“A masterpiece – extraordinarily profound and yet playful drama.”
(The Guardian)
The five-star sold out production of The Years transfers to the West End for 12 weeks only.
Based on Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux’s fearless masterpiece, five actors create an unapologetic portrait of a woman shaped by her rapidly-changing world.
“Memory never stops. It pairs the dead with the living, real with imaginary beings, dreams with history.”
She strikes a pose and the camera shutter clicks: a child playing in the debris of the Second World War. Click. A student discovering parties and men’s bodies. Click. An activist fighting for the right to choose. Click. A wife picking out a velvet sofa. Click. A mother taking her eldest to judo. Click. A lover seducing a younger man. Click. A grandmother presenting her granddaughter to the camera. Click.
Deborah Findlay, Romola Garai, Gina McKee, Anjli Mohindra and Harmony Rose-Bremner give “extraordinary performances.” (Observer) in Eline Arbo’s inventive adaptation, following sold out runs at the Almeida Theatre and Internationaal Theater Amsterdam.
Coming to the West End for a strictly limited 12 week run beginning January 2025.
“A unique, profoundly moving experience. It moved me in ways theatre often tries to but rarely achieves.”
(The Independent)
Deborah Findlay
Deborah Findlay
Theatre includes: The Years, Tongue of a Bird, Hedda Gabler, Mrs Gaugin (Almeida); Orlando (West End); Allelujah! (Bridge); The Children (Royal Court/ Broadway, Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play nominee); Escaped Alone (Royal Court/ BAM, New York); Rules for Living, Timon of Athens, Mother Clap’s Molly House, Stanley (Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress winner), The Winter’s Tale (National Theatre); Coriolanus, Moonlight, John Gabriel Borkman, The Cut (Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress nominee), The Vortex (Donmar); The Glass Menagerie (Young Vic); Like A Fishbone, Keyboard Skills, Commitments (Bush); Separate Tables, The Inquiry (Chichester Festival Theatre); Vincent River (59E59 Theaters, New York); The House of Bernarda Alba (Lyric Hammersmith/ West End); The Seagull, As You Like It, King Lear (UK tour); The School for Scandal, Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, Three Sisters (RSC); The Crucible, The Way of the World (Sheffield Theatres); Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp., Tom and Viv (Royal Court); Top Girls (Royal Court/ Public Theater, New York, Obie Award winner).
Film includes: Such a Lovely Day, From a Strange Land, Making Noise Quietly, Romeo and Juliet, The Lady in the Van, The Ones Below, Vanity Fair, Me Without You, Truly, Madly, Deeply.
Television includes: The Split, The Drowning, Collateral, Lovesick, Torchwood, Gunrush, Coalition, Poirot, Midsomer Murders, Starlings, New Tricks, Cranford, What If It’s Raining.
Romola Garai
Romola Garai
Theatre includes: Giant, The Village Bike (Royal Court); The Years, The Writer (Almeida); Calico (Duke of York’s); Indian Ink (Laura Pels Theatre, New York); King Lear/ The Seagull, Queen Anne (RSC); Measure for Measure (Young Vic); Three Sisters (Lyric Hammersmith).
Film includes: The Following Events are Based on a Pack of Lies, Vigil, Becoming Elizabeth, Born to Kill, Churchill’s Secret, The Crimson Petal and the White, Daniel Deronda, Emma, The Hour, The Miniaturist.
Television includes: Scoop, One Life, The Critic, Earwig, Miss Marx, Outside, 1939, Amazing Grace, Angel, Atonement, Glorious 39, I Capture the Castle, Inside I’m Dancing, Suffragette.
Gina McKee
Gina McKee
Theatre includes: The Years (Almeida); Dear England (Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress nominee); Aristocrats (National Theatre); The Forest, Di Viv and Rose (Hampstead Theatre); Boudica (Shakespeare’s Globe); Old Times, Faith Healer, Ivanov (Donmar/ West End); King Lear (Donmar/ UK tour/ BAM, New York, Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress nominee); The Mother (Kiln); Richard III, The Lover/ The Collection (West End); Separate Tables (Chichester Festival Theatre).
Films include: The End We Start From, Typist Artist Pirate King, My Policeman, Phantom Thread, In the Loop, Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian, Atonement, Women Talking Dirty, The Blackwater Lightship, Wonderland, Notting Hill, Croupier.
Television includes: Suspect, Line of Duty, Black Narcissus, Catherine the Great, Bodyguard, The Rook, Emerald City, Borgias, The Old Curiosity Shop, Dive, The Passion, The Forsyte Saga, Mothertime, Tsunami, Brass Eye, Beyond Fears, Fiona’s Story (BAFTA for Best Actress nominee), The Street (BAFTA for Best Actress nominee), The Lost Prince (BAFTA for Best Actress nominee), Our Friends in the North (BAFTA for Best Actress winner).
Anjli Mohindra
Anjli Mohindra
Training: The Television Workshop.
Theatre includes: The Years (Almeida); Noises Off (Garrick).
Television includes: The Red King, The Lazarus Project, Vigil, Bodyguard, Cucumber, The Boy with the Topknot, The Dead Room, Wild Bill, The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Upcoming television includes: Fear, Get Millie Back.
Film includes: Munich: The Edge of War.
Harmony Rose-Bremner
Harmony Rose-Bremner
Training: RADA.
Theatre includes: The Years (Almeida);Hamnet (RSC); NW Trilogy (Kiln).
Television includes: Fifteen-Love.
Eline Arbo
Adapter and Director
Eline Arbo
Adapter and Director
Eline has been Artistic Director at Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (ITA) since September 2023. Before that, she joined ITA as Associate Artistic Director from 2022. From January 2023, Eline was appointed as The Ibsen Artist in Residence.
Theatre includes: Penthesilea, The Laws, Prima Facie, The Hours (Internationaal Theater Amsterdam); The Years, Yerma (Het Nationale Theater, The Hague); Jane Eyre, Peer Gynt, Harmennene pà Helgeland, Haugtussa (National Theatre, Oslo); Iliaden (Betty Nansen Teatret, Copenhagen); The Passion of Young Werther (winner of BNG Bank Theater Prize and Toneelkijkers Award); The End of Eddy (Toneelschuur Producties, Haarlem; winner of VSCD Directing Award).
Annie Ernaux
Original Book Writer
Annie Ernaux
Original Book Writer
Annie Ernaux is a French author born in 1940. She has written eighteen books, all of which were published by Editions Gallimard. In 2022, she received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Works includes: La Place, Passion simple, L’Événement, Les Années, Mémoire de fille, Le Jeune homme, La Honte, Une femme.
Stephanie Bain
English Version Adapter
Stephanie Bain
English Version Adapter
Stephanie is the Head of Programming and Literary at the Almeida Theatre and in-house Dramaturg on Almeida productions.
Thijs van Vuure
Music Supervisor and Sound Designer
Thijs van Vuure
Music Supervisor and Sound Designer
Thijs is a composer, music director, musician and sound designer for theatre, art installations and film. His work is always heavily driven by the context and concept of the material, and ranges from classical music to heavy rock performances.
Theatre includes: Haugtussa, Jane Eyre (National Theatre, Oslo); The Laws, The Hours, Prima Facie, Penthesilea (Internationaal Theatre Amsterdam); A Case for the Existence of God, Verdriet is het ding met veren (Theater Rotterdam); Riaden (Betty Nansen Teatret, Copenhagen); The Years (Het Nationale Theater, The Hague); The End of Eddy (Toneelschuur Producties, Haarlem); The Narcosexuals (Studio Dries Verhoeven, Utrecht); Witch Hunt (Noord Nederlands Toneel, Groningen); Maria Stuart (Rogaland Teater, Stavanger).
Juul Dekker
Set Designer
Juul Dekker
Set Designer
After his studies of Theatre Science and Scenography in Amsterdam, Juul founded Art Collective Labland, a group of scenographers creating theatrical work in public spaces.
Theatre includes: The End of Eddy (Toneelschuur Producties, Haarlem); The Years, Happy Days (Het Nationale Theater, The Hague); Hell is Other People (Teatret Värt, Molde); De Drie Musketiers (Amsterdam Bostheater); Gavrilo Princip (Holland Festival); Une Cérémonie par Raoul Collectif (Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles).
Opera includes: Amadigi di Gaula (Kraków Opera); The Naked Shit Songs (Holland Festival).
Rebekka Wörmann
Costume Designer
Rebekka Wörmann
Costume Designer
Rebekka graduated in 2005 with a degree in fashion design from the Utrecht University of the Arts. Since then, she has been responsible for costume design across various theatre and film
Theatre includes: The Family, Immens, What is Love, Versus, Panic Room (Theater Utrecht); Bloedlink, De Gebroeders Leeuwenhart, Happy Days, The Years, Yerma, Waiting for Godot (Het Nationale Theater, The Hague); Client E. Busken, Prima Facie (Internationaal Theater Amsterdam); Revolutionary Road, Find Me A Boring Stone, Verdriet is het ding met veren, A Case of the Existence of God (Theater Rotterdam); Drie Zusters, De Revolutionairen, Orlando, Het leven zelf, The End of Eddy, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, De Wereldverbeteraar (Toneelschuur Producties, Haarlem); Sea of Silence (Frascati, Amsterdam).
Film includes: The Deflowering of Eva van End, Aanmodderfakker, Dames 4, Zenith, Bouwdorp, Lampje.
Television includes: Dropje.
Varja Klosse
Lighting Designer
Varja Klosse
Lighting Designer
Varja is a well-known lighting designer in the Netherlands who trained at the Amsterdam University of Arts. She has worked on various touring productions across the Netherlands and internationally.
Theatre includes: The End of Eddy, Drie Zusters, Het lijden van de jonge Werther, De Revolutionairen, The Last Poet (Toneelschuur Producties, Haarlem); The Hours, Penthesilea, Prima Facie, The Laws (Internationaal Theater Amsterdam); De Gabber Opera, CRISPR, Not All Is Lost (Theater Rotterdam); Do Not Look Back With Regret (Theater Rotterdam/ International tour); Timerne / The Hours (Det Kongelige Teater); Panic Room (Theater Utrecht); Droken Mensen, Zwart Water, Witch Hunt (Noord Nederlands Toneel, Groningen); The Years, Yerma (Het Nationale Theatre, The Hague); Sea of Silence, Emma Watson – The Play, Battlefield of Dreams, Mephisto Park, Naar Ikea, SIXTH (Frascati, Amsterdam); 233°C (Rose Stories, Amsterdam).
Amy Ball CDG
Casting Director
Amy Ball CDG
Casting Director
Varja is a well-known lighting designer in the Netherlands who trained at the Amsterdam University of Arts. She has worked on various touring productions across the Netherlands and internationally.
Theatre includes:The Years, Alma Mater, Cold War, Portia Coughlan, Women, Beware the Devil, “Daddy” A Melodrama, Albion, The Hunt, Shipwreck, Dance Nation, Boy (Almeida); Hamnet (RSC); The Hills of California, Lyonesse, Jerusalem, Leopoldstadt, Uncle Vanya, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Night of Iguana, Rosmersholm, True West, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, The Pillowman (West End); The Son (Kiln/ West End); Sweat (Donmar/ West End); The Ferryman (Royal Court/ West End/ Broadway); The Moderate Soprano (Hampstead Theatre/ West End); The Birthday Party, Consent (National Theatre/ West End); Hangmen (Royal Court/ West End/ Atlantic Theater Company); Berberian Sound Studio (Donmar); Stories, Exit the King (National Theatre); White Noise, A Very Very Very Dark Matter (Bridge); The Brothers Size (Young Vic); Maryland, ear for eye, Girls & Boys, Cyprus Avenue (Royal Court).
Yasmin Hafesji
Associate Director
Yasmin Hafesji
Associate Director
Yasmin studied at the University of Cambridge and trained with the Young Vic and National Theatre Studio. She was Associate Director at the Gate Theatre from 2020-2022.
Theatre includes: Haugtussa, Jane Eyre (National Theatre, Oslo); The Laws, The Hours, Prima Facie, Penthesilea (Internationaal Theatre Amsterdam); A Case for the Existence of God, Verdriet is het ding met veren (Theater Rotterdam); Riaden (Betty Nansen Teatret, Copenhagen); The Years (Het Nationale Theater, The Hague); The End of Eddy (Toneelschuur Producties, Haarlem); The Narcosexuals (Studio Dries Verhoeven, Utrecht); Witch Hunt (Noord Nederlands Toneel, Groningen); Maria Stuart (Rogaland Teater, Stavanger).
Our Gallery
Click to expand – Photo Credit: Justine Matthew
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Ticketing Information
The critically acclaimed sell-out Almeida Theatre Production transfers to the Harold Pinter Theatre from 24 January – 19 April.
Performance Schedule
Evenings: Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm
Matinees: Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm
Running Time: 1 hour 55 minutes, no interval
Cast Information
Romola Garai will be in performances of The Years through Saturday 8 March. Further casting to be announced at a later date.
Venue Details
Harold Pinter Theatre, Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4DN
Closet tube: Piccadilly Circus (Bakerloo and Piccadilly line tubes)
Groups & Education
For group booking enquiries please contact ATG on 020 7206 1174 (standard network charges apply).
Groups 10+
£45 per ticket – available in the Stalls or Dress Circle, Band A or B
£29.50 per ticket – available in the Balcony, Band D
Mondays only:
£42.50 per ticket – available in Stalls, or Dress Circle, Band A or B
£27.50 per ticket – available in Balcony, Band D
Schools 10+
£20 per ticket – available in Balcony Band D or E
One teacher free per 10 students
Monday – Wednesday performances only
Access Performances
Audio Described: Saturday 22 March, 2.30pm
Captioned: Saturday 15 March, 2.30pm
BSL Interpreted: Saturday 8 March, 2.30pm
ATG Access
For Access booking enquiries please contact ATG on 0800 912 6971 or via this contact form.
Access at the Harold Pinter
Ticketing Information
Age Suitability: 15+
Trigger Warnings: Graphic depictions of abortion, blood, a coerced sexual encounter, and sexual content. The production includes the use of e-cigarettes, haze and flashing lights.