David Tennant to star in The Entertainer revival

David Tennant will star as Archie Rice in John Osborne’s The Entertainer.

Directed by Dominic Cooke, the revival will play at the Almeida Theatre from early 2028.

Set against conflict in the Middle East, the end of an empire and a changing British identity, the play follows music hall performer Archie Rice as he attempts to keep his act going while his family falls apart. Behind the jokes and showmanship, Archie struggles to confront his own misery as the world around him changes.

The production will mark Tennant’s first appearance at the Almeida. Osborne’s play was first seen in 1957 at the Royal Court Theatre (where Cooke was, earlier this century, artistic director), featuring Laurence Olivier as Rice.

It marks a return for Osborne’s work at the Almeida after Look Back in Anger in 2024, with Tennant last on stage in a WhatsOnStage Award-winning turn in Macbeth, seen at the Donmar Warehouse and in the West End.

Further cast and creative team are to be revealed.

See more from the Almeida season