Rupert Goold and Rebecca Frecknall by Marc Brenner

Rupert Goold will be joined at the Old Vic by Rebecca Frecknall as associate director

Photo: Marc Brenner

Changing Faces

Almeida’s Goold and Frecknall to join Old Vic

Arts Professional
2 min read

The Almeida’s artistic director, RUPERT GOOLD, and executive director, DENISE WOOD, have announced they will stand down in 2025 after 11 years at the north London theatre.

Goold will move to the Old Vic theatre as artistic director and co-chief executive while Wood is to become freelance.

Goold succeeds MATTHEW WARCHUS, who will step down from the Old Vic in 2026 after 11 years. He will be joined by REBECCA FRECKNALL, who leaves her associate director role at the Almeida, for a newly created associate position at the Old Vic.

Since taking up the reins in 2013, Goold has directed many notable productions for the Almeida, such as Spring Awakening, Richard III and King Charles III. He has also guest directed at other venues, including the National Theatre’s production of Dear England, which transferred to the West End, and The 47th at the Old Vic.

He was artistic director of Headlong Theatre from 2005 to 2013 and has been an associate director at the Royal Shakespeare Company since 2010.

Frecknall has directed a number of high-profile productions at the Almeida that transferred to the West End, including A Streetcar Named Desire and Summer and Smoke. Her 2022 revival of Cabaret continues to run in the West End and on Broadway.

Goold said he was joining the Old Vic with “excitement and trepidation” after his stint at the Almeida, which he called “the privilege of [his] life”. He added. “It’s important that our theatres are renewed through new leadership and that, in turn, can and should bring new artists and ideas into this unique space.”

“After 11 wonderful, demanding, and richly rewarding years at the Almeida, I’ve decided to head across the river in search of a new challenge,” said Goold.

“No one could happily let go of a theatre as intimate and magical as the Almeida, and it’s been the privilege of my life to have led the building over the past decade.

“Denise has stood beside me as my alter ego on the journey, and I owe her a huge debt of thanks as a friend and colleague.”