The new production will begin performances Oct. 22 prior to an official opening Oct. 29 for a run to Dec. 5.
Mrs. Klein replaces the previously announced world premiere of Samuel Adamson's A Quiet Island that Indu Rubasingham was to have directed for those same dates. That production has been postponed owing to a clash of commitments for the playwright with the announcement of his adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Mrs. Klein, set in London in 1934, revolves around Melanie Klein's relationship with her psycho-analyst daughter Melitta, which has been damaged almost beyond repair. An unexpected message from abroad brings it to a bitter confrontation. The news also poses a mystery that even Mrs. Klein, despite her genius for analysis, cannot solve. It is left to her new assistant, a refugee from Hitler's Berlin, to find a possible answer.
This is the first revival of the play in London since its original 1988 National Theatre production, which subsequently transferred to the West End's Apollo Theatre, and was directed by Peter Gill, with Gillian Barge in the title role alongside Francesca Annis and Zoe Wanamaker. A different production was subsequently staged at Off-Broadway's Lucille Lortel Theatre in 1995 with Uta Hagen.
No casting has yet been announced, but the production will be directed by Thea Sharrock, with designs by Tim Hatley, lighting by Neil Austin and sound by Ian Dickinson. Sharrock has previously directed Cloud Nine for the Almeida. She is currently directing As You Like It for Shakespare's Globe. Other recent productions include the West End revival of Peter Shaffer's Equus with Richard Griffiths and Daniel Radcliffe that subsequently transferred to Broadway, A Voyage Round My Father which transferred from the Donmar Warehouse to Wyndham's Theatre, Heroes at Wyndham's Theatre, Blithe Spirit (at Bath Theatre Royal that subsequently transferred to the West End's Savoy Theatre) and Emperor Jones and Happy Now?, both for the National Theatre.
Wright's other plays include Cressida (premiered by the Almeida at the West End's Albery) and Vincent in Brixton (that premiered at the National Theatre before transferring to the West End and Broadway) and The Reporter (National Theatre). His many adaptations include Wedekind's Lulu for the Almeida at King's Cross, Pirandello's Naked (for the Almeida, that subsequently transferred to the West End's Playhouse Theatre), and Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman, Chekhov's Three Sisters, Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, all for the National Theatre.
To book tickets contact the box office at 020 7359 4404, or visit www.almeida.co.uk.
