ERICA WHYMAN ANNOUNCES FINAL PROGRAMME WITH THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
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This season includes two magical new productions in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, whilst the Swan Theatre sees the return of an Elizabethan classic and the stage premiere of a new play, plus a new Shakespeare touring production adapted for ages 8-13 years.
- Justin Audibert directs The Box of Delights in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre; based on the much-loved children’s novel by John Masefield, adapted by award-winning children’s author Piers Torday
- Olivier award-winning playwright Isobel McArthur (Pride and Prejudice*) (*sort of)) makes her RSC debut with a rollicking new adaptation of Thomas Heywood’s The Fair Maid of the West in the Swan Theatre
- Eleanor Rhode returns to direct William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
- World stage premiere production of Mark Ravenhill’s Ben and Imo directed by Erica Whyman to open in the Swan Theatre in Spring 2024; a witty and revealing play examining the creative relationship between Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst
- The Merchant of Venice 1936 returns to the Swan Theatre for a limited run following its autumn sell out season; Watford Palace Theatre’s ground-breaking production of Shakespeare’s classic relocated to London’s East End. Directed by Brigid Larmour and featuring Tracy-Ann Oberman as Shylock
- First Encounters with Shakespeare 90-minute re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Philip J Morris for 8–13-year-olds and their families, touring to schools and communities across the UK
Today (Thursday 1 June), Erica Whyman announced details of her final season of work as Acting Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) ahead of her stepping down this month.
Erica Whyman, Acting Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, said:
“I am properly proud to be announcing this, my last season as Acting Artistic Director. To lead this organisation out of the pandemic has been a privilege and I am enormously proud of the strong foundations I leave for its next chapter.
All these productions will celebrate the power of imagination, from Shakespeare’s delicious fantasy of fairies and lovers to Imogen Holst and Benjamin Britten wrestling with the rigours of a Royal Commission, to the faith a child has that Christmas is worth fighting for. Not to mention the glorious Bess, our Fair Maid, whose adventures in a man’s world will be exuberantly re-imagined, and a new Romeo and Juliet which will insist we properly imagine what it is to be young in a dangerous world.
This season and the artists who lead it -Isobel, Mark, Eleanor, Justin, Piers, Philip, Tracy-Ann and Brigid - embody the qualities I hope have defined my tenure; courage, honesty and ingenuity. I am grateful to them and all the artists and staff who have walked these last wild and rewarding years with me.”
“Joy gentle friends! Joy, and fresh days of love accompany your hearts”
William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
WINTER 2023
Opening in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre this winter, Justin Audibert (The Taming of the Shrew, 2019, Snow in Midsummer, 2017, The Jew of Malta, 2015) returns to the RSC to direct The Box of Delights from Tuesday 31 October 2023 – Sunday 7 January 2024.
Originally produced for Wilton’s Music Hall in 2017, Piers Torday’s magical reimagining of John Masefield’s much-loved festive children’s classic tells the story of orphaned schoolboy Kay Harker who finds himself the guardian of a small wooden box with powers beyond his wildest dreams. Caught up in a battle between two powerful magicians, Kay fights to save not just the people he loves but also the future of Christmas itself…
The production will see Justin re-unite with RSC Associate and Olivier award-winning Designer Tom Piper, who most recently designed the sets for the RSC’s productions of Hamnet in the Swan Theatre and The Tempest in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Spring 2023.
The Headline Sponsor of The Box of Delights is Pragnell, a longstanding supporter of the RSC.
Justin Audibert is the current Artistic Director of the Unicorn Theatre and the Artistic Director Designate at Chichester Festival Theatre.
Directing for The Unicorn includes: The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Pinocchio by Eve Leigh, Anansi the Spider (also at Open Air Theatre Regents Park); The Canterville Ghost by Anthony Weigh after Oscar Wilde; Beowulf by Chris Thorpe and My Mother Medea by Holger Schober.
In 2012 he was the recipient of the Leverhulme award for Emerging Directors from the National Theatre studio and was one of the Guardian’s 12 theatre stars for 2020.
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In the Swan Theatre, Olivier award-winning playwright Isobel McArthur makes her RSC debut directing and adapting Thomas Heywood’s Elizabethan comedy-romp The Fair Maid of the West, which runs from Saturday 2 December 2023 – Sunday 14 January 2024.
The production was last performed in the Swan Theatre in 1986 as part of the official opening programme, directed by Trevor Nunn. It played alongside Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream, with Pete Postlethwaite as Roughman, Sean Bean as Spencer and Imelda Staunton as Bess Bridges.
Isobel McArthur is an Olivier award winning actor, director and playwright. Isobel’s five-star West End adaptation of the classic novel Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) in which she also starred was awarded Best Entertainment or Comedy Play in the 2022 Oliviers and is now touring the UK, as well as being performed internationally in several languages.
2023 also sees the debut of her original lyrical satire The Grand Old Opera House Hotel for the Traverse Theatre with Dundee Rep, as well as a new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped for The National Theatre of Scotland.
The production is designed by Ana Inés Jabares-Pita (As You Like It, 2023) with further creative team to be announced.
SPRING 2024
Looking ahead to Spring 2024, Eleanor Rhode returns to the RSC with a new production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Eleanor made her directorial debut for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2019 with a striking and popular re-telling of King John, which has since been filmed for cinematic release.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream will run in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from Tuesday 30 January to Saturday 30 March 2024 with further creative team to be confirmed.
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Making its stage premiere in the Swan Theatre from Wednesday 21 February – Saturday 6 April 2024, Mark Ravenhill’s new play, Ben and Imo tells the story of the creative relationship between composer Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst, daughter of Gustav and an accomplished musician in her own right.
Set in 1953 in the lead up to Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, Britten has just nine months to write a new opera about her predecessor Elizabeth I.
Into the world of the disheartened composer enters the exuberant and passionate Imogen Holst. Her candid and can-do attitude proves to be the perfect foil for the weary Britten, and what begins as an arrangement of practical support turns into a bond that not only sees Gloriana to its premiere but endures throughout the rest of their lives.
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Following the success of last year’s sell out production of Twelfth Night, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s First Encounters series returns with a new reimagining of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, adapted for ages 8 to 13.
The production will tour to schools and theatres around the country during the Spring of 2024 and will visit the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon from Thursday 21 – Saturday 30 March 2024. Further details and tour dates to be confirmed.
The production will be directed by Philip J Morris. Philip is the Artistic Director of Trybe House Theatre, a company who work primarily with young black men, which aims to share their diverse range of stories within the wider community. Philip was formerly a Trainee Director at the Royal Court Theatre and was Senior Youth Theatre Director at the Birmingham REP.
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Meanwhile, in the Swan Theatre, Tracy-Ann Oberman and Brigid Larmour’s gripping adaptation of The Merchant of Venice 1936 returns from Wednesday 24 January – Saturday 10 February 2024 following a sold-out season in Autumn 2023.
Fascism is sweeping across Europe, and Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists threatens a paramilitary march through the Jewish East End. Shylock (Tracy-Ann Oberman), a widowed survivor of anti-Semitic pogroms in Russia, hopes to give her daughter Jessica a better life. She runs a pawnbroking business from her house in Cable Street where Mosley will march. Charismatic heroine Portia and the Merchant himself, Antonio, are aristocratic Mosleyites, their playground is piano bars at the Ritz, bias cut silk gowns, white tie and tails.
As these worlds collide, a struggle for morals, power and prejudice ensues with devastating consequences, in this rare and vivid insight into a dark chapter in our history, all too relevant to Britain today.
Trafalgar Theatre Productions and Eilene Davidson Productions, in association with the Royal Shakespeare Company, presents the Watford Palace Theatre & Home Manchester production of The Merchant of Venice 1936. The production is directed and adapted by Brigid Larmour from an idea by Tracy Ann-Oberman and co-created by them both. Costume and Set Design is by Liz Cooke with Lighting Design by Rory Beaton and Sound Design by Sarah Weltman. The Composer is Erran Baron Cohen. Movement is by Richard Katz and Video Design is by Greta Zabulyte.
ENDS
For more press information about the RSC please contact: Kate Evans, Head of Media Relations (Royal Shakespeare Company) on 07920 244 434, email: kate.evans@rsc.org.uk
BOOKING INFORMATION:
Gold Patrons Thursday 8 June 2023
Silver Patrons Friday 9 June 2023
Bronze Patrons Monday 12 June 2023
Members Wednesday 14 June 2023
Subscribers Monday 19 June 2023
Public Booking Thursday 22 June 2023
Online: rsc.org.uk.
Phone: Gold & Silver Patrons: 01789 331119 Bronze Patrons: 01789 331318
Members: 01789 331125 Subscribers: 01789 331247
Public: 01789 331111
In person at the RSC Box Office
Royal Shakespeare Theatre,
Waterside,
Stratford-upon-Avon,
CV37 6BB
Royal Shakespeare Company
£10.00 - £64.50
Swan Theatre
£15.00* - £55.00
*Standing tickets are available in the Swan Theatre at £10.00 (£5.00 for reduced price previews)
Discounts are also available for families, disabled people and carers, over 65s, first-time visitors and groups.
Standby tickets available on the day, with additional discounts for CV37 residents.
TikTok £10 tickets for those aged 14-25 for any performance (£5 for reduced price previews). Max of 2 per booking. Must register online to access tickets.
For further information, visit https://www.rsc.org.uk/ticket-prices-discounts-offers
Listings Information:
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
The Box of Delights
By Piers Torday based on the novel by John Masefield
Director Justin Audibert
Designer Tom Piper
Lighting Prema Mehta
Music Ed Lewis
Sound Claire Windsor
Movement Simon Pittman
Video Nina Dunn
Puppetry Samuel Wyer
Fights Kev McCurdy
Tuesday 31 October 2023 – Sunday 7January 2024
Press Night: Wednesday 8 November
Chilled Performance Thursday 16 November (Matinee)
Captioned Performances Friday 24 November, Thursday 4 January (Matinee)
Audio Described & Chilled Performance Saturday 2 December (Matinee)
Relaxed, Audio Described & Captioned Performance with Integrated BSL Interpreter Thursday 7 December (Matinee)
Audio Described Performance Friday 15 December
Integrated BSL interpreted Performance Friday 5 January
‘There are tricks…and then there’s magic!’
After a seemingly chance encounter on a train, orphaned schoolboy Kay Harker finds himself the guardian of a small wooden box with powers beyond his wildest dreams.
Caught up in a battle between two powerful magicians, Kay fights to save not just the people he loves but also the future of Christmas itself.
This fantastically festive production, originally produced for Wilton’s Music Hall, is directed by Justin Audibert (The Taming of the Shrew 2019, Snow in Midsummer, 2017, The Jew of Malta 2015) and designed by RSC Associate Designer Tom Piper.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By William Shakespeare
Director Eleanor Rhode
Tuesday 30 January to Saturday 30 March 2024
Press Night: Tuesday 13 February
Captioned Performance Friday 23 February
Audio Described Performance Friday 1 March
Audio Described, Captioned & Chilled Performance Saturday 9 March (Matinee)
Chilled Performance Thursday 28 March (Matinee)
That is hot ice and wondrous strange snow.
How shall we find the concord of this discord?
On Midsummer’s Night, the real and fairy worlds collide. Four young lovers, faced with the prospect of unhappy marriage or worse, flee the court of Athens and stumble into an enchanted forest. Nearby, a group of amateur actors rehearse a play to celebrate an upcoming royal wedding.
As these mere mortals cross paths with a warring fairy king and queen, chaos reigns in the natural world. The lines between reality and appearance start to blur and no-one but mischievous Puck knows what is true and what is magic.
Let Shakespeare’s captivating comedy transport you from deepest midwinter to the most magical of midsummer nights.
Director Eleanor Rhode (King John) returns to the RSC with a Dream that is both epic and intimate, and completely full of wonder.
Swan Theatre
The Fair Maid of the West
By Isobel McArthur after Thomas Heywood
Director Isobel McArthur
Designer Ana Inés Jabares-Pita
Sound Niamh Gaffney
Saturday 2 December 2023 – Sunday 14 January 2024
Press Night: Tuesday 12 December
Audio Described, Captioned & Chilled Performances Friday 29 December & Saturday 6 January (Matinee)
Integrated BSL Interpreted performance Saturday 13 January (Matinee)
‘A good landlady pacifies the vexed,
enlightens the perplexed,
and always knows who’s next’
Liz Bridges might seem ordinary, but it turns out that a life spent lending ears, mending hearts and serving beers has all been in preparation for the ultimate test of her character...
Who knew that breaking up bar brawls would be such good training for international diplomacy?
Join us at the pub – where the heroes are local and the locals are all heroes – in this celebratory, music-filled, ensemble comedy about the life-saving powers of community, compromise and compassion. Especially in those moments when all our happy hours seem to be behind us.
Thomas Heywood’s Elizabethan romp The Fair Maid of the West featured in the Swan Theatre’s opening season in 1986. Now it is redefined by Isobel McArthur (Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) in this dynamic, open-armed adaptation for 2023.
The Merchant of Venice 1936
By William Shakespeare
Adapted by Brigid Larmour from an idea by Tracy-Ann Oberman
Director Brigid Larmour
Costume and Set Designer Liz Cooke
Lighting Designer Rory Beaton
Sound Designer Sarah Weltman
Composer Erran Baron Cohen
Movement Richard Katz
Video Design Greta Zabulyte.
Wednesday 24 January – Saturday 10 February 2024
Trafalgar Theatre Productions and Eilene Davidson Productions in association with the Royal Shakespeare Company presents The Watford Palace Theatre & HOME Manchester production of The Merchant of Venice 1936.
London, 1936 the threat of fascism grows day by day.
Shylock (Tracy-Ann Oberman - EastEnders, Doctor Who, Friday Night Dinner) a widow, single mother and survivor of attacks on Jewish people in Russia, runs a small business from her home in Cable Street.
Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists march through the Jewish East End and a fragile peace is shattered.
Into Shylock’s world enters antisemitic Antonio in need of a loan, a dangerous deal is made. Will Shylock take her revenge?
A powerful reminder of a key moment in British history.
‘If you prick us do we not bleed? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?’
Ben and Imo
By Mark Ravenhill
Director Erica Whyman
Wednesday 21 February – Saturday 6 April 2024
Press Night: Thursday 29 February
Captioned performance Saturday 16 March (Matinee)
Audio Described & Chilled Performance Saturday 23 March (Matinee)
Audio Described, Captioned & Chilled performance Wednesday 27 March
Integrated BSL Interpreted Performance Saturday 6 April (Matinee)
‘You’ll be remembered forever. I’ll be forgot. As it should be.
But Gloriana wouldn’t have been the same If I wasn’t here’.
The 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is fast approaching. To mark the occasion, Benjamin Britten has just nine months to write a new opera about her predecessor Elizabeth I. Into the world of the disheartened composter enters the exuberant and passionate Imogen Holst, daughter of Gustav and an accomplished musician in her own right. Her candid and can-do attitude proves to be the perfect foil for the weary Britten, and what begins as an arrangement of practical support turns into a bond that not only sees Gloriana to its premiere but endures throughout the rest of their lives.
Mark Ravenhill (The Boy in The Dress, Candide) first created Ben and Imo as a radio play, and now adapts it for the stage directed by Erica Whyman (Hamnet, Romeo and Juliet 2018, Miss Littlewood, The Seven Acts of Mercy, A Museum in Baghdad).
First Encounters Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare for Young Audiences
By William Shakespeare
Edited by Robin Belfield
Director Phillip J Morris
Thursday 21 – Saturday 30 March 2024
Relaxed Performance Thursday 28 March (Matinee)
‘My bounty is as boundless as the sea.
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite’
A gatecrashed party. A chance meeting. Love at first sight.
When Romeo meets Juliet, the world around them melts away. But then reality kicks in; their families are enemies, and they will never be allowed to stay together. With the world against them, they hatch a plan to escape the lives they were born into. But fate has other ideas.
Following the success of last year’s sell out Twelfth Night, the latest in our series of First Encounters productions makes Shakespeare’s star cross’d lovers relevant for a new generation of theatregoers.
This 90-minute version of Romeo and Juliet uses an edited version of the original language to create the perfect first introduction for young people aged 8-13 and their families.
As well as two weeks of performances for schools and family audiences in Stratford-upon-Avon, this production also tours to schools and theatres around the country with full tour dates and venues to be announced.
BIOGRAPHIES:
Justin Audibert is the current Artistic Director of the Unicorn Theatre and the Artistic Director Designate at Chichester Festival Theatre.
Directing for The Unicorn includes: The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Pinocchio by Eve Leigh, Anansi the Spider (also at Open Air Theatre Regents Park); The Canterville Ghost by Anthony Weigh after Oscar Wilde; Beowulf by Chris Thorpe and My Mother Medea by Holger Schober.
Other recent theatre directing credits include: Guardians Of The Galaxy: The Live Immersive Experience (Marvel and Secret Cinema): The Taming of the Shrew; Snow in Midsummer; The Jew of Malta (Royal Shakespeare Company); Macbeth; The Winter’s Tale (National Theatre); The Box of Delights by John Masefield; adapted by Piers Torday (Wilton’s Music Hall); The Cardinal by James Shirely (Southwark Playhouse); Snow in Midsummer by Frances Ya Chu Cowhig (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Jumper Factory by Luke Barnes (Young Vic Prison Project); How Not to Live in Suburbia by Annie Siddons (Soho Theatre); Wingman by Richard Marsh (Soho Theatre) The Man with the Hammer by Phil Porter (Plymouth Theatre Royal); Unscorched by Luke Owen (Finborough Theatre) and Gruesome Playground Injuries by Rajiv Joseph (Gate Theatre).
As Playwright: Marvin’s Binoculars, Anansi the Spider (Unicorn Theatre)
Justin wrote and directed Marvin’s Binoculars and three episodes of Anansi Respun for the Unicorn Theatre online and The Guardian and Story Seekers for The Unicorn Theatre and National Theatre Learning. He also directed the short film Joseph Knight for the National Theatre of Scotland and BBC Scotland. His production of The Taming of the Shrew was broadcast live into cinemas around the world and his productions of Macbeth and The Winter’s Tale, both adapted by him for young audiences, are part of the National Theatre collection; Drama Online.
in 2012 he was the recipient of the Leverhulme award for Emerging Directors from the National Theatre studio and was one of the Guardian’s 12 theatre stars for 2020.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/dec/30/enter-stage-right-12-theatre-stars-for-2020
Trusteeships and Governance:
He is a trustee of Invisible Flock, Headlong, and the Peggy Ramsay Foundation.
Education:
MFA Theatre Directing, Birkbeck, University of London.
BA Hons Modern History and Politics, University of Sheffield.
Piers Torday is a bestselling and award winning writer for children whose books include The Last Wild (shortlisted for Waterstones Children’s Book Prize), The Dark Wild (Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize), There May Be a Castle (Times Children’s Book of the Year) and The Lost Magician series (Teach Primary Book Award). His latest book is The Wild Before. His work has been translated into 14 languages.
His plays include the world premiere stage adaptation of John Masefield’s The Box of Delights, A Christmas Carol, The Child in the Snow and Wind in the Wilton’s (all Wilton’s Music Hall). His book There May Be a Castle was recently adapted for the stage by Barb Jungr and Samantha Lane for Little Angel Theatre.
He is a Trustee of The Unicorn Theatre, and an Artistic Associate at Wilton’s Music Hall.
Isobel McArthur is an Olivier award winning actor, director and playwright. Isobel’s five-star West End adaptation of the classic novel Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) in which she also starred was awarded Best Entertainment or Comedy Play in the 2022 Oliviers and is now touring the UK as well as being performed internationally in several languages.
2023 sees the debut of her original lyrical satire The Grand Old Opera House Hotel for the Traverse Theatre with Dundee Rep, as well as a new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped for The National Theatre of Scotland - and finally this contemporary take on Heywood’s The Fair Maid of the West for the RSC’s Swan theatre re-opening season.
Isobel has performed in and written mainstage work for numerous major UK theatres and last year was the recipient of the Evening Standard Award for Emerging Talent, as well as The Stage’s ‘Rising Star’ and No. 3 in The List’s 100 most significant Scottish cultural contributors.
Eleanor Rhode has over a decade of experience directing in theatre, with a particular focus on new writing and making work that transcends stylistic boundaries.
Recently she has begun working in other mediums, including directing a new audio play - Mrs Wickham by Sarah Page, starring Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn - which won the 2023 ‘Audie Award’ for Best Original Work.
In 2019 she made her directorial debut for the Royal Shakespeare Company with a radical re-telling of King John, which has been filmed for cinematic release.
Her most recent theatre work includes: Once Upon A Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia for The Almeida, starring Adrian Edmondson; Rust for The Bush/Hightide; the UK premiere of Blue Door for Theatre Royal Bath; Wendy and Peter Pan for the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh; and the critically-acclaimed world premiere of Boudica for the Globe Theatre, starring Gina McKee in the title role.
In 2009 she co-founded Snapdragon Productions to bring neglected and unknown works to new audiences. Work for Snapdragon includes Toast by Richard Bean (UK Tour and New York), and the world premiere of Teddy by Tristan Bernays and Dougal Irvine which won Best New Musical at the 2016 Off West End Awards.
Eleanor is a board member for Stage Directors UK.
Mark Ravenhill is a playwright and was a writer-in-residence for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2012. His debut play, Shopping and Fucking premiered at the Royal Court theatre in 1996 to critical acclaim, quickly establishing him as one of the most exciting new voices in British Theatre.
Mark’s previous work for the Royal Shakespeare Company includes Candide (2013), A Life of Galileo, by Bertolt Brecht, translated by Mark Ravenhill (2013) and The Boy In The Dress with music and lyrics by Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers, adapted from the novel by David Walliams (2019).
Additional writing credits include Some Explicit Polaroids (Ambassadors Theatre, 1999), Mother Clap’s Molly House (Lyttleton Theatre, 2001), Totally Over You (2004), Citizenship (National Theatre, 2018), and The Cane (Royal Court, 2018).
The production will be directed by Erica Whyman, whose most recent credits for the RSC include Hamnet (2023), Faith (a co-production with Coventry City of Culture, 2021), The Winter’s Tale (2021), A Museum in Baghdad (2019), Romeo and Juliet (RST and on tour, 2018/19), Miss Littlewood (2018) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play for the Nation (RST and on tour, 2016/17).
Philip J Morris is the Artistic Director of Trybe House Theatre, a company who work primarily with young black men, which aims to share their diverse range of stories within the wider community. Philip was formerly a Trainee Director at the Royal Court Theatre and was Senior Youth Theatre Director at the Birmingham REP.
Theatre directing includes: Manorism, An adaptation by Yomi Ṣode (Southbank Centre); Bitches (Residenz Theatre, Munich); Of The Cut (Young Vic); Clutch (Bush Theatre); Sessions (Paines Plough & Soho Theatre); 18, Company Three (New Diorama Theatre) Neighbourhood Voices Monologue Showcase (Young Vic Theatre); Scenes From A Brummie illiad (Birmingham Repertory Theatre)
Film Directing Includes; Recovery In Vision Short Films (Tea Films & Outside Edge); Living Newspaper Editions 4 & 7 (Royal Court Theatre)
Audio Play credits include: The Holding ‘GNR8’ -Bad Seed (LAMDA & Audible Original)
Philip received training at the Young Vic's, Introduction to Directing Course, Regional Theatre Young Directors' Scheme (RTYDS) and became a Project Associate at the National Theatre for Public Acts. He is the Artistic Director of Trybe House Theatre following a period as Trainee Director at the Royal Court Theatre.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The RSC is supported using public funding by Arts Council England
The work of the RSC is supported by the Culture Recovery Fund
The RSC is generously supported by RSC America
Headline Sponsor of The Box Of Delights – Pragnell
The Box Of Delights is supported by Season Supporter Charles Holloway
The Fair Maid Of The West is generously supported by the RSC Friends
Ben and Imo. Presented in association with Michael Grandage Company
New Work at the RSC is generously supported by The Drue and H.J. Heinz II Charitable Trust
TikTok £10 Tickets sponsored by TikTok
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a theatre and learning charity that creates world class theatre, made in Stratford-upon-Avon and shared around the world, performing plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as commissioning an exceptionally wide range of original work from contemporary writers. Our purpose is to ensure that Shakespeare is for everyone, and we do that by unlocking the power of his plays and of live performance and our learning and education work throughout the UK and across the world.
We believe everybody’s life is enriched by culture and creativity. We have trained generations of the very best theatre makers and we continue to nurture the talent of the future. Our transformative Learning programmes reach over half a million young people and adults each year, and through our Creative Placemaking and Public Programme we create projects with and for communities who have not historically engaged with our work. We are a leader in creative immersive technologies and digital development.
We have a proud record of innovation, diversity and excellence on stage and are determined to grasp the opportunity to become an even more inclusive, progressive, relevant and ambitious organisation.
We have one of the UK’s largest arts learning programmes, working with over 1,000 schools each year to broaden access to high quality arts learning and transform experiences of Shakespeare in schools. Through our national partnership programme with schools and regional theatres we target areas of structural disadvantage, including 26 areas of multiple deprivation across the country, from Cornwall to Middlesbrough. Research shows that our approaches to teaching Shakespeare support the development of reading and writing skills, accelerate language acquisition and development, raise aspirations and improve student attitudes to school and learning in general. They also foster well-being, self-esteem, empathy, resilience and tolerance and promote critical-thinking, creative, analytical, communication and problem-solving skills.
We are committed to being a teaching and learning theatre and we are the only arts organisation to have been awarded Independent Research Organisation status. We create world class theatre for, with and by audiences and theatre makers of all ages. We provide training for emerging and established theatre makers and arts professionals, for teachers and for young people. We share learning formally and informally. We embed training and research across our company, work and processes.
We recognise the climate emergency and work hard to embed environmental sustainability into our operations, creative work and business practice, making a commitment to continually reduce our carbon footprint.
Keep Your RSC supports our mission to create theatre at its best, unlocking Shakespeare and transforming lives. Thousands of generous audience members, trusts and foundations and partners supported Keep Your RSC since 2020, alongside a £19.4 million loan from the Culture Recovery Fund, we are thrilled to be welcoming audiences back. It will take time to recover and many years to repay the loan and the support and generosity of our audiences is more important than ever. Please donate at rsc.org.uk/donate
Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.www.artscouncil.org.uk
Pragnell
Pragnell offers the widest and most beautiful selection of fine jewellery, watches and silver, both antique and modern, in the UK. As a sixth-generation, family-owned company, the Pragnell name symbolises its innate commitment to quality.
TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Watford Palace Theatre
Watford Palace Theatre is a regional cultural powerhouse that entertains and brings joy, empowerment, and inspiration to all. From its roots as a Music Hall, built in 1908, and an early pioneer of Theatre in Education, Watford Palace Theatre is an arts charity that celebrates its rich heritage, and boldly steps towards the future embracing a new vision of theatre – indoors, outdoors, and online. Recent WPT productions include a new adaptation of Little Women by Anne-Marie Casey; in association with Rifco, a world premiere of Glitterball, and Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party; Recent commissions at Imagine Watford, a free annual festival celebrating a range of outdoor performance art include Remembering Eden by Victoria Culf, and The Happy Prince by Pack Pack Theatre. Co-commissions include TIMELESS by Jolie Vyann and Da Native by Far From the Norm. Watford Palace Theatre is proud to celebrate inventive and inclusive creativity for all generations, exhibited with Buffering, the first onstage performance by the Palace Young Company at Stage in the Park, the Enrich Festival in association with Herts Inclusive Theatre which gives visibility to artists with learning disabilities, and a sharing from the Moving Museum of Motherhood, which came to be staged via a freelance callout supported by the Cultural Recovery Fund. Watford Palace Theatre partners with Warner Bros, Studios Leavesden, the University of Hertfordshire, and CathARTic Art, to produce the Hertfordshire Film Festival, showcasing the best filmmaking talent across the region. Central to Watford Palace Theatre’s vision is Resident Partner Rifco Theatre Company.
Trafalgar Theatre Productions
Trafalgar Theatre Productions, produces new shows and classic musicals in London and internationally including the Tony and Olivier award-winning smash hit musical, Jersey Boys, which opened London’s new Trafalgar Theatre in 2021 and is currently touring the UK & Ireland, Broadway’s favourite multi award-winning musical, Alanis Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill which launched the Theatre Royal Sydney in September 2021, a major revival of the classic musical, Anything Goes, starring Sutton Foster and Robert Lindsay at the Barbican Theatre in the summer of 2021, the hilarious new comedy, Death Drop, at the Garrick Theatre and Criterion Theatre, the current World Tour of The Rocky Horror Show, the Lincoln Center’s award-winning production of The King and I at the London Palladium and worldwide, and a co-production of War Horse with The National Theatre in Australia and Asia-Pacific.
www.trafalgarentertainment.com
