The Ameida Theatre has announced the full cast of Cleansed, a contemporary production of Sarah Kane’s classic script.
Directed by Rebecca Frecknall, it will star Leo Bill, Pearl Chanda, Luke Cinque-White, Lizzy Connolly, Jack Riddiford, Parth Thakerar and Stuart Thompson.
I love you now. I’m with you now. I’ll do my best, moment to moment, not to betray you. Now. That’s it. No more. Don’t make me lie to you.
Two lovers and two siblings. How far are they prepared to go to prove their devotion? And will their love survive when subjected to the most extreme violence?
The creative team includes set designer Madeleine Girling, costume designer Debbie Duru, lighting designer Lee Curran, sound designer George Dennis, composer Angus MacRae, intimacy director Ingrid Mackinnon, casting director Julia Horan, illusions by Chris Fisher, fight director Sam Lyon Behan, costume supervisor Olivia Ward and assistant director Roberta Zuric.
The production opens on Wednesday, July 29, with previews from Wednesday, July 22, and runs until Saturday, August 29.
Meanwhile, the Almeida has also announced 1000 (Millennia), the final in a trilogy of plays exploring what it means to live, work, love, pray, celebrate and mourn in Islington, by Stephanie Bain and presented in partnership with All Change, Arsenal in the Community and Cardboard Citizens.
We will only ever know our little sliver of it all, not the layers upon layers, not the before us, or the after us, the ghosts that linger only in a word heard on the wind, or the sign above a pub, or the name of a street.
A road cutting through a landscape. A road that changes its name — Gisla’s Hill, Upper Street, Coral Street, Slow Road. A refuge for a young murderess on the run. A sanctuary for a monk waiting for a vision. A drinking hole for a hangman and a landlady who ought to get a room. A meeting-place for doomsday preppers. A high-speed travelator for the hyper-efficient worker. A supper spot for a family wearing flippers. A place made from its people.
From a half-remembered past to a fantastical imagined future, 80 people from across the borough come together to create an epic myth of Islington. Written by Stephanie Bain (The Years) and creative directed by Dani Parr, 1000 (Millenia) is the third instalment of the Almeida’s Islington Trilogy, following 24 (Day) in 2023 and 81 (Life) in 2025.
The creative team features creative director Dani Parr, directors Montel Douglas, Jordana Golbourn, Chris Sonnex and Ella Zgorska, movement director Darragh O’Leary, creative producer Beth Bowden, set designer Kate Bunce, costume designer Georgie Lynch, lighting designer Fraser Craig, sound designer Bryony Blackler, associate costume designer Lizzie Chute, costume supervisor Louise Smith, All Change associate artist and dramaturg Francesca Beard, Cardboard Citizens associate director Masha Maroutitch and assistant directors Takiyah Kamaria and Zoë Carvalho Morris.
The production runs from Thursday, July 9 until Saturday, July 11.
Tickets for Cleansed and 1000 (Millennia) will go on sale to Almeida Patrons, Gold Friends and Friends Plus on Tuesday, April 28, Almeida Friends on Thursday, April 30 and the general public on Tuesday, May 5. Tickets here.
Top image: 1000 (Millennia) artwork (image supplied)
Thursday 9 – Saturday 11 July
Press Night: Friday 10 July, 7pm