Ever pioneers in pushing the boundaries of theatrical enterprise (to wit, the durational readings of
The Iliad and
The Odyssey), the Almeida Theatre has launched
Figures of Speech, a major new digital film project interrogating the vitality of speech, rhetoric, and what visionary leadership sounds like. Conceived by Rupert Goold and directed by Anthony Almeida,
Figures of Speech will, deep breath, "place history’s greatest speeches centre stage through a series of films read by a network of actors and young leaders released online, building a tapestry of dynamic voices and ideas from across the world as a dramatic response to social crisis".