Look out, finance bros—Patrick Bateman is coming back. Duncan Sheik and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's American Psycho musical, based on the 1991 novel by Bret Easton Ellis, has set an encore run at London's Almeida Theatre, where the piece made its world premiere in 2013. Performances will run January 24-March 14, 2026, with Artistic Director Rupert Goold again directing. In press notes, Goold says he'll be revisiting the title "partly to explore what may have changed since" it premiered.
The musical made its Broadway debut in 2016, playing a brief, 54-performance run at the Schoenfeld Theatre. The work proved a bigger success overseas where it began, having completely sold out its first extended run at the Almeida in 2013. Doctor Who and The Crown star Matt Smith led the London premiere, with Benjamin Walker taking over for the Broadway bow, which also featured Alice Ripley, Jennifer Damiano, and Heléne Yorke.
Inspired by the cocaine-fueled Manhattan of the 1980s, the musical focuses on Patrick Bateman, a young investment banker who seems to have it all. The trouble is he has a certain deadly predilection behind closed doors, and his friends keep disappearing. The incendiary novel was previously dramatized with a 2000 film version starring Christian Bale.
The encore run is part of the theatre's newly announced 2025-2026 season, the final for outgoing Artistic Director Goold and Associate Director Rebecca Frecknall (Cabaret). The production, set to be the final directing duties of Goold's tenure, makes a tidy bookend for the two-time Tony nominee, who helmed the musical's world premiere during his first season with the company.
The upcoming season opens with the world premiere of Alice Birch's Romans: A Novel, an exploration of masculinity from the 19th century through to modern day. Kyle Soller will star (casting is by Amy Ball), with Sam Pritchard directing. The creative team will also include set and costume designer Merle Hensel, lighting designer Lee Curran, and sound designer Benjamin Grant. Performances will run September 9-October 11, with opening night set for September 17.
Tony winner Michael Grandage will helm the next production, a world-premiere stage adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst's novel The Line of Beauty, performing October 21-November 29 and opening October 29. Jack Holden has penned the adaptation. The story follows Nick Guest as he moves into the large home of his college friend, himself the son of the newly elected Tory MP, a scenario that leaves Nick trapped between desire and the rigid boundaries of societal norms in a changing Thatcher-era Britain. The production will feature set and costume design by Christopher Oram, lighting design by Howard Hudson, sound design and music by Adam Cork, and movement and intimacy direction by Ben Wright. Casting, to be announced, will be by Sophie Holland.
James Macdonald will helm the theatre's next world premiere, Christmas Day by Pulitzer winner Sam Grabiner (Boys on the Verge of Tears), performing December 9, 2025-January 10, 2026, and opening December 16. The comedy follows a Jewish family gathering on Christmas Day in an abandoned building somewhere above the Northern Line. The production will feature set design by Miriam Buether and casting (to be announced) by Ball.
Looking forward to spring 2026, Almeida will premiere Anya Reiss' new adaptation of Ibsen's A Doll's House. Joe Hill-Gibbins will direct, with performances running March 31-May 16. Romola Garai will star as Nora, with additional casting to be announced.
The theatre's final world premiere will be Under the Shadow, based on the film by Babak Anvari and adapted by Carmen Nasr. Nadia Latif will direct the story, set in the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and about a woman left raising her daughter alone in war-torn Tehran while her husband is serving on the front lines. Performances will run June 2-July 4, 2026.
The season also includes stagings of Sarah Kane's Cleansed, to be directed by Frecknall and performing July 21-August 22, 2026; Clifford Odets' Golden Boy, directed by Sam Yates, starring Josh O'Connor (The Crown), and performing September 8-October 31, 2026; and Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms, directed by Ebenezer Bamgboye, starring Zackary Momoh (Seven Seconds), and performing November 10-December 19, 2026.
Almeida will kick off the season by joining All Change and Cardboard Citizens to present 81 (Life), the second in a trilogy of plays exploring life in Islington, co-created by Rhianna Ilube and 81 local Islington residents. Dani Parr and Stephanie Bain are creative directors, with performances to run August 21-23. Opening night will be August 22. The final installment, to be titled 1000 (Millennia), will be presented in 2026.
A full schedule and ticketing information is at .
