ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY CASTING FOR THE EMPRESS AND FALKLAND SOUND

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Image Design by Visual Communications, Photography by Clare Park © RSC

Today (Friday 12 May), the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) announces full casting for its upcoming productions of The Empress, by Tanika Gupta, and world premiere of Falkland Sound by Brad Birch, which will open in the Swan Theatre in the Summer of 2023.

These timely and evocative plays are brought sharply into focus in 2023 and offer fresh perspective on Britain’s relationship with its imperial past and how it continues to shape the country’s identity today.

The Empress will run in the Swan Theatre from Friday 7 July to Friday 15 September 2023, with press night on Tuesday 18 July before transferring to the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London from Wednesday 4 October to Saturday 28 October, with press night on Tuesday 10 October. The production will then return to the Swan Theatre from Wednesday 1 November to Saturday 18 November 2023.

Falkland Sound will run in the Swan Theatre from Saturday 5 August to Saturday 16 September 2023, with press night on Tuesday 15 August. 

Erica Whyman, RSC Acting Artistic Director said: “The RSC has always believed it essential to support and celebrate the living writers who can expose new ways of seeing our collective history and conjure a brave new world that we don’t yet understand. The Empress by Tanika Gupta – now on the GCSE syllabus - presents an extraordinary friendship and a beautiful love story, whilst forensically exposing the blithe injustice of empire. Falkland Sound by Brad Birch explores with compassion the human experience of the Islanders during the conflict, and the ferocious politics which informed the British response. Now more than ever it takes courage to speak these truths, as new cultural wars roar and mutter.”

THE EMPRESS

Set in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, the play tells the story of the sixteen-year-old Rani Das, ayah (nursemaid) to an English family, who arrives at Tilbury docks after a long voyage from India, to start a new life in Britain. On the boat, Rani befriends a lascar (sailor), an Indian politician and a royal servant destined to serve the Queen. Full of hopes and dreams of what lies ahead, they each embark on an extraordinary journey.

Spanning a period of 13 years over the ‘Golden Era’ of Empire, this epic drama takes audiences from the rugged gangways of Tilbury docks to the grandeur of Queen Victoria’s Palace, whilst unveiling the long and embedded culture of British Asian history which continues to shape our society today.

Making her RSC debut, Tanya Katyal will play Rani Das. Her theatre credits include When Mountains Meet at Cottiers Theatre, Glasgow. Television credits include Netflix’s Eternally Confused and Eager for Love.

Raj Bajaj will play Abdul Karim. Raj’s previous RSC credits include Tamburlaine, Tartuffe and Much Ado About Nothing. Other recent theatre credits include Wildfire Road (Sheffield Crucible), Tartuffe (Birmingham Rep), Hobson's Choice (Royal Exchange Manchester), Rapunzel (Stratford East), Lions & Tigers, The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare’s Globe), East is East (Northern Stage/Nottingham Playhouse) and Bend It Like Beckham (Phoenix Theatre).

Alexandra Gilbreath will play Queen Victoria. Alexandra is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, where her credits include; Cymbeline, The Provoked Wife, The Rover, Shakespeare Live!, A Midsummer Night’s Dreaming, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night for which she received an Olivier award nomination-for Best Supporting Actress, Merry Wives – The Musical, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tamer Tamed, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, The Winter’s Tale, Cyrano de Bergerac, Ghosts, The Country Wife, Love’s Labour’s Lost. Other theatre includes; The Sugar Syndrome at the Orange Tree; The Fever Syndrome, Mother Christmas at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs; The Lie at Menier Chocolate Factory; Dessert at Southwark Playhouse; The Wars of the Roses, Hayfever at the Rose Kingston; The Invisibles at the Bush; A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Hong Kong Philharmonic; The Village Bike, Disappeared at the Royal Court; Shallow Slumber, God’s Dice at Soho Theatre; Othello at Sheffield Crucible; and Playhouse Creatures at Chichester Festival Theatre.

Completing the company are: Francesca Faridany (Lady Sarah), Aaron Gill (Hari), Anyebe Godwin (Serang/Lascar), Miriam Grace Edwards (Charlotte/Georgina/ensemble), Oliver Hembrough (Sir John Oakham/William/ensemble), Avita Jay (Firoza/ensemble), Tom Milligan (Freddie/ensemble), Sarah Moyle (Mary/Susan Matthews/ensemble), Chris Nayak (Jinnah/Singh), Lauren Patel (Ruby/Asha), Simon Rivers (Dadabhai Naoroji), Anish Roy (Gandhi/Lascar), Nicola Stephenson (Lascar Sally), Premi Tamang (Lascar/Ayah) and Joe Usher (Lascar).

The Empress first premiered in the Swan Theatre in 2013 and was directed by Emma Rice.

The play-text was recently added to the GCSE drama syllabus following a campaign spearheaded by the RSC's Youth Advisory Board and one of four new plays by writers of colour to better reflect the diversity of playwriting in the UK. The text was introduced by AQA in 2022, the largest examination board in England. Tanika’s 2019 production of A Doll’s House was previously added to the national curriculum by Pearson in 2021 alongside works by Bola Agbaje, In-Sook Chappell and Roy Williams.

Tanika Gupta has written over 25 stage plays that have been produced in major theatres across the UK. Her critically acclaimed adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House set in colonial Calcutta launched Rachel O’Riordan’s first season as Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in 2019.

Tanika was awarded an MBE for Services to Drama and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Tanika is an Artistic Associate at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and was recently announced as one of two new Writers in Residence at The Bush Theatre in 2023. For further details, visit www.tanikagupta.com

The production is directed by Pooja Ghai with Design by Rosa Maggiora. Lighting is by Matt Haskins, Music and Sound by Ben and Max Ringham, Movement by Wayne Parsons, Fights and Intimacy Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown, and Casting by Matthew Dewsbury CDG and Martin Poile.

FALKLAND SOUND

This new play is inspired by the real-life testimonies of those who lived through the Falklands conflict and explores a community and way of life turned upside down following the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentine forces in April 1982.

The company includes: Eduardo Arcelus (Gabriel), Alvaro Flores (Sebastian/One), Sandy Foster (Rosie/Clare), Anyebe Godwin (Jacob/Youth), Joanne Howarth (Mrs Hargreaves/Thatcher), Oliver Hembrough (Geoff/Dad), Avita Jay (Sue/Three), Tom Milligan (John/Two), Sarah Moyle (Mary/Mum), Lauren Patel (Sally/Youth), Simon Rivers (Edwin/Editor) and Joe Usher (Robbie).

Brad Birch is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter from Wales whose work has been produced in the UK, USA, Japan, Russia, Germany, Spain, Italy and Malta. His plays include Missing People, Black Mountain, The Brink, Gardening: For the Unfulfilled and Alienated (winner of the Edinburgh Fringe First award, 2013) and Tender Bolus.

In 2016, he was awarded the Harold Pinter Commission at the Royal Court. His plays are published by Methuen Drama and his first anthology, Plays One, was published in 2018. He is currently under commission with Rooks Nest and Film4.

Falkland Sound is directed by Aaron Parsons with Design by Aldo Vázquez, Lighting by Amy Mae, Music by Jack Drewry, Sound by Alexandra Faye Braithwaite, Video by Daniel Denton, Casting by Matthew Dewsbury CDG and Martin Poile.

ENDS

For further enquiries, please contact Kate Evans (Head of Media Relations) on 07920 44 434 or email: kate.evans@rsc.org.uk

SWAN THEATRE

The Empress

Stratford-upon-Avon

Friday 7 July – Saturday 18 November

Press night: Tuesday 18 July at 7pm

Lyric Hammersmith Theatre

Wednesday 4 – Saturday 28 October

Press night: Tuesday 10 October

By Tanika Gupta

Director Pooja Ghai

Designer Rosa Maggiora

Lighting Matt Haskins

Music and Sound Ben and Max Ringham

Movement Wayne Parsons

Fights and Intimacy Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown

Casting Directors Matthew Dewsbury CDG and Martin Poile

It is 1887, the year Queen Victoria celebrates her Golden Jubilee. 

Sixteen year old Rani Das, ayah (nursemaid) to an English family arrives at Tilbury docks after a long voyage from India, to start a new life in Britain. 

On the boat, Rani befriends a lascar (sailor), an Indian politician and a royal servant destined to serve the Queen. Full of hopes and dreams of what lies ahead, they each embark on an extraordinary journey.

Will their expectations come true or will they have to forge a different path in their new county? 

The play spans 13 years over the ‘Golden Era’ of Empire, blending the experiences of Indian ayahs and lascars who worked on the ships carrying trade goods, alongside the first Indian politician to be elected as a Member of Parliament. This epic story reveals how socially diverse the Asian presence was in nineteenth century Britain.

Directed by Pooja Ghai, Artistic Director of Tamasha, Tanika Gupta’s The Empress will take you from the rugged gangways of Tilbury docks to the grandeur of Queen Victoria’s Palace, whilst unveiling the long and embedded culture of British Asian history.

Falkland Sound

Saturday 5 August – Saturday 16 September

Press night: Tuesday 15 August at 7pm

By Brad Birch

Director and Movement Aaron Parsons

Designer Aldo Vázquez

Casting Directors Matthew Dewsbury CDG and Martin Poile

April 1982. The Falkland Islands are invaded by Argentine forces. The shockwaves reverberate around the world. For some, it’s overdue: seen in the gradual sweep to decolonise the world it is thought of as an inevitable next step. For others, the act strikes at the very heart of British identity.

Falkland Sound tells the incredible story of a small community plunged into the middle of an international crisis. About half the size of Wales, populated by fewer than two thousand people, with conditions so hostile that trees struggle to grow, everyday life on these strange and beguiling islands is changed forever as two powerful nations fight for the right to claim sovereignty.

Brad Birch’s lyrical new play turns modern history into a theatrical epic, depicting a community and way of life turned upside down. Falkland Sound is a play about empire, community, and what it means to live in someone else’s metaphor. 

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

The RSC Acting Companies are generously supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation

New Work at the RSC is generously supported by The Drue and H.J. Heinz II Charitable Trust

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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.

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The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre produces bold and relevant world-class theatre from the heart of Hammersmith, the theatre’s home for more than 125 years. Under the leadership of Artistic Director and CEO Rachel O’Riordan, it is committed to being vital to, and representative of, the local community. A major force in London and UK theatre, the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre produces adventurous and acclaimed theatrical work that tells the stories that matter. The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre has a national reputation for ground-breaking work to develop and nurture the next generation of talent, providing opportunities for young people to discover the power of creativity and to experience the life changing impact of theatre. We are the creative heart of Hammersmith, proud of our history and ambitious for our future.