RST
MARCH 2025
January
2026
= Reduced Price Preview
m = Matinee Performance
P = Press Night
F = First Performance
L = Last Performance
SBP = Shakespeare’s Birthday Performance
= Pre- or PostShow Event
REC = Recorded
◆ = Performance not yet on sale
RST = Royal Shakespeare Theatre
SWAN = Swan Theatre
TOP = The Other Place
ASSISTED PERFORMANCES
■ = Audio Described Performance
● = Captioned Performance
▲ = Relaxed Performance
= Performance with Integrated BSL Interpreter
❉ = Chilled Performance
= Handheld
Captioned Performance
Mon 24 Hamlet 7.00
II 7.30 no perf Tue 25 Hamlet 1.00m
II 7.30 Tempest 10.30am F
II 1.30m ● 7.30 Tempest 1.00m 7.00 Thu 27 Hamlet 1.00m 7.00
II 1.30m 7.30
30 no perf no perf no perf
31 no perf Edward II 7.30 no perf
APRIL 2025
Tue 1 no perf Edward II 7.30 no perf Wed 2 no perf Edward II 1.30m 7.30 no perf Thu 3 no perf
II 7.30 no perf Fri 4 no perf
II 7.30 no perf Sat 5 no perf
II 1.30m 7.30 L no perf Sun 6 no perf no perf no perf Mon 7 no perf no perf no perf Tue 8 no perf no perf no perf Wed 9 no perf no perf no perf
Thu 10 no perf no perf no perf Fri 11 no perf no perf no perf Sat 12 Much Ado 7.15 F no perf no perf
13 no perf no perf no perf
14 Much Ado 7.15 no perf no perf Tue 15 Much Ado 7.15 no perf no perf
10.30am 1.00m L
16 Much Ado 7.15 no perf no perf Thu 17 Much Ado 7.15
18 Much Ado 7.15
19 Much Ado 1.15m 7.15
7.30 F no perf
7.30 no perf
7.30 no perf Sun 20 no perf no perf no perf Mon 21 Much Ado 7.15 Titus 7.30
1.30m 7.30 4.48 Psych 7.45
Sun 27 no perf no perf 4.48 Psych 4.48am L Mon 28 no perf Constant 7.30 no perf
Tue 29 W. Tale 7.15 Constant 7.30 no perf
Wed 30 W. Tale 1.15m 7.15 Constant 7.30 no perf
Thu 31 W. Tale 7.15 Constant 1.30m 7.30 no perf
AUGUST 2025
Fri 1 W. Tale 7.15 Constant 7.30 ■ no perf
Sat 2 W. Tale 1.15m ■ 7.15 Constant 1.30m 7.30 L no perf Sun 3 no perf no perf no perf
Mon 4 W. Tale 7.15 no perf Two Gents 5.00 F Tue 5 W. Tale 7.15 no perf Two Gents 5.00
Wed 6 W. Tale 7.15 no perf Two Gents 5.00
Thu 7 W. Tale 1.15m 7.15 no perf Two Gents 5.00
Fri 8 W. Tale 7.15 no perf Two Gents 5.00
Sat 9 W. Tale 1.15m 7.15 no perf Two Gents 1.30m 5.00
Sun 10 no perf no perf no perf
Mon 11 no perf no perf Two Gents 5.00
Tue 12 W. Tale 7.15 no perf Two Gents 5.00 P
Wed 13 W. Tale 1.15m 7.15 no perf Two Gents 5.00 Thu 14 W. Tale 7.15 no perf
Fri 15 W. Tale 7.15 ●
16 W. Tale 1.15m 7.15
AUGUST 2025
Ham 7.30 F Two Gents 1.30m 5.00
Ham 7.30 Two Gents 1.30m 5.00 Sun 17 no perf no perf no perf
Ham 7.30 Two Gents 1.30m 5.00 Fri 29 W. Tale 7.15
Ham 7.30 Two Gents 5.00
30 W. Tale 1.15m ● 7.15 L
Ham 1.30m 7.30 Two Gents 1.30m 5.00 Sun 31 no perf
SEPTEMBER
2 no perf
3 no perf
4 no perf
2026
KEY TO TITLES
Tempest = First Encounters The Tempest
Much Ado = Much Ado About Nothing
Titus = Titus Andronicus
Pease = I, Peaseblossom
Hamlet HTTT =
The

Welcome to 2025 at the RSC, and our new season of work in Stratford-upon-Avon. Over the last twelve months, we have been in conversation with some of the most exciting directors, writers and actors working in the UK and internationally, asking them which stories they feel a passionate desire to tell.
Psych = 4.48 Psychosis Two Gents = The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Measure = Measure for Measure

This season sees some of those conversations come to life, bringing together an international roster of creative talent, where the works of William Shakespeare stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the most exciting voices in modern playwrighting, from Olivier Award-winning playwright Laura Wade to the late, great Sarah Kane. And then there’s Roald Dahl, one of our greatest storytellers and children’s authors, whose 1982 novel The BFG will be the inspiration for our magical festive family show in 2025, newly adapted for the stage by Tom Wells
Alongside five new productions from our house playwright, we will also celebrate the diverse ways in which Shakespeare’s characters and stories continue to prove fertile ground for re-invention and re-discovery. The world premiere of Hamlet Hail to the Thief, a frenetic distillation of the Hamlet story, is set against the soundtrack of Radiohead’s seminal album, while the European premiere of James Ijames’ tragi-comic family drama, Fat Ham, takes place at a barbecue in the USA. We’re even taking our first foray into the world of gaming with Lili, a powerful, contemporary reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth set in modern Iran, currently in development for 2026, in collaboration with iNK Stories.
Our building is open to all and, whatever your age, you’ll find something within our programme of events and activities, including the chance to experience over 100 years of theatre-making in our free exhibition The Play’s The Thing. You can also find the perfect gift in our newly expanded shop, enjoy a coffee by the beautiful river Avon, or experience incredible views across the countryside as you feast in our Rooftop Restaurant.
Whatever you choose to see or do this year, we can’t wait to welcome you.

Daniel Evans & Tamara Harvey RSC Co-Artistic Directors
BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
‘Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps’
It’s all kicking off in Messina.
The winners are back from the action and a celebrity wedding is on the cards. But not everyone wants the big day to go off without a hitch. Meanwhile, will an assist from the team mean old rivals Beatrice and Benedick finally manage to score themselves?
Michael Longhurst, fresh from his tenure as Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse (Next To Normal, The Band’s Visit, Constellations) relocates Shakespeare’s original rom-com to the world of top-flight football, where scandal-filled rivalries could undermine the final result.
DIRECTOR
MICHAEL LONGHURST
SET AND COSTUME DESIGNER
JON BAUSOR
LIGHTING DESIGNER
JACK KNOWLES
CHOREOGRAPHER AND MOVEMENT DIRECTOR
JULIA CHENG
CASTING

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
‘Blood
and revenge are
hammering in my head’
The war may be over, but the violence has just begun.
When victorious general Titus Andronicus executes his enemy’s son in a merciless show of vengeance, he has no idea of the evil his actions will incite. As the two sides trade violent acts of retribution, one man revels in the bloodbath.
Director Max Webster, whose recent credits include Macbeth with David Tennant in the West End, examines Shakespeare’s bloodiest play through the lens of 21st century aggression. Olivier, Tony and BAFTA Award winner Simon Russell Beale takes the title role, with Emma Fielding as Marcia Andronicus and Natey Jones as Aaron the Moor.
25
24
6 JUNE POST SHOW TALK (BSL INTERPRETED)
CAST INCLUDES
SIMON RUSSELL BEALE
EMMA FIELDING
NATEY JONES
WENDY KWEH
LETTY THOMAS
DIRECTOR
MAX WEBSTER
SET AND COSTUME DESIGNER
JOANNA SCOTCHER
LIGHTING DESIGNER
LEE CURRAN
SOUND DESIGNER
TINGYING DONG
CASTING DIRECTOR
MATTHEW DEWSBURY CDG

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, ADAPTED BY CHRISTINE JONES WITH STEVEN HOGGETT MUSIC BY RADIOHEAD
ORCHESTRATIONS BY THOM YORKE
Shakespeare’s great tragedy and Radiohead’s seminal album collide for a feverish experience that fuses theatre, music and movement.
In this frenetic distillation of Shakespeare's masterpiece, Elsinore has become a surveillance state and hectic runs in the blood of its citizens. Hamlet Hail to the Thief centres on Hamlet and Ophelia's awakening to the lies and corruption of the state, revealed by ghosts and music. Paranoia reigns and no one is spared a tragic unravelling.
In this adaptation, music becomes an integral part of the narrative. Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has reworked the band’s critically acclaimed album into a deconstructed score that illuminates the text and is performed by live musicians. The production is co-created by Yorke and celebrated directors, Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones.
Brimming with energy, Hamlet Hail to the Thief strips back Shakespeare’s tragedy to its dark and glittering emotional core.
EVENTS
11 JUNE CREATIVE TEAM TALK
21 JUNE UNWRAPPED
28 JUNE POST SHOW TALK (BSL INTERPRETED)
DIRECTORS
STEVEN HOGGETT AND CHRISTINE JONES SET DESIGNER AMP COLLECTIVE
FEAT. SADRA TEHRANI
ARRANGER
JUSTIN LEVINE
CHOREOGRAPHER
JESS WILLIAMS
MUSIC SUPERVISOR AND MUSIC DIRECTOR
TOM BRADY
SOUND DESIGNER
GARETH FRY
VIDEO DESIGNER
WILL DUKE
LIGHTING DESIGNER
JESSICA HUNG HAN YUN
COSTUME DESIGNER
LISA DUNCAN
DRAMATURG AND TEXT CONSULTANT
AYANNA THOMPSON
CASTING DIRECTOR
CHARLOTTE SUTTON CDG

BY W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
IN A NEW VERSION BY LAURA WADE
‘I can’t help it if you were careless with your cigarette case. I was extremely careful with your heart’
Constance has everything. A loving family, a beautiful home, a fulfilling career, and a husband as devoted to her as he is to his mistress. When her perfect set up is threatened, Constance fights back but refuses to play by the rules. Can she withstand society’s expectations? And can society withstand the force of a woman determined to do things her own way?
RSC Co-Artistic Director Tamara Harvey (Pericles) and playwright Laura Wade (Posh, Rivals) reunite after their Olivier Award-winning collaboration, Home, I’m Darling, to reimagine Somerset Maugham’s subversive comedy, The Constant Wife, in a sparkling new version.
Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, Vigil) plays Constance, a 1920s heroine with a decidedly modern spirit.
CAST INCLUDES
ROSE LESLIE
DIRECTOR
TAMARA HARVEY
SET AND CO-COSTUME
DESIGNER
ANNA FLEISCHLE
CO-COSTUME DESIGNER
CAT FULLER
LIGHTING DESIGNER
RYAN DAY
SOUND DESIGNER
CLAIRE WINDSOR
CASTING DIRECTOR
CHARLOTTE SUTTON CDG

BY SARAH KANE
‘I dreamt that I went to the doctors, and she gave me eight minutes to live. I'd been sitting in the fucking waiting room for half an hour’
A quarter century from its debut, the entire original cast and creative team return to revisit Sarah Kane’s final masterpiece 25 years on.
4.48 Psychosis plunges the audience into the mind of an unnamed protagonist grappling with severe depression. Kane crafts an unflinching portrait of a psyche teetering on the edge of oblivion.
In a co-production with the Royal Court Theatre, directed by award-winning James Macdonald (Waiting for Godot, West End) with Daniel Evans, Jo McInnes and Madeleine Potter reprising their roles.
The production transfers to The Other Place following its run at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs.
CAST
DANIEL EVANS
JO McINNES
MADELEINE POTTER
DIRECTOR
JAMES MACDONALD
SET AND COSTUME DESIGNER
JEREMY HERBERT
LIGHTING DESIGNER
NIGEL EDWARDS
SOUND DESIGNER
PAUL ARDITTI
CASTING DIRECTOR
LISA MAKIN

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
‘It is an heretic that makes the fire, not she which burns in't’
Even in the darkest of winters, redemption may be found.
Unjustly accused of infidelity, Hermione is rejected by her jealous husband, brutally separated from her daughter and her young son dies. Years later, fate offers reconciliation in the most magical of circumstances.
Shakespeare's enigmatic story of love, loss and rebirth is directed by Yaël Farber, who makes her RSC debut following her recent acclaimed productions of King Lear and the Olivier-nominated Macbeth for the Almeida Theatre.
21 JULY DIRECTOR TALK
AUGUST POST SHOW TALK (BSL INTERPRETED)
DIRECTOR
YAËL FARBER
SET AND COSTUME DESIGNER
SOUTRA GILMOUR
LIGHTING DESIGNER
TIM LUTKIN

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
’Mongst all foes that a friend should be the worst!’
Mates before dates, right?
Valentine and Proteus are best friends. That is, until Silvia comes along, and their lifelong friendship is put in serious jeopardy. Can they all find their happily-ever-after?
A love triangle, a forest, disguises, and a dog –The Two Gentlemen of Verona has it all. Shakespeare’s gloriously silly story of love, friendship and growing up bursts on to the stage of The Other Place in a new 80-minute edit that’s the perfect introduction to Shakespeare for families.
This joyous new adaptation is directed by Joanna Bowman, Associate Artist at Tron Theatre (Wolfie and Escaped Alone Tron Theatre, The Inquiry Chichester Festival Theatre).
DIRECTOR
JOANNA BOWMAN
CASTING DIRECTOR
MATTHEW DEWSBURY CDG EVENTS
11 AUGUST DIRECTOR TALK
27 AUGUST POST SHOW TALK
With thanks to Season Supporter
Charles Holloway OBE

BY JAMES IJAMES
'It’s amazing what fathers think they own of their sons just cause we share a name'
Uninvited guests are one thing. Uninvited ghosts are quite another.
Juicy is a queer, Southern college kid, already grappling with some serious questions of identity, when the ghost of his father shows up in their backyard, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder. The story is familiar, but what’s different is Juicy himself, a sensitive and self-aware young Black man trying to break the cycles of trauma and violence in service of his own liberation.
From an uproarious family barbecue emerges a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Fat Ham is a delectable comic tragedy written by the award-winning playwright James Ijames, originally produced off-Broadway by The Public Theater.

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
‘To
whom should I complain? Who would believe me?’
When her brother falls foul of the state’s rigid morality laws, Isabella is sent to plead for his life. But a world of ambition and base appetite lurks behind the high idealism of public office, and soon the complex relationship between power and private citizen threatens to end her life as she knows it.
Emily Burns returns to the RSC following the success of 2024's Love's Labour's Lost to direct Shakespeare's razor-sharp thriller of hypocrisy and corruption.
DIRECTOR EMILY BURNS
FRANKIE BRADSHAW

A ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY, CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE AND ROALD DAHL STORY COMPANY PRODUCTION
ROALD DAHL'S
ADAPTED BY TOM WELLS
‘Once you is knowing dreams is real… you is seeing them very easily’
One extraordinary night, a young orphan named Sophie is snatched by a giant and taken far away to Giant Country.
There she learns that human-eating giants are guzzling 'norphans' the world over. But she soon discovers that her new friend, the BFG, is different – he's a dream-catching, snozzcumber-munching gentle soul who refuses to eat humans.
While other giants terrorise the world, the BFG ignites Sophie's imagination, and they devise a daring plan to save children everywhere. In the end, the smallest human bean and the gentlest giant prove that a dream can change the world.
Gather your chiddlers to see Roald Dahl’s unforgettable story come to life this winter. Tom Wells’ magical new adaptation is directed by RSC Co-Artistic Director Daniel Evans, whose previous productions include Quiz, South Pacific and Our Generation
DIRECTOR
DANIEL EVANS
PUPPETRY DESIGNER AND DIRECTOR TOBY OLIÉ
SET DESIGNER
VICKI MORTIMER
COSTUME DESIGNER
KINNETIA ISIDORE
LIGHTING DESIGNER
ZOE SPURR
VIDEO DESIGNER
AKHILA KRISHNAN
ILLUSIONIST
CHRIS FISHER
COMPOSER
OLETA HAFFNER
SOUND DESIGNER
CAROLYN DOWNING
MOVEMENT DIRECTOR
IRA MANDELA SIOBHAN
PUPPETRY CO-DESIGNER
DAISY BEATTIE
