The Almeida This Autumn: Golden Boy and Desire Under the Elms

The Almeida has spent four decades making a 325 seat room feel like a much larger theatre, and its autumn and winter programme is a good illustration: a star revival of an American classic, followed by O’Neill. It is a fifteen minute walk from Frederick’s, which makes the pre-theatre and post-matinee logistics straightforward.

Golden Boy

Running 8 September to 31 October 2026. Sam Yates directs a revival of Clifford Odets’ 1937 drama, with Josh O’Connor in the title role — the violinist who trades the instrument for the boxing ring. The production will also be broadcast to cinemas through National Theatre Live in November 2026, though the Almeida’s own room is the better way to see it if you can get in.

Desire Under the Elms

Running 10 November to 23 December 2026. A major new staging of Eugene O’Neill’s 1924 masterpiece: desire, inheritance and isolation on a New England farm in 1850. A bleak and very fine piece of writing, and an unconventional but rewarding choice for December.

Booking notes

The Almeida’s £5 tickets for under-25s remain among the best deals in London theatre, and the house is small enough that popular runs sell through quickly once reviews land. Evening performances usually begin at 7.30pm, with matinees on selected Saturdays. Check the theatre’s own site for exact times and any captioned or relaxed performances.

Before or after

Fifteen minutes on foot means dinner does not have to be rushed, but it does have to start on time. Our pre-theatre menu is built around exactly that problem. If a full meal before a show is more than you want, the bar is a perfectly good alternative: a cocktail or a glass of wine, with or without a plate of bar snacks, and then the walk up Upper Street. After a matinee, the reverse works nicely — a long, late lunch in the garden room while the crowd disperses.

For the theatre’s history, its transfers and the practical detail of getting there, see our full Almeida guide.