Latest news with #Almeida
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Stars, shockers, psychos and evangelists: Rupert Goold's mighty end to his high-wire Almeida tenure
Rupert Goold, the outgoing artistic director of the Almeida theatre in London, has just announced his final programme, which he hopes captures the 'spirit and values' of his past 12 years at its helm. Does it? Comprising 10 productions and four world premieres, it does contain all the signature-marks of Goold's tenure: a smattering of star names (including Josh O'Connor and Romala Garai, the former the American classic, Golden Boy, the latter in a version of A Doll's House by Anya Reiss); a big-ambition project with Jack Holden's adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst's Booker prize winning novel, The Line of Beauty, about 1980s gay life (how do you turn Hollinghurst's glorious prose into glorious theatre? We'll see this autumn, I suppose); and a revival of the musical thriller American Psycho, based on Bret Easton Ellis's book, which featured in Goold's first programme at the Almeida in 2013, and brings a nice circularity to this last one. A play about masculine psychopathy, it is in the mould of previous musicals that combined hard-edged subject matter with song, from Spring Awakening, featuring teen depression, rape and suicide, to the rise and fall of a TV evangelist, Tammy Faye (both of which Goold directed). There is also another production by Rebecca Frecknall – a revival of Sarah Kane's searing play, Cleansed. Frecknall, a star director whom Goold has long championed, is joining Goold at the Old Vic as associate director when he takes over as its artistic director, so this does not mark the end of their impressive collaboration. Few could dispute that Goold has made this little but mighty theatre, nestling in the heart of leafy north London, all the mightier. Openings there have become unmissable events and many have transferred to the West End, including American Psycho (then to Broadway, in fact). For good or bad, Goold is also one of the leading industry figures to have brought screen talent closer to the stage. In fairness, most of power celebrity castings have been well judged, alongside causing a stir – from Saoirse Ronan's Lady Macbeth to Daisy Edgar-Jones as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Paul Mescal as Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire, as well as musical collaborations with Elton John and Jake Shears for Tammy Faye. But what I see as Goold's greatest accomplishment is his collaborations with the most exciting writers and directors of our time. It is this that has made this programming so formidable. He has a long track record with Robert Icke, each play ever more sensational, from his monumental Oresteia to The Doctor, which transferred to the West End, and Hamlet starring Andrew Scott. There have been several plays by Mike Bartlett (the biggest highlight was King Charles III), as well as the supremely talented Omar Elerian and Beth Steel. These are rich associations, alongside those with Frecknall. I look forward to Alice Birch's Romans: A Novel, opening in September. Like Goold, Birch has shuttled between TV and stage work, having recently written television versions of Sally Rooney's Normal People and Conversations With Friends. She will make her Almeida debut with this examination of masculinity across two centuries. Some of my personal highlights have been the more high-wire moments in Goold's tenure: Elerian's exquisite revival of Eugene Ionesco's The Chairs, a production of Jeremy O Harris's Daddy: A Melodrama, featuring a giant swimming pool across the span off the stage. And, of course, The Years, which is one of the best plays I have seen in the past five years – and in which Garai also featured. So several circularities – and the promise of a very strong swansong indeed.
Time Out
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Rupert Goold will end his tenure at London's Almeida Theatre with a monumental 18 months of programming
We've known for a while that Rupert Goold – the man who transformed the Almeida from chintzy backwater to London's most important theatre – would be stepping down to take over at the Old Vic, and that he'd be taking his chief lieutenant director Rebecca Frecknall with him. What we've had no idea of is a timeframe. Until today (May 28). The bad news is that Goold is definitely off, and that he'll direct his final production for the theatre early next year, with Frecknall bowing out in the summer. The good news is that if you've enjoyed the last 12 years of his programming then there's still quite a lot more to come: today's final announcement takes us right up to the end of next year, encompassing ten productions. Although we will presumably find out who Goold's successor is fairly soon, there's clearly no rush: their first show seems unlikely to run any sooner than January 2027. It's almost too big to call 'a season', but this final tranche of shows looks pretty mouthwatering, combining the sense of zeitgeist and event that's always dominated Goold's programming from the off with the embrace of writers and directors of colour that was learned on the way after some initial criticism of his Almeida as a white boys' club. Without further ado, then! The first show to be announced is a smaller one: 81 (Life) (Aug 21-23) is a community theatre show by playwright Rhianna Illube and 81 people from the Islington community. It's billed as part poem, part game-show and part play, and follows 60 strangers invited to a park at sunset, each grappling with something big. The first full run comes from the visionary Alice Birch, her first original play in years. The inscrutably titled Romans: A Novel (Sep 9-Oct 11) is an examination of masculinity and how male narratives have shaped the world from the nineteenth century to the present that will star Andor 's Kyle Soller in his first stage performance since the pandemic. The rather opaque description includes the lines 'He is up by 4am for weights, cardio, ice bath. He is recording a podcast. He is living as a badger'. It's directed by Sam Pritchard. Expect brilliance. Next up and massive name director Michael Grandage returns to the Almeida for the first time this century to direct Jack Holden's adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst's landmark depiction of Thatcher's Britain The Line of Beauty (Oct 21-Nov 29). Rising star playwright Sam Grabiner got his big break at Soho Theatre with his play Boys On the Verge of Tears, for which he managed to bag big name director James Macdonald. The two reunite for Grabiner's new play Christmas Day (Dec 9-Jan 10 2026), a dark comedy about a north London Christmas family gathering on… Christmas Day. Goold's final show will be a revival of his 2013 production of Duncan Sheik's musical adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's provocative yuppie satire American Psycho (Jan 24-Mar 14 2026). It's an interesting show to bring back: its original incarnation starred Matt Smith at the height of his immediate post- Doctor Who fame, but never transferred to the West End (reportedly because Smith wasn't up for it). It opened on Broadway in 2016 with a different cast and tanked fairly hard. Could Goold's hope here be to finally secure it a hit West End run? We'll probably know better when we find out who has been cast as murderous banker Patrick Bateman. The brilliant actor Romola Garai has popped up at the Almeida a couple of times during Goold's tenure, in the coruscating The Writer and recent West End smash The Years. She'll star in Ibsen's proto-feminist landmark A Doll's House (Mar 31-May 16 2026), in a new production by leftfield director Joe Hill-Gibbins, adapted by Anya Reiss. Following that, another rising star Carmen Nasr will adapt British-Iranian filmmaker Babak Anvari's acclaimed psychological horror Under the Shadow (Jun 2-Jul 4 2026) in a production by the excellent former Young Vic associate Nadia Latif. It'll star Leila Farzad. Frecknall's final show will be a revival for Sarah Kane's monumental work of love and torture Cleansed (Jul 21-Aug 22 2026), which will run ten years after Katie Mitchell's National Theatre production gained infamy for the volume of fainting audience members (though Frecknall has an altogether more conciliatory style). Actor Josh O'Connor will make his first stage appearance in 11 years to star in director Sam Yates' revival of the great US playwright Clifford Odets's Depression-era classic Golden Boy (Sep 8-Oct 31 2026) about a gifted young violinist who becomes sucked into the world of professional boxing. Still with us? Okay: the last show of the Rupert Goold era will be another American classic, a revival of Eugene O'Neill's sultry Greek tragedy rewrite Desire Under the Elms (Nov 10-Dec 19 2026), with Brit actor Zackary Momoh starring. And that's that, era over. It's obviously quite a lot of shows and many of them won't go on sale until next year. It seems likely – if not a given – that Goold's first programming at the Old Vic will be in autumn 2026 and probably not announced for some time; his successor at the Almeida is likely to be named soon, but we're probably a year away from a programming announcement. In the meantime – we've got plenty to go on! Romans: A Novel and The Line of Beauty will go on general sale June 10. 81 (Life) will go on sale in the summer, and Christmas Day and American Psycho
The Irish Sun
7 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Mum-of-three, 31, killed & dumped in piranha-infested river by ex with body still missing in Brazil
A MAN was caught on CCTV putting his former wife's body in the boot of a car before coldly dumping it in a piranha-infested river. Amanda Caroline de Almeida was strangled to death last week by Carlos Eduardo de Souza Ribeiro, who confessed to the murder and to dumping her body in a river in Brazil's São Paulo state. 3 Amanda Caroline de Almeida was tragically killed in Brazil by her ex-husband, the father of their three children Credit: Newsflash 3 Carlos Eduardo de Souza Ribeiro confessed to killing Almeida and disposing of her body by throwing it into a river Credit: Newsflash 3 Almeida revealed to friends that she had been brutally beaten by Ribeiro just weeks before her murder Credit: Newsflash Distressing footage, recorded in the early hours of last Tuesday, shows Ribeiro, 35, and his brother carrying the victim's body in a sheet. The killer and his brother can be seen manhandling the body, attempting to position it to fit into the car's boot before driving off to dispose of it in the Tietê River. Ribeiro admitted to strangling his wife on May 19 after she refused to reconcile following their separation two months earlier, police reported. Friends told local media that six weeks earlier, Ribeiro had brutally beaten Almeida for leaving him, but she chose not to report him to protect their three children from further distress. Read more world news Ribeiro was arrested on May 21, while his 38-year-old brother, who has not been named, was detained a day later. Police said: "Two men have been arrested in for femicide and concealment of a corpse. "The search continues to locate the victim's body." Almeida's body has not yet been recovered. Most read in The US Sun The Tietê River, located in Brazil's state of São Paulo, is notorious for its poor water quality and is known to be infested with piranhas. Several months ago, 15 swimmers were forced to flee the river covered in blood when they were attacked by a school of piranha fish. James Argent Receives Suspended Sentence After Assault on Girlfriend in Spain On the night she was murdered, Almeida was returning home from an evening out when she noticed her ex-husband's car parked near her house. She asked to be dropped off at a distance, hoping he would leave by the time she arrived. Tragically, she was never seen again. Her three children, aged 17, 7 and 5, are now in the care of family members. Domestic violence against women has long been a widespread issue in Brazil. National data since 2021 indicates a troubling rise in cases of violence targeting women. In response, the Brazilian government took a significant step in 2024 by designating domestic violence as an exception to repatriation under the Hague Convention. This move was widely recognised as a landmark decision aimed at safeguarding victims of domestic abuse, including women and children. If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or chat at
Scottish Sun
7 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Mum-of-three, 31, killed & dumped in piranha-infested river by ex with body still missing in Brazil
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A MAN was caught on CCTV putting his former wife's body in the boot of a car before coldly dumping it in a piranha-infested river. Amanda Caroline de Almeida was strangled to death last week by Carlos Eduardo de Souza Ribeiro, who confessed to the murder and to dumping her body in a river in Brazil's São Paulo state. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Amanda Caroline de Almeida was tragically killed in Brazil by her ex-husband, the father of their three children Credit: Newsflash 3 Carlos Eduardo de Souza Ribeiro confessed to killing Almeida and disposing of her body by throwing it into a river Credit: Newsflash 3 Almeida revealed to friends that she had been brutally beaten by Ribeiro just weeks before her murder Credit: Newsflash Distressing footage, recorded in the early hours of last Tuesday, shows Ribeiro, 35, and his brother carrying the victim's body in a sheet. The killer and his brother can be seen manhandling the body, attempting to position it to fit into the car's boot before driving off to dispose of it in the Tietê River. Ribeiro admitted to strangling his wife on May 19 after she refused to reconcile following their separation two months earlier, police reported. Friends told local media that six weeks earlier, Ribeiro had brutally beaten Almeida for leaving him, but she chose not to report him to protect their three children from further distress. Read more world news LOVER'S TIFF Macron reveals reason why wife SHOVED him in face in embarrassing clip Ribeiro was arrested on May 21, while his 38-year-old brother, who has not been named, was detained a day later. Police said: "Two men have been arrested in for femicide and concealment of a corpse. "The search continues to locate the victim's body." Almeida's body has not yet been recovered. The Tietê River, located in Brazil's state of São Paulo, is notorious for its poor water quality and is known to be infested with piranhas. Several months ago, 15 swimmers were forced to flee the river covered in blood when they were attacked by a school of piranha fish. James Argent Receives Suspended Sentence After Assault on Girlfriend in Spain On the night she was murdered, Almeida was returning home from an evening out when she noticed her ex-husband's car parked near her house. She asked to be dropped off at a distance, hoping he would leave by the time she arrived. Tragically, she was never seen again. Her three children, aged 17, 7 and 5, are now in the care of family members. Domestic violence against women has long been a widespread issue in Brazil. National data since 2021 indicates a troubling rise in cases of violence targeting women. In response, the Brazilian government took a significant step in 2024 by designating domestic violence as an exception to repatriation under the Hague Convention. This move was widely recognised as a landmark decision aimed at safeguarding victims of domestic abuse, including women and children. If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or chat at
Straits Times
19-05-2025
- Straits Times
Brazilian drug lord imprisoned in Brasilia after arrest in Bolivia
BRASILIA - The leader of Brazilian organized crime syndicate PCC has been jailed in a maximum-security prison in Brasilia after his arrest in Bolivia over the weekend, officials in Brazil said on Monday. Drug-trafficker Marcos Roberto de Almeida, known as Tuta, was expelled from Bolivia after negotiations between the two countries so that Brazil could enforce his 12-year prison sentence for conspiracy, racketeering and money laundering, Brazil's minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, said. Almeida was arrested in Bolivia when he tried to renew his foreign registration using a false Brazilian document. He had been on the run for five years and Interpol had issued a notice for his arrest. Almeida was identified through biometrics after investigators cross-referenced the Federal Police and Interpol databases. The PCC leader was then handed over to the Federal Police in the border town of Corumba, from where he was taken to Brasilia in a police aircraft. Almeida is being held in the same federal penitentiary as another PCC leader, Marcos Camacho, known as Marcola, officials said, adding that there will be no contact between the two associates. "The penitentiary (in Brasilia) is the safest," said Lewandowski, referring to the Penitenciaria Federal de Brasilia. "There is no danger of contact between them and other gang members. Such contact is impossible." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
