The Almeida Theatre has announced a new season of plays, reopening the venue in June.

The theatre reopens on 16th June with the premiere Yomi Ṣode’s And Breathe…, a stage adaptation of Ṣode’s forthcoming poetry collection Manorism, which will be published in 2022. And Breathe… is directed by Olivier Award-winner Miranda Cromwell and stars David Jonsson. The piece runs to 10th July.

Next up is the Almeida return of Lolita Chakrabarti’s seminal play Hymn, starring Adrian Lester and Danny Sapani. Following a critically acclaimed digital premiere earlier this year, Hymn finally plays to in-person audiences at the Almeida for the first time from 16th July to 13th August. Blanche McIntyre directs the piece

From 21st August, the Almeida presents the world premiere of Josh Azouz’s new play Once Upon a Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia. Directed by Eleanor Rhode, the ‘brutally comic’ new play is set in a Nazi labour camp in Tunisia in 1943. The play runs to 18th September.

Four-time Academy Award-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird, Little Women) makes her UK stage debut opposite James McArdle (Angels in America) in a new production of Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, directed by Yaël Farber. The piece plays at the Angel-venue from 25th September to 20th November.

Rounding out the season, Almeida artistic director Rupert Goold directs the first London revival of the Tony and Olivier Award-winning musical Spring Awakening. Previewing from 30th November, the show is led by Laurie Kynaston (The Son) and Amara Okereke (Les Misérable) as Melchior and Wendla.

With music by Dunkan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater, the groundbreaking musical, which premiered in New York in 2006, is also set to feature a predominant cast of drama school graduates, recognising the difficulties they have faced finding work during the pandemic. Spring Awakening runs to 22nd January.

Finally, the Almeida season continues into 2022 with The Key Workers Cycle, a collection of new plays by Francesca Beard, Sonali Bhattacharyya, Josh Elliott, Annie Jenkins, Eno Mfon, Nessah Muthy, Danusia Samal, Yomi Ṣode and Molly Taylor celebrating the stories of those who keep our daily lives running, performed by professional actors, local community participants and key workers.

The Almeida has also confirmed that previously announced productions of Jeremy O. Harris’ “Daddy”: A Melodrama, Beth Steel’s The House of Shades, and Carmen Nasr’s The Maladies, cancelled by the pandemic, will be staged at the venue in 2022.

The venue has also confirmed the return of Almeida For Free, with And Breathe…, Hymn, Once Upon a Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia, The Tragedy of Macbeth and Spring Awakening all having a free performance for those aged 25 and under.

Almeida Artistic Director Rupert Goold said today: “Although still battered and bruised by the last 14 months, and keenly aware that many within this industry continue to suffer as a result of the pandemic, this announcement today feels like an exhalation and moment to pay tribute to the endurance and creativity shown by so many friends and colleagues. We’re announcing six new productions, including three world premieres (four if you include Hymn which plays to in-person audiences for the first time), plus two classic revivals, and a list of writers, directors and actors who are largely new to the Almeida.

Tickets for the Almeida Theatre’s new season go on sale soon.