Schiller s political tragedy takes us behind the scenes of some of British history's most crucial days.

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1 PRESS RELEASE Monday 24 October MARY STUART CASTING UPDATE As rehearsals begin today, the full cast of MARY STUART at the Almeida Theatre is announced. Playing both Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart, Juliet Stevenson and Lia Williams trade the play s central roles, decided at each performance by the toss of a coin. Joining them will be Alexander Cobb, Rudi Dharmalingam, Vincent Franklin, David Jonsson, John Light, Carmen Munroe, Eileen Nicholas, Daniel Rabin, Sule Rimi and Alan Williams. Following his critically acclaimed productions of Uncle Vanya and Oresteia, Associate Director Robert Icke will adapt and direct Friedrich Schiller s play. Two queens. One in power. One in prison. It s all in the execution. Schiller s political tragedy takes us behind the scenes of some of British history's most crucial days. Mary Stuart will be designed by Hildegard Bechtler, with lighting by Jackie Shemesh, original composition by Laura Marling, sound by Paul Arditti, and video by Tim Reid. Casting is by Julia Horan CDG. The Associate Director is Daniel Raggett. Alexander Cobb s theatre credits include Red Velvet for the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company; The Seagull for Headlong; The Magistrate at the National Theatre; Goodbye To All That at the Royal Court Theatre; The Two Gentlemen Of Verona for Rash Dash at Royal & Derngate; and Wasted for Paines Plough. Television includes Indian Summers; The Mimic; Ripper Street; Mr Selfridge; Call The Midwife and Parade s End. Film includes A Storm in the Stars; and Whitehawk. Rudi Dharmalingam s previous Almeida credits include Oresteia (also Trafalgar Studios) and 1984 at the Playhouse Theatre; Hamlet at the Barbican; Dara, England People Very Nice, Playing with Fire, Rafta Rafta and The History Boys (also on Broadway) at the National Theatre; X and Hope at the Royal Court; Worst Wedding Ever at Salisbury Playhouse; The Events for the Young Vic, Edinburgh Fringe and on UK Tour; The Seagull and The English Game for Headlong Theatre and Much Ado About Nothing for the Royal Shakespeare Company and in the West End. Television credits include Doctor Who and Coronation Street. Film includes Fantastic

2 Beasts and Where To Find Them; radio includes The Events; Tommies; and The Shape of Things (all for BBC Radio 4). Vincent Franklin s theatre credits include This House at the National Theatre and That Day We Sang for Manchester International Festival. His television credits include Cucumber and Banana for Channel 4; Twenty-Twelve; The Thick of It; Happy Valley series 2; Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell; Grandma's House; The Wrong Mans; Being Human; Doc Martin; Oliver Twist; Never Better; Lead Balloon; The Life & Times Of Vivienne Vyle; Elizabeth - The Virgin Queen; Casanova; The Worst Week Of My Life; Green Wing and The Office. Films include I Do; Mr Turner; The Riot Club; Bright Star; The Illusionist; Confetti; Vera Drake; The Bourne Identity; From Hell; and Topsy-Turvy. This is David Jonsson s professional debut. Theatre while training includes Pigeon English for Bristol Old Vic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; Romeo and Juliet at Riverside Studios; and Ghosts at Theatre Bankside. John Light s previous Almeida credits include Carmen Disruption, The Master Builder, Certain Young Men, The Cenci and The Tower. Other theatre credits include Three Days in the Country and The Night Season at the National Theatre; Taken At Midnight at Chichester Festival Theatre and in the West End; A Midsummer Night s Dream at Shakespeare s Globe; Luise Miller at the Donmar Warehouse; and Julius Caesar, The Tempest and The Seagull for the RSC. Television credits include Atlantis; Love in a Cold Climate; Cambridge Spies and Silk (all BBC). Film credits include Albert Hobbs; Heights; The Lion in Winter; and Benedict Arnold. Carmen Munroe s theatre includes Richard III at the New Diorama; Mother Courage at Nottingham Playhouse; Cain for the RSC; The House of Bernarda Alba for Brixton Shaw Theatre at the Greenwich Theatre; Trouble In Mind, Fabulation, Gem of the Ocean, Walk Hard - Talk Loud and The Owl and the Pussycat at the Tricycle Theatre; The Amen Corner for the Tricycle Theatre in the West End; Period of Adjustment at the Royal Court and Wyndham s Theatre; and El Dorado; Strange Fruit and The Blacks for Theatre Royal Stratford East. Carmen s television credits include Desmonds; The Dumping Ground; Final Passage; The Chain; Song at Twilight; The Wasted Years; Crown Court; Mixed Blessings; Playschool; General Hospital; Rainbow City; and The Fosters. Carmen is a founder member of Talawa and was awarded the OBE in 2007 for her major role in the development of black theatre in Britain. Eileen Nicholas theatre credits include All About My Mother at the Old Vic; Endgame at the Donmar Warehouse; Del Gesu's Viola and It's Only Words at Oran Mor; Every One at Battersea Arts Centre; I Killed Rasputin for Avalon at George Square Theatre; I Didn't Always Live Here at Finborough Theatre; Buried Child Upstairs At The Gatehouse; A Chorus of Disapproval for Theatr Clywd; Cutting a Rug at the Young Vic Theatre; American Bagpipes at the Royal Court;

3 and Request Programme at the Bush Theatre. Television includes Broken; Midwinter of the Spirit; Half Broken Thing; Widow Maker; Between The Lines; and Dr Finlay's Casebook. Films include Blackwood; The Quiet Ones; Trainspotting; and Regeneration. Daniel Rabin has previously appeared in 1984 for the Almeida in the West End. Other theatre includes Pericles, The Winter s Tale, King John, Tis Pity She s a Whore, Anthony and Cleopatra and Holy Warriors at Shakespeare s Globe; Oedipus for Nottingham Playhouse and the Spoleto Festival; Ignorance at Hampstead Theatre; Blue Remembered Hills at Chichester Festival Theatre; and The Bomb at the Tricycle Theatre. Television includes The Royals; Game of Thrones; Ambassadors; Our Men; Henry - Mind of a Tyrant; The Roman Mysteries; and Money Can't Buy You Love. Film includes Lilac's Laughter; Mind The Gap; and Two's Company. Sule Rimi has recently appeared at the Almeida as Oudry in They Drink It In The Congo. Other theatre credits include The Suicide at National Theatre; The Rolling Stone at the Royal Exchange and West Yorkshire Playhouse; Boardergame for National Theatre Wales; Downtown Paradise for Welsh Fargo Theatre Company; Othello for Fluellen Theatre Company; Muscle for ShocknAwe; Serious Money for Waking Exploits; and New Arrivals for Sherman Theatre Company. Film credits include Francis; Mariah Mundi and the Midas Box; The Machine; Elfie Hopkins and the Gammons; Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection; Panic Button; Eastern Promises; and Starter for Ten. Television includes Unforgotten; Stella; Crash; and Doctor Who. Juliet Stevenson returns to the Almeida Theatre having previously appeared in Duet for One alongside Henry Goodman. Most recently she played Winnie in Beckett s Happy Days at the Young Vic. Other theatre credits include The Seagull, Private Lives, Caucasian Chalk Circle, Hedda Gabler and Yerma at the National Theatre; Les Liaisons Dangereuses, As You Like It, Troilus and Cressida, Measure for Measure and A Midsummer Night s Dream at the RSC; and The Heretic, Alice and Death and The Maiden (Olivier Award for Best Actress) at the Royal Court. Her film credits include Departure; Mona Lisa Smile; Bend it Like Beckham; Emma; Truly Madly Deeply; and the upcoming Let Me Go. Her television credits include One of Us; The Enfield Haunting; The Village; White Heat; The Accused; The Road from Coorain; and The Politician s Wife. She was awarded a CBE in 1999 for her services to drama. Alan Williams previously appeared in The Jew of Malta for the Almeida. Other theatre includes As You Like It, Here We Go, Light Shining In Buckinghamshire, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and War Horse at the National Theatre; The Crucible at West Yorkshire Playhouse; The Ritual Slaughter Of Gorge Mastromas, The President Has Come To See You, Talk Show, Mint, Memory, Stoning Mary, Lucky Dog, Crave and The Local for the Royal Court; A Thousand Stars Explode In The Sky and The Birthday Party at Lyric Hammersmith; and A Number at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. Television includes: Father Brown; The Crown; Utopia; Luther; Shameless and

4 Vera. Film includes The Dreamlike Path; Trespass Against Us; War Horse; London Boulevard; Vera Drake; The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers; and Bright Young Things. Lia Williams returns to the Almeida having previously appeared in Oresteia (Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress) and Harold Pinter s Celebration. Other theatre credits include Old Times in the West End; Arcadia and Skylight on Broadway, at the National Theatre and in the West End (Tony and Olivier Award nominations for Best Actress); Earthquakes in London, The Hothouse and Mappa Mundi at the National Theatre; Oleanna, King Lear and My Child at the Royal Court; The Homecoming at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, in the West End and on Broadway; and The Lover and The Collection at the Donmar Warehouse. Her television credits include The Crown; Secret State; Doc Martin; May 33 rd ; The Russian Bride; Imogen s Face; A Shot Through the Heart; Flowers of the Forest; Seaforth; and Mr Wroe s Virgins. Film includes: Jonathan Toomey; The King is Alive; Different for Girls; The Fifth Province; Firelight; Dirty Weekend; and La Suite Blanche-Neige. As Director, her credits include The Match Box for the Liverpool Playhouse and the Tricycle Theatre and films Feathers, The Stronger, Dog Alone, and the feature documentary Nanabozhung. Since joining the Almeida in 2013, Associate Director Robert Icke has created and directed new adaptations of Uncle Vanya, Oresteia (also West End; winner of the Olivier, Critics' Circle and Evening Standard Awards for Best Director) and the multi-award winning 1984 with Duncan Macmillan (also West End as well as UK, USA and international tours) at the Almeida. His work as a director includes The Fever (The May Fair Hotel), and Mr Burns at the Almeida, and Boys and Romeo and Juliet for Headlong. Robert made his National Theatre debut directing The Red Barn at the Lyttelton Theatre in October. Laura Marling is a Brit Award winning and multiple Mercury Music Prize nominee who has released 5 studio albums and garnered global critical acclaim. Debut album Alas I Cannot Swim cemented Laura s place at the helm of a new wave of young acoustic musicians spearheading a folk revival. Her following albums are I Speak Because I Can, A Creature I Don t Know, Once I Was An Eagle and Short Movie. Laura Marling has a timeless sound which transcends the folk origins and has seen her regaled as one of the greatest singer-songwriters of her generation. ENDS For all press enquiries and images, contact Susie Newbery, Press and Media Relations Manager, on or snewbery@almeida.co.uk ALMEIDA LISTINGS INFORMATION Friday 2 December Saturday 21 January 2017 MARY STUART

5 by Friedrich Schiller adapted and directed by Robert Icke Press Night: Friday 9 December at 7pm Address Café Bar Box Office Almeida Theatre, Almeida Street, London, N1 1TA The Almeida Café Bar is open from 11.30am pm, Monday to Saturday Online almeida.co.uk Phone (10am 7pm Monday Saturday) In person 10am 7pm, Monday Saturday Nearest Tube: Angel / Highbury & Islington Mary Stuart performances at 7pm Midweek matinees on Wednesdays at 1.30pm on 14, 21 and 28 December and 4, 11 and 25 January Saturday matinees at 1.30pm from 17 December Christmas opening hours There will be no performances on 24, 25 and 26 December Evening performances take place at the earlier time of 5pm on 31 December and 2 January Website Twitter Facebook Instagram Access Talkback Mary Stuart Audio Described performances: Saturday 7 January at 1.30pm (Touch Tour at 11.45am) Friday 13 January at 7pm (Touch Tour at 5.30pm) Mary Stuart Captioned Performance: Thursday 19 January at 7pm Post-show discussion with members of the company Free to same day ticket holders Mary Stuart Thursday 5 January 2017 Almeida Questions Mary Stuart: Women in Power Wednesday 11 January 2017 at 5pm ABOUT THE ALMEIDA THEATRE The Almeida Theatre exists to launch the next generation of British artists onto the world stage. A small room with an international reputation, the Almeida began life as a literary and scientific society complete with library, lecture theatre and laboratory. From the beginning, the building existed to investigate the world. Today, the Almeida makes brave new work that asks big questions: of plays, of theatre and of the world around us. The Almeida brings together the most exciting artists to take risks; to provoke, inspire and surprise audiences; to interrogate the present, dig up the past and imagine the future. Whether new work or reinvigorated classic, whether in the theatre, on the road or online, the Almeida makes live art to excite, enliven and entertain. The Almeida makes argument for theatre as an

6 essential force in an increasingly fragmented society. Founded by Pierre Audi in 1980, his successors were Jonathan Kent and Ian McDiarmid in 1990, and Michael Attenborough in Productions including Hamlet with Ralph Fiennes in 2005, Rufus Norris Festen, Ruined by Lynn Nottage and most recently Chimerica, Ghosts and King Charles III have given the theatre international renown. In summer 2013, Rupert Goold joined the Almeida as Artistic Director. His first production was American Psycho: a new musical thriller, which transferred to Broadway in In 2014 the Almeida productions of Ghosts and Chimerica won eight Olivier Awards including Best Actress, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best New Play, Best Director and Best Revival and enjoyed transfers to the West End and Broadway respectively. This was followed by King Charles III, which transferred to the West End at the Wyndham s Theatre and won the Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2015, transferred to Broadway, and toured the UK and Sydney. Other notable productions as Artistic Director includethe Merchant of Venice, Medea and Richard III, which in July 2016 was broadcast to cinemas around the world via Almeida Theatre Live. In summer 2015, the Almeida presented Almeida Greeks, which included three major new productions of Oresteia, Bakkhai and Medea, the latter of which was directed by Goold, with a festival of events, performances, talks and readings running alongside. He co-directed The Iliad and The Odyssey with Almeida Associate Director Robert Icke. Involving more than 60 readers, The Iliad reached an audience of over 50,000 people across the world, watching online, or in person at the British Museum and the Almeida Theatre. The Odyssey followed the huge success of The Iliad, and involved an army of artists in various locations around London. As with The lliad, both theatrical events were live streamed throughout and achieved ground-breaking levels of online engagement. The Almeida is grateful to its Principal Partner Aspen, in its second term as the Almeida s most significant corporate supporter. Aspen was established in 2002 and is a leading global insurance and reinsurance company. The Almeida is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.