek Harte 

Alisdair & Sophie Haythornthwaite 

Michael & Morven Heller

Dorothy Henderson 

Michael Holland 

Michael Holter 

Linden Ife 

Lady Stephanie Johnson 

Nicholas & Maria Jones 

Nicholas Josefowitz 

Mary Kallaher & Matteo Perale 

Dr & Dr C Kaplanis 

Mr & Mrs Philip Kingsley 

Mr & Mrs David Lakhdhir 

Marsha & Alan Lee 

Anthony Mackintosh 

Charles & Nicky Manby 

Mr Raul Margara 

Mr Julian Mills 

Barbara Minto 

Diana & Alan Morgenthau 

Graham Norton 

Emily Thornberry MP 

& Christopher Nugee QC 

Ray & Sarah O’Connell 

J Francis Palamara 

Barrie & Catherine Pearson 

Mr & Mrs William Plapinger 

Andrea & Hilary Ponti 

The Posgate Charitable Trust 

The David & Elaine Potter 

Foundation 

Michele Ragazzi 

Timothy & Judith Ritchie 

Sue & Tony Rosner 

William & Julie Ryan 

Dr Mortimer & 

Theresa Sackler Foundation 

Susie Sainsbury 

Mr & Mrs Richard J Schwartz 

Mrs Carol Sellars 

Jennifer Sevaux 

Norma & David Smith 

David & Tanya Steyn 

Adam & Sheri Sticpewich 

Richard Sykes & Penny Mason 

Mr R D Szpiro 

Carl & Martha Tack 

Ms Eileen Taylor 

Lord & Lady Tugendhat 

Judith Unwin 

Mr P Voyce 

Bob & India Wardrop 

Lady Alexander of Weedon 

Jack & Lina Wood 

Mr Neil Woodgate 

Mr C C Wright 

Michael & Kate Yates 

Jonathan Yudkin 

Directors’ Circle 

Cliff & Fiona Atkins 

Lorraine Baldry 

Leslie Balfour-Lynn 

J & A Benard 

Neil & Ann Benson 

Mrs Rosalie Berwin 

Nicholas Berwin 

Sally A. Bourne 

Ms Diana Brant 

Anthony Bunker 

Barry Burland & Tim den Dekker 

Sir Geoffrey and Lady Cass 

Mr Simon Clark 

Carole & Neville Conrad 

John Crisp 

George T Dragonas 

Jim & Maureen Elton 

Mort & Frannie Fleishhacker 

Margaret Ford & John Stewart 

Mr Stephen Foss 

Anupam Ganguli 

David Gestetner & Angela Howard 

Mr Farzin S Ghandchi 

The Mimi & Peter Haas Fund 

Neville & Veronika Harris 

Mr Charles Henderson 

Sir Robin & Lady Jacob 

David Kaskel & Christopher Teano 

Peter & Maria Kellner 

London Arts Discovery Tours 

Brenda Meldrum 

Maggie Mills 

Asha & Trevor Phillips 

John & Laurel Rafter 

Anthony Regan 

Mr Charles Russell 

Mr & Mrs Anthony Salz 

Mr Brian D Smith 

Tim & Sophia Steel 

Dr Miriam Stoppard 

Sally Walden 

Marilyn & Geoffrey Wilson 

Mr & Mrs Roger Wyand 

Actors’ Circle 

Brian Abbs 

J Aldred 

Alexander Balcombe 

Mr & Mrs Andrew Barnett 

Mr Dean Barrett 

Susan Barty 

David & Primrose Bell 

Michael & Lesley Bennett 

Mr & Mrs Anthony Blee 

Lord and Lady Brown of 

Eaton-Under-Heywood 

Felicity Callinan 

Peter & Diana Cawdron 

Elizabeth Cloud 

Rosamund Shelley, Lady Cox 

Robert & Lynette Craig 

Paul Cullington 

Timothy & Patrcia Daunt 

Gill Cutbill & Ged Davies 

David Day 

Jose and David Dent 

Yvonne Destribats 

Mr R J Dormer 

Mr Alan Fenton 

Robert & Clare Gray 

Brian and Rosita Green 

Nick & Fiona Green 

Graeme & Fiona Griffiths 

Sheila & John Harvey 

Ms Clodagh Hayes 

Ms Sioban Healy 

Martin & Alicia Herbert 

Robert Horley 

Rob & Sally Hull 

Joyce Hytner 

Mr Neil King 

Latifa Kosta 

Byron Lang 

Mr & Mrs B Lesslie 

Janet Martin 

Stephen & Nan-Yeong Matthews 

The Morris-Jones Family 

Despina Moschos 

Ms Jane Norbury 

Jeremy & Mary Vere Parr 

Mr Richard Polo 

John & Christine Preston 

Mary Robey 

David Rocksavage 

Mr G C Rodopoulos 

Julian & Catherine Roskill 

Samuel French Ltd 

Barry Serjent 

Dasha Shenkman 

Sue and Stuart Stradling 

Christoph & Marion Trestler 

Mr William Underhill 

Mrs Bonnie J Ward 

Nicholas Watkinson 

Frank & Denie Weil 

Designers’ Circle 

Raymond A Adams 

Mr Simon Aldridge 

D J Almeida 

Mrs Carole J Armstrong 

Stephen Artus 

Zac & Lucy Barratt 

Christopher Benson 

Michael Berkeley 

Rita & Ian Binder 

Mr & Mrs Boesch 

Mr M R Bowley 

Stuart Branch 

Mandy Bridger 

Mr C L Bulford 

Ossi & Paul Burger 

Dr Nigel Burton 

Mrs R J A Carawan 

Tiana Everett del Castillo 

Geraldine Caulfield 

Lady Cazalet 

Mr & Mrs P Chappatte 

Mrs Gay Christie 

Mr S J Clayman 

Mr T Coldrey 

John & Rosemary Coldwell 

Mr Mark Cole 

Claire & Ivor Connick 

Mr Timothy Corner 

Ms Kate Crehan 

Jonathan Crow 

Anthony Croxford 

Mrs Pamela Curwen 

Professor Philip David 

Dr Sheilagh Davies 

Graham & Christine Dawson 

Justin & Emma Dowley 

Mr Kendall Duesbury 

Miss Sally England 

Mrs Joy Eve 

Mark Everett 

Lindy Fletcher 

Tony & Jane Fogg 

Mr P L Folmer 

Judith Foy 

Bobbie Ginswick 

Michael Godbee 

Janine Goedert 

Andrew & Karen Goldstone 

Ms S J Goodman 

Ms Eleanor Gordon 

Mr Ian Grant 

Reade & Elizabeth Griffith 

Grouse Investment 

Nerissa Guest 

Debby Guthrie 

Maurice & Valerie Halperin 

Sophie Hanscombe 

Rosemary Hanson 

Andrew and Anita Harper 

Crawford & Mary Harris 

Jonathan and Hélène Haw 

Douglas Hawkins 

Mr Robert J Henderson 

Polly Hester 

Andy & Janelle Hill 

Jane Hill 

Caroline & Charles Hebbert 

Mr Lew Hodges 

Madeleine Hodgkin 

Mrs Rosemary Hood 

Mr Scott Hunsicker 

Jacky Hyer 

Rachel Ingalls 

Tamara Ingram 

Dan Ison 

Mr Michael Jacob 

Christine Jay 

Professor Norman Joels 

Mrs M Johnston 

Mr Simon Jones 

Brian & Janet King 

Sarah & Christopher Knight 

Ruth & Peter Kraus 

Kudos Film and Television 

Mrs A Lampert 

Mr David Lanch 

David John Langrish 

Mr Roger Lascelles 

Jacqui Lavy 

Alan Leibowitz & Barbara Weiss 

Colette & Peter Levy 

Mr Dennis M Levy 

Mrs Ilana Levy 

Mr & Mrs LE Linaker 

Paul & Brigitta Lock 

Mr Lawrence Lowenthal 

C & I Maggs 

Donald & Sally Main 

John McGinley 

27

Lynette & Willie McKechnie 

Ms A Millar 

Ms Tessa Moloney 

Alex & Susan de Mont 

Paula Morris 

Sean Murphy 

Mrs VG Murray 

Mr & Mrs Myddleton 

Dr Venetia Newall 

Ms E Nobileau-Forget 

Clive & Annie Norton 

Mr & Mrs M O’Farrell 

Ellie Packer & Bob Freidus 

Mr Marcelo Paes De Mello 

Nigel Pantling 

Ms Sara Parkin 

Mrs Joyce Parsons 

Mr Duncan Perry 

Nick Perry 

Professor Brice Pitt 

Mrs Barbara Pollard 

Preben & Annie Prebenson 

Oliver Prenn 

Mrs Caroline Price 

Sue Prickett 

Dennis Pyser 

Darren Quigg & Irina Hemmers 

Mrs E E Randall 

Dr Susan Rankine 

Ms Ruth Rattenbury 

Liz & Nick Reeve 

Mrs Kathleen Reeve 

Christopher Marek Rencki 

Mrs Mary Rendall 

Anthony Rhodes 

Clare Rich 

Robin Roads 

RobynCeleste 

Oliver WB Rooke 

Anthony Rudd 

Mrs Susan Rudeloff 

Dr & Mrs Saggar 

Christopher & Alison Samuel 

Simon & Abigail Sargent 

Beth Schneider 

Schon Family Charitable Trust 

Gilly Schuster 

Mr & Mrs Colin Scott-Malden 

Lucie Seaton 

Dr Martin Seifert & Dr Jackie Morris 

Dr Sennett 

Mr Naveed Shah 

Mrs Susan Shammas 

Mr T W Sharp 

Justin Shinebourne & 

Laurence Chaussinand 

Elaine & English Showalter 

Jonathan Silver 

Mark Silverstein 

Peter & Moira Smith 

Mrs L Spitz 

Mr AP & Mrs M T Stirling 

Julian & Maria Sturdy-Morton 

Mr Andrew Taggart 

Mr D. A. Thomas 

Anne & Robert Van Gieson 

The Lady Marina Vaizey 

Mr Andrew Wales 

Lady Ward 

Sue & Alan Warner 

Mr Tim Watson 

Mr John Welz 

Paul Wheeler 

Susan & Charles Whiddington 

Miss Lisa Whiffen 

Mr Widdis 

Dr Peter Willis 

Ms Ann E F Wingate 

Mr & Mrs D Woolf 

Richard Worts & Nicola Shackelton 

We would also like to thank the 

many generous Friends of the 

Almeida Theatre, whom we are 

unable to list individually 

We would like to thank the following individuals for their dedication and support. 

Ambassadors 

Sarah Elson 


Rick Haythornthwaite 

Jack Keenan 

Georgia Oetker 

Jessica de Rothschild 

American Friends of the Almeida 

Theatre Trustees 

Kenneth David Burrows 

A. Michael Hoffman 

William Palmer 

Corporate Council 

Rick Gildea 

Chair 

Joachim Fleury 

Frederick Goetzen 

Andrew Grant 

Dan Ison 

Andrew Wilkinson 

Gala Committee Chairs 

Lise Mayer & Jamie Arkell 

Cabaret Gala 

Juliet Wilkinson 

Chain Play II 

Martha Tack 

A Chain Play 

Saffron Burrows & Sydney Finch 

The Hypochondriac 

Thelma Holt & Damian Lewis 

Macbeth 


Awake and Sing! 

Blood Wedding 

Love Counts 

Jessica de Rothschild 

The Lady From The Sea 

Individual Giving Committee 

Martha Tack 

Chair 

Jamie Arkell 

Tim Fosberry 


Andrew Haigh 

Dorothy Henderson 

Linda Lakhdhir 

Judith Unwin 

Local Liaison 

Committee 

Nicky Manby 

Chair 

Milly Ayliffe 

Jenny Black 

Annie Edge 

Rob Edge 

Susan Hahn 

Caroline Hoare 

Linden Ife 

Clare Parsons 

Demelza Short 

Rod Smith 

Sarah Whitehead 

STOP 

PRESS: 

A few tickets left 

IMELDA STAUNTON 

AND FRIENDS 

CABARET GALA 

Sunday 8 February 2009 

To book: call 

020 7288 4930 

Have you ever thought about supporting the Almeida Theatre with a legacy? 

Leaving a legacy is a very special way of ensuring that your tradition of 

support for the Almeida Theatre continues for years to come, allowing 

us to provide enriching theatrical experiences which will engage future 

generations. 

You can include the Almeida Theatre in your Will by directing your gift 

to the Almeida Theatre Company Limited, registered charity number 

282167. 

28 

For any information concerning legacies please contact Lizzie Stallybrass at lstallybrass@almeida.co.uk or 020 7288 4935.

ALMEIDA CORPORATE 

SUPPORTERS 

“A small stage where giants play” The Times 

The Almeida Theatre’s Corporate Supporters benefit from 

bespoke, mutually beneficial partnerships with the theatre 

that include the following: 

• Unique entertaining opportunities with the Almeida’s 

first-class casts and creative teams 

• Branding, marketing and profiling opportunities 

• Staff training and employee involvement initiatives 

• CSR fulfilment via Almeida Projects: the theatre’s creative 

exchange with young people 

The theatre is particularly grateful to Principal Sponsor Coutts 

& Co who is currently enjoying a sixth year of support. In 

partnership with the Almeida, Coutts & Co has benefited from 

exclusive client hospitality opportunities, professional 

development for staff and the creation of a unique film, 

Portrait of a Bank. 

To find out how the Almeida can help your business, please 

contact Katya Evans, Sponsorship Manager, who will be 

pleased to discuss your specific requirements. 

Telephone: 020 7288 4930 

Email: development@almeida.co.uk 

The theatre’s name is associated with critically acclaimed, 

award-winning productions. Actors, directors, writers and 

designers of the highest calibre have produced some of their 

finest work at the Almeida. 

Principal Sponsor 

Corporate Partners 

Local 

Corporate Partners 

Major Sponsors 

Almeida Projects 

Principal Supporter 

29

THE ALMEIDA THEATRE 

COMPANY 

The Almeida Board 

Christopher Rodrigues CBE 

Chair 

Mary Francis CBE Linden Ife 

(Treasurer) 

Tamara Ingram 

Jill Barton 


Michael Gwinnell Ray O’Connell 

A. Michael Hoffman Rufus Olins 

Giles Havergal CBE Nigel Pantling 

Thelma Holt CBE Roy Williams 

Artistic Directors 

1980 – 1990 Pierre Audi (Founder) 

1990 – 2002 Jonathan Kent 

Ian McDiarmid 

2002 – Michael Attenborough 

Development Board 

A. Micheal Hoffman 

Chair 


Vice Chair 

Jamie Arkell 

Sue Baring 

Jonathan Blake 

Georgiana Boothby 

Rick Gildea 


Lord Hart of Chilton 

Matthew Hurlock 

John Kinder 

Judith Loose 

Nicky Manby 

Lady Rayne 

Martha Tack 

Andrew Wilkinson 

Hilary Williams 

Andrea Wilson 


Michael Attenborough 

Executive Director 

Neil Constable 

Artistic Associate 

Jenny Worton 

Associate Director 

Howard Davies 

Music Advisor 

Jonathan Dove 

Lighting Advisor 

Mark Henderson 

Sound Advisor 

John Leonard 

ADMINISTRATION 

General Manager 

Natasha Bucknor 

Assistant to the 

Directorate 

Rachel Barker 

Administrative 

Assistant 

David Swain 

ALMEIDA PROJECTS 

Projects Director 

Samantha Lane 

Projects Coordinator 

Natalie Mitchell 

Projects Administrator 

Charlie Payne 

Projects Workshop Team 

Michael Bhim 

Poppy Burton-Morgan 

Rachel Elton 

Jane Fallowfield 

Joel Horwood 

Imogen Knight 

Mara Lockowandt 

Alex Matthews 

Susie Nunn 

Simon Pollard 

Abdul Shayek 

Jen Thomas 

Anna Tolputt 

Rebecca Tortora 

Sheila White 

BAR 

Bar Manager 

Hannah Woolhouse 

Deputy Bar Manager 

Lanre Bankole 

Bar Staff 

Natalie Bartle 

Irene Cioni 

Dominique Edwards 

Blanca Garay 

Emmeline Ham 

Neil Jones 

Margherita Malanchini 

Daniela Mangiapane 

Lara Rossi* 

Harriet Shillito* 

Melissa Smith* 

Max Sobol 

Luis Valentine 

Fred Vincent 

*Also Duty Managers 

BOX OFFICE 

Box Office Manager 

Tina Farguson 

Box Office Supervisors 

Wendy Taylor 

Suzanne Walker** 

Miranda Yates** 

** Also Access Officers 

Box Office Assistants 

Maria Ferran 

Katie Southall 

Jonathan Speer 

Ruth Varley 

DEVELOPMENT 

Head of Development 

Kirsten Hughes 

Senior Development 

Manager 

Nadia Boujo 

Sponsorship Manager 

Katya Evans 

Events Officer 

Rebecca Lyle 

Individual Giving Officer 

Lizzie Stallybrass 

FINANCE 

Head of Finance 

Fraser Jopp 

Finance Manager 

Jenny Patterson 

Finance Officer 

Joy Aitchison 

Interim Finance Officer 

Donika Yordanova 

FRONT OF HOUSE 

Theatre Manager 

Helen Cooles 

Duty Managers 

Nick Durant 

Jonathan Speer 

Dervla Toal 

Head Ushers 

Jessica Carroll 

Geraldine Caulfield 

Imogen Cooper 

Chris Corby 

Sylvie Gallant 

Camilla Mars 

David Weinberg 

Geoff White 

Ushers 

Kathy Backhouse 

Ono Dafedjaiye 

Laura Evelyn 

Anisa Farabi 

Eric Geynes 

Louise Glover 

Anna Goodwin 

Andrew Howard 

Janice Howard 

Louie Keen 

Mo Mara 

Nic McQuillan 

Mary Okeke 

Anne Sheasby 

Theatre Tour Guide 

Jenny Hargreaves 

Cleaning Staff 

Excell Cleaning Services 

Ltd 

MARKETING 

Head of Marketing 

& Sales (maternity cover) 

Douglas Buist 

Head of Marketing 

& Sales 

Jane Macpherson 

Marketing Officer 

Helen Bennett 

Marketing Assistant 

Louise Glover 

PRESS 

Press Representative 

Janine Shalom at 

Premier PR 

020 7292 8330 

PRODUCTION 

Head of Production 

James Crout 

Company Manager 

Rupert Carlile 

Stage Manager 

Laura Flowers 

Chief Technician 

Jason Wescombe 

Lighting Technician 

Robin Fisher 

Sound Technician 

Howard Wood 

Theatre Technician 

Adriano Agostino 

Wardrobe Supervisor 

Catrina Richardson 

Wardrobe Deputy 

Eleanor Dolan 

CONSULTANTS 

Scripts Advisor 

Barry McCarthy 

Architects 

Burrell Foley Fischer 

Structural Engineering 

Consultants 

Alan Conisbee Associates 

Surveyor to the Almeida 

Hedley Merriman 

Auditors 

Haysmacintyre 

Solicitors 

Cumberland & Ellis 

Mishcon de Reya 

Wedlake Saint 

Production Insurance 

Giles Insurance Brokers 

Security 

Umair Jamil for 

McKenzie Arnold 

Security Ltd 

Access Consultant Group 

Mandy Colleran 

Wendy Haslam 

Ian Jentle 

Lois Keith 

Deborah Neve 

Caroline Parker 

Graphic Design 

Sarah Hyndman 

Dave Roberts for Cantate 

Programme Print 

Cantate 

In accordance with the requirements of the Council of the London Borough of 

Islington, persons shall not be permitted to stand or sit in any of the gangways 

intersecting the seating or to sit in any of the other gangways. 

30

ASSISTED PERFORMANCES 

The Almeida Theatre schedules assisted performances in order to make 

theatre more accessible and enjoyable for people who may find it difficult to 

see or hear everything that takes place on stage. 

Captioned performances feature an 

electronic screen which displays the 

words being spoken on stage in time 

with the performance, much like the 

subtitles you would see on television. 

Sound effects and music are also 

captioned. 

As part of the theatre's on-going 

access programme the Almeida will 

be captioning performances in house. 

Having now completed Stagetext 

captioning training, the Almeida now 

has a team of three CACDP (Council 

for Advancement of Communication 

with Deaf People) qualified 

captioners, as well as our own caption 

box and equipment. 

Audio described performances are 

ideal for audience members with 

visual impairment. We provide a 

discreet headset, which allows you to 

listen to information about the set, 

costumes, body language and facial 

expressions of the performers, 

during pauses in the action on-stage. 

Prior to the performance patrons 

receive CDs giving details of the set, 

characters and costumes and on the 

day of the performance can attend a 

free touch tour where they get a 

chance to explore the set and 

costumes and meet some of the 

cast. 

Our sign language interpreted 

performances are presented by a 

variety of highly experienced 

interpreters who use British Sign 

Language. 

DUET FOR ONE 

Sat 28 Feb 3pm 

Thu 12 Mar 7.30pm 

Captioned in house 

PARLOUR SONG 

Sat 25 Apr 3pm 

Thu 7 May 7.30pm 


WHEN THE RAIN STOPS FALLING 

Sat 20 Jun 3pm 

Tue 30 Jun 7.30pm 


DUET FOR ONE 

Sat 7 Mar 3pm 

Audio Described by Vocaleyes 

(Touch Tour 1.30pm) 

PARLOUR SONG 

Sat 2 May 3pm 



WHEN THE RAIN STOPS FALLING 

Sat 27 Jun 3pm 



DUET FOR ONE 

Tue 17 Feb 7.30pm 

BSL Interpreted by Jude Mahon 

PARLOUR SONG 

Wed 15 Apr 7.30pm 

BSL Interpreted by Jeni Draper 

GET IN TOUCH 

If you would like any more information 

about assisted performances or access, 

or to book for an assisted performance, 

please contact us: 

020 7288 4999 

email access@almeida.co.uk 

or visit www.almeida.co.uk 

If you would like a large print 

copy of this programme please 

contact us using the details 

listed. 

Thanks to Vocaleyes and all our interpreters. 

31

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