The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has today announced further casting details for its upcoming production of Richard III, which runs from 23 June – 8 October 2022 in the Royal Shakespeare theatre.
The production will be directed by Gregory Doran, whose decision to step down as Artistic Director after 35 years with the Company and ten years in post, was announced last month.
Joining Arthur Hughes on stage in the role of Anne is Rosie Sheehy, who last performed at the RSC in 2019, playing the title role in King John, directed by Eleanor Rhode.
Rosie’s other theatre credits include Oleanna (Bath Theatre Royal & The Arts Theatre West End), Anna X (The Vaults), The Wolves (Theatre Royal Stratford East), The Whale (Theatre Royal Bath), Uncle Vanya (Theatre Clwyd/Sheffield Theatres), Escape the Scaffold (Theatre 503), Strife (Chichester Festival Theatre), Bird (Royal Exchange Manchester), The Hairy Ape (The Old Vic) and Chicken (Paines Plough).
Returning to the company following Henry VI: Rebellion and Wars of the Roses are Minnie Gale, Ashley D Gayle and Ben Hall who will reprise their roles as Margaret, Edward and Clarence respectively. Also returning is Conor Glean who will play the role of Murderer having played the roles of Dick and Young Clifford in Rebellion and The Wars of the Roses.
They will be joined by Nicholas Armfield (Richmond) who was last at the RSC playing Clodius/Agrippa in Imperium, a stage adaptation of the Cicero trilogy of novels by Robert Harris adapted by Mike Poulton for the RSC, which premiered in The Swan Theatre in 2017 before transferring to the Gielgud Theatre, London in the Autumn of 2018.
Also returning is Micah Balfour (Hastings), who re-joins the company following his role as Don John in Roy Alexander Weise’s afro-futuristic production of Much Ado About Nothing in 2022 and Claire Benedict (Duchess of York), whose previous RSC credits include The Canterbury Tales, Tamburlaine the Great, Antony and Cleopatra, The Odyssey and Eastward Ho. They will be joined by Kirsty Bushell (Elizabeth) who was last seen in the RSC’s 2014 production of The White Devil directed by Maria Aberg and whose recent theatre credits include The Tempest (Jermyn Street Theatre); King Lear (Duke of York’s Theatre); The Cherry Orchard (Royal Exchange/Bristol Old Vic) and Romeo & Juliet (Shakespeare’s Globe).
Making his RSC debut this season this Spring is Callum Coates (Brackenbury), whose extensive screen credits include the hit BBC series Life After Life (BBC) and Gentleman Jack, The Crown (Netflix), Outlander (Sony/Starz), Emmerdale (ITV), Eastenders (BBC) and The Witcher (Netflix). Callum’s stage credits include award winning A Very Expensive Poison (Old Vic), A Case of the Frightened Lady (UK Tour), Henry V (Antic Disposition), Fallen Angels (Salisbury Playhouse), Propaganda Swing (Coventry Belgrade/Nottingham Playhouse) and A View from the Bridge (Liverpool Playhouse, E&P).
Also making their debut with the company are Oscar Batterham (Rivers), Sophie Cartman (Keeper), Matthew Duckett (Catesby) Will Edgerton (Tyrell) Olivia Onyehara (Dorset/Citizen 2), Thom Petty (Ratcliffe) and Joeravar Sangha (Murderer).
Completing the cast are Simon Coates (Stanley), Eloise Secker (Mistress Shore/Citizen 1) and Jamie Wilkes (Buckingham). Simon’s previous productions for the RSC include Coriolanus, The Merry Wives Of Windsor, Loveplay, Luminosity, The Taming Of The Shrew and The Comedy Of Errors. Eloise Secker played the roles of Clodia & Fulvia in Imperium. Eloise’s other RSC credits include The Two Noble Kinsmen, The Rover, and The Seven Acts of Mercy. Jamie Wilkes last appeared at the RSC playing the role of Charles, the Dauphin in Gregory Doran and Owen Horsley’s 2021 production of Henry VI: Part One Open Rehearsal Project. Jamie was one of the Two Noble Kinsmen in the RSC’s 2016 production of the same name directed by Blanche McIntyre, and appeared in The Rover in 2016, as well Oppenheimer, and The Shoemaker’s Holiday.
