Almeida Theatre

Well groomed and with a rather chic new bar, the Almeida Theatre turns out thoughtfully crafted theatre for grown-ups. Under artistic director Michael Attenborough it has drawn top directors like Howard Davies and Richard Eyre, and premières from the likes of Stephen Adly Guirgis, though its current output is more of a conservative pleasure than it was in the groundbreaking 1980s. Variously housing reading rooms, a Victorian Music Hall and a Salvation Army Citadel, the Almeida Theatre has had a rich past, but is particularly associated with its now-defunct annual season of new opera commissions, Almeida Opera. These came to an end in 2007, though summers still see a short programme of contemporary opera, music and theatre and Almeida Opera (the company) continues to tour nationally.