Ben Whishaw stars in Against at the Almeida Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
WRITTEN by Christopher Shinn and directed by Ian Rickson, Against runs at the Almeida Theatre from August 23 (previews from August 12) to September 30, 2017.
The cast includes Ben Whishaw (as Luke), Adele Leonce and Naomi Wirthner, with further casting to be announced.
Silicon Valley. The future. A rocket launches.
Luke is an aerospace billionaire who can talk to anyone. But God is talking to him. He sets out to change the world. Only violence stands in his way.
Ben Whishaw previously appeared in Bakkhai at the Almeida. His theatre credits elsewhere include The Crucible (Broadway); Mojo and Peter and Alice (West End); Cock (Royal Court); His Dark Materials, The Seagull and The Idiot (National Theatre); and Hamlet (The Old Vic).
His film credits include A Hologram for The King, The Danish Girl, The Lobster, In The Heart of the Sea, Suffragette, James Bond films Spectre and Skyfall as Q; Paddington, Lilting, Enduring Love, Layer Cake, Perfume, Stoned, I’m Not There, Brideshead Revisited, Bright Star, The Tempest and Cloud Atlas.
For television he won a BAFTA for the BBC adaptation of Richard II, directed by Rupert Goold. His other television includes London Spy, The Hour, Nathan Barley and Criminal Justice, for which he won Best Actor Awards at the Emmys and the Royal Television Awards.
Adele Leonce’s theatre credits include Torn (Royal Court Theatre); In The Night Time (Gate Theatre); Tipping The Velvet (Lyric Hammersmith); Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (National Theatre); The Dutch Courtesan (Shakespeare’s Globe); and Sing Ya Heart Out For The Lads and Hotel Baltimore (Avondale Theatre). Leonce was part of the Lyric Hammersmith’s Secret Theatre Company from 2013 – 2015.
She has also appeared on television in Black Mirror, The Break, Ordinary Lies, Shameless and Vera.
Naomi Wirthner’s theatre credits include Evening At The Talkhouse, An Oak Tree, Marat Sade and Fair Ladies At A Game Of Poem Cards (National Theatre); African Gothic (Arcola Theatre); Splash Hatch On The E Going Down (Donmar Warehouse); Madman of the Balcony (Gate Theatre); and The Taming of the Shrew, Have, Cymbeline, Measure for Measure and The Bite of the Night (RSC). Wirthner is Artistic Director of the Barebones Project where her recent projects include PVT Wars and Lone Star by James McClure.
Her television work includes Fiona’s Story, Baby Father II, Wycliffe, Soldier Soldier and Between The Lines.
Christopher Shinn, who makes his Almeida debut with Against, is the author of twelve plays including Now or Later (shortlisted for the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play); Dying City (Pulitzer Prize Finalist); and Where Do We Live (Obie in Playwriting). His play Teddy Ferrara was produced at the Donmar Warehouse in 2015 directed by Dominic Cooke, and his adaptation of Hedda Gabler premiered on Broadway in 2009, directed by Ian Rickson.
Ian Rickson previously directed Parlour Song at the Almeida. He was Artistic Director at the Royal Court from 1998 to 2006, during which time he directed Krapp’s Last Tape, The Winterling, Alice Trilogy, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, Fallout, The Night Heron, Boy Gets Girl, Mouth to Mouth (also in the West End), Dublin Carol, The Weir (also in the West End and on Broadway), The Lights, Pale Horse, Mojo (also at the Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago), Ashes & Sand, Some Voices and Killers. His final Royal Court production of The Seagull also transferred to Broadway.
Against is designed by Ultz and casting is by Sophie Holland.
NB: Tickets for Against will go on public sale on Thursday, May 25 at 10am. Priority Booking will open to Almeida Members at Designers’ Circle level and above on Tuesday, May 16. Booking for Friends opens on Thursday, May 18.
At least 500 £5 tickets per production are available to audiences aged 25 and under. Audiences aged 30 and under have access to 450 £15 tickets per production.
Captioned performance: Thursday, September 14 at 7.30pm.
Audio Described performance: Saturday, September 16 at 2.30pm (Touch Tour at 12.45pm).
Post-show discussion with members of the company: Thursday, September 21. Free to same day ticket holders.
For more information, call the box office on 020 7359 4404 (10am to 7pm, Monday – Saturday) or visit almeida.co.uk/.
Martin Crimp’s contemporary satire The Treatment runs at the Almeida from April 24 to June 10, 2017.