RSC ANNOUNCES FULL CAST FOR UPCOMING PRODUCTION OF MACBETH
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The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) today announces the full cast for Wils Wilson’s upcoming production of Shakespeare’s gripping and brutal tragedy, Macbeth, which opens in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from Saturday 19 August – Saturday 14 October 2023, with Press Night on Wednesday 30 August at 7pm.
As previously announced, Reuben Joseph and Valene Kane will play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth respectively. They are joined by a cast of Scottish actors, many of whom are making their RSC debuts.
The company includes Anna Russell-Martin as Banquo. This will be Anna’s RSC debut season, her previous theatre credits include Exodus, The Panopticon (National Theatre of Scotland); Life Is A Dream (Royal Lyceum Theatre); Nora: A Doll’s House (Young Vic, Citizens Theatre); Wolfie, Me and My Sister Tell Each Other Everything, Bunny, Colonel Mustard and the Big Bad Wolf (Tron Theatre); Cyrano De Bergerac (Citizens Theatre/Royal Lyceum Theatre/National Theatre of Scotland); A Christmas Carol (Citizens Theatre); Bloodbank (Oran Mor) and Toy Plastic Chicken (Oran Mor/Traverse Theatre). Screen credits include Karen Pirie (ITV), Annika (BBC) and Casualty (BBC).
George Anton joins the company as Macduff. Anton’s RSC credits include The Last Days of Don Juan, Edward II, Two Shakespearean Actors, Curse of the Starving Classes, Richard II, In the Company of Men. Other theatre includes: Mephistopheles (Actors Touring Company), Duchess of Malfi (Cheek By Jowl), Venice Preserved (Manchester Royal Exchange), Life is a Dream, Hamlet (Edinburgh International Festival), Paul Bright’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner (NTS), This Restless House (Citizens Theatre) and Titus Andronicus (Dundee Rep).
Shyvonne Ahmmad will make her RSC debut as Malcolm. Previous theatre credits include Muster Station: Leith (Grid Iron), Britannicus (Lyric Hammersmith), Constellations (Donmar Warehouse), Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation (National Theatre of Scotland/Royal Court), Interference (National Theatre of Scotland), Cymbeline, A View From The Bridge, Three Sisters (RCS) and Snowflake (The Pleasance Courtyard). Screen credits include This Town, Karen Pirie and Annika.
Alison Peebles joins the company as the Porter in her RSC debut season. Previous theatre credits include Life is A Dream (Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh), 24 Hours of Peace (Royal Exchange Theatre), Richard 111 (Perth Theatre), The Locker Room (Traverse Theatre), Paul Bright’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner, My Shrinking Life and 365 (National Theatre of Scotland). Screen credits include Doctors (BBC Studios), Six Four (House Productions), Step 9 (South Of The River / Sister Productions) Molly & Mack; River City (BBC Studios), Shetland (ITV), The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (NTS/Selkie Productions), The Lost King (Baby Cow Productions), Nettie (Macallan Brand Film), The Road Dance (Sheridan Road Productions), Where Do We Go From Here? (Worrying Drake Productions) and Seven Lucky Gods (Dehlavi Films).
Therese Bradley makers her RSC debut as Duncan. Previous theatre credits include Men Should Weep (National Theatre); Tutti Frutti (National Theatre of Scotland); The Rubber Room (Old Vic); Candida (English Speaking Theatre); Legacy (Voice Theatre); Songs of Solomon (Refraction); Dreams of Anne Frank (Latteson Productions) and Unheimlich Spine (Riverside Studios/Tour). Television includes: HMS Murder (Channel 5); Outlander (Starz); River City (BBC Scotland); The Curse (Channel 4); The Ipcress File (ITV); Vigil (BBC); The Nest (BBC); A Confession (ITV); Chimerica (Playground Productions); Shetland (ITV); Midsomer Murders (ITV); Mr Selfridge (ITV); Peaky Blinders (BBC); The Bill (ITV); Rebus (Scottish Media Group); Doctors (BBC); Rosemary and Thyme (ITV); Taggart (ITV) and Glasgow Kiss (BBC). Film includes Nobody Needs to Know; Village in the Woods (Reel King Media); Anna and the Apocalypse (Blazing Griffin); Tommy’s Honour (Gutta Perch Productions); A Long Way Down (Wild Gaze Films); Filth (Film Gate Films); Railway Man (Scottish Screen); Outcast (Scottish Screen); Half Light (Universal Pictures) and Young Adam (Hanway Films/Warner Brothers)
Full company comprises; Shyvonne Ahmmad (Malcolm), George Anton (Macduff), Therese Bradley (Duncan), Amber Sylvia Edwards (Witch), Annie Grace (Alice), Ryan Hunter (Ross), Amelia Isaac Jones (Donalbain), Reuben Joseph (Macbeth), Valene Kane (Lady Macbeth), Emma King (Lady Macduff), Liam King (Fleance), Kevin Lennon (Lennox), Eilidh Loan (Witch), Alasdair Macrae (Bloody Captain), Benjamin Osugo (Angus), Alison Peebles (Porter), Dylan Read (Witch), Anna Russell-Martin (Banquo) and Michael Wallace (First Murderer).
Macbeth is directed by Wils Wilson with Design by Georgia McGuinness, Lighting by Kai Fischer, Music by Alasdair Macrae and Sound by Claire Windsor. Movement and Choreography is by Julia Cheng, Fights by Kaitlin Howard with Casting by Simone Pereira Hind CDG and Anna Dawson.
Wils Wilson directed and co-created The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart which has been touring non-theatre spaces internationally since 2010, winning numerous awards including a Drama Desk Award for its New York run.
She is Associate Director at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, where she directed Life is A Dream whose ‘wild, slightly punk-inflected brilliance’ (The Scotsman) recently won multiple awards at the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland, including Best Director, and for which Lorn MacDonald and Anna Russell Martin also won Ian Charleston Awards.
Her work at the Lyceum also includes Wind Resistance, created with singer-songwriter Karine Polwart and described as "a poignant, unflinching and beautiful show about healing, protection, the fragility of human life and the world around it.” (The Telegraph) for Edinburgh International Festival, Red Ellen (Edinburgh Lyceum/Northern Stage/Nottingham Playhouse), Twelfth Night (Bristol Old Vic/Lyceum), Cockpit and The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other.
Her other work includes the Olivier-nominated I Want My Hat Back for the National Theatre and shows for the Royal Court, Manchester Royal Exchange and Welsh National Opera.
She has worked extensively for National Theatre of Scotland, including The 306 Dusk, the final part of the trilogy remembering the 306 soldiers shot for desertion in WWI. She created two genre-defying shows with musician Gruff Rhys for National Theatre Wales - Praxis Makes Perfect (Best Director, Welsh Theatre Awards) described as “some sort of god-damn creative masterclass” by Artrocker magazine and Candylion.
Until 2007 Wils was co-Artistic Director of wilson+wilson, making site-specific work across the UK, where her work included HOUSE, Mapping the Edge, News from the Seventh Floor and Mulgrave.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Kate Evans, Head of Media Relations (Royal Shakespeare Company) on 07920 244 434, email: kate.evans@rsc.org.uk
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Macbeth
Saturday 19 August – Saturday 14 October
Press night: Wednesday 30 August at 7pm
By William Shakespeare
Director Wils Wilson
Designer Georgia McGuinness
Lighting Kai Fischer
Music Alasdair Macrae
Sound Claire Windsor
Movement and Choreography Julia Cheng
Fights Kaitlin Howard
Casting Directors Simone Pereira Hind CDG and Anna Dawson
Brutal actions have brutal consequences. The political and natural world is broken and the Macbeths seize this opportunity to rise through the ranks and control their destiny. But their ambitions unravel into a living nightmare in a world where boundaries are paper thin - between the natural and supernatural, love and hate, joy and despair.
This is a gripping, terrifying tale of our times.
In her RSC debut, award-winning director Wils Wilson (Associate Director at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh) directs Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s most enduringly popular plays.
Wils directed and co-created The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart which has been touring non-theatre spaces internationally since 2010, winning numerous awards including a Drama Desk Award for its New York run. She has also directed Life is A Dream, recently winning multiple awards at the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland, including Best Director.
Prices from £16 to £62.50
A limited number of Premium Seats are available at a supplement of £12.50 on A price tickets.
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
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The RSC Acting Companies are generously supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation
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.
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Arts Council England
Arts Council Englandis 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
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