The theatre director Rebecca Frecknall grew up in Cambridgeshire and studied drama at Goldsmiths. Currently an associate director at the Almeida, from 2026 she will move to the same role at the Old Vic. Frecknall had a huge hit with the 2021 revival of Cabaret with Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley – it won seven Olivier awards – and another with A Streetcar Named Desire starring Paul Mescal. Her production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is at the Almeida until 1 February, while Streetcar returns to London from 3 to 22 February at the Noël Coward theatre.
1. Music
Michael Kiwanuka: Small Changes
A friend sent me Michael Kiwanuka’s last album earlier this year and I had it playing on repeat. Now his new album has come out and it’s extraordinary. He has the most beautiful voice, is an incredible lyricist and there’s something hypnotically powerful about his music. The relisten factor is huge. I enjoy spending time with this as a complete album, listening to it all the way through and seeing how the songs speak to one another as the motifs build up. There’s a quiet confidence to it. He doesn’t sound like anyone else.
2. Book
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
This is the most I’ve enjoyed reading a novel in a long time. Mellors is a beautiful writer and I love the complexity of the characters and their messy relationships. It’s set in New York and follows the central couple Cleo and Frank from their first meeting onwards – their relationship is intense, passionate and destructive – though it’s as much about the friendship groups that form around them. It’s funny and sexy and quietly profound, and it’s got one of the best last lines of a novel I’ve ever read.
3. Gallery
White Cube Bermondsey, London SE1
I love this gallery. The last exhibition I saw there was of Tracey Emin’s paintings – she’s one of my favourite modern artists and the show was moving and intimate. Every time I go, I’m struck by what a beautiful space it is, and the work is always so elegantly, perfectly curated. It’s quite a small gallery in a simple concrete structure with a central walkway and three or four galleries. They are flexible spaces that change depending on what they’re showing. They always have interesting things on and know how to house artists’ work.
4. Dance
Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch: Vollmond, at Sadler’s Wells 14-23 February
I’m a huge Pina Bausch fan and I saw this piece the last time it came to Sadler’s Wells. When I heard it was coming back, I was really sad because I thought I’d be away in New York doing Streetcar, but then I realised I could catch it just before I go. I’ve always particularly liked this piece. For people who’ve seen Wim Wenders’s Pina documentary, it’s the one with a huge rock on stage and a river of water that the dancers go in and out of. It’s very elemental but also witty and it’s got a real propulsion to it. I’m thrilled that I’m getting to see it again.
5. Workout
Reshape class at 1Rebel South Bank, London SE1
This is the kind of thing that, had you described it to me a year ago, I would have thought it sounded like hell. But then I started going to a very similar class in Amsterdam while I was working there and I got into it. It’s a treadmill HIIT workout with club music, in the dark with flashing lights, and it’s so intense and kind of awful, but actually I find it really meditative because you can’t think about anything else while you’re doing it. I’ve surprised myself by how much I enjoy it.
6. Restaurant
Bubala Soho, London W1
I went to this restaurant for the first time a couple of years ago. It has such a lovely atmosphere and everything they make – Middle Eastern vegetarian food – is delicious. It’s very small and you have to book quite far in advance to get in, but the staff are great and it feels really chill. They do a barbecued mushroom skewer dish that’s one of the most delicious things I’ve ever had. I’m not vegetarian but this is one of those places where you go, wow, actually you don’t need meat in your diet.
