Tweet

RSC's Pairing of Wives & Coriolanus Closes 2 Aug

The Royal Shakespeare Company's pairing of the bard's The Merry Wives of Windsor and Coriolanus will finish its West End run three weeks earlier than planned. The double bill, performed by a cross-cast ensemble of 20 actors, started performances at the Old Vic on 6 June 2003 and had been booking for a limited 12 weeks up to 23 August. They will now finish on 2 August.

The productions first opened in Stratford-upon-Avon in November and December of 2002, before embarking on a UK regional tour and then visiting Ann Arbor, Michigan in the US. Both were originated in association with the University Musical Society and the University of Michigan as part of the RSC's continuing programme of residencies with the American institution. They are produced in the West End by Duncan C Weldon and Paul Elliott.

Since withdrawing its annual London residency from the Barbican Centre in 2002, the RSC has performed in several different spaces in the capital including the Roundhouse, the Young Vic, the Gielgud and the Theatre Royal Haymarket in which Adrian Noble's production of Ibsen's Brand, starring Ralph Fiennes, continues to book until the end of August.

The cast for the Old Vic productions includes: Kate Best, Claire Carrie, Simon Coates, Richard Copestake, Lindsey Fawcett, Alison Fiske, Michael Gardiner, Greg Hicks, Chuk Iwuji, Keiron Jecchinis, Adam Kay, David Killick, Tom Mannion, Ciaran McIntyre, Karl Morgan, James O'Donnell, Patrick Romer, Lucy Tregear and Hannah Young.

Shakespeare's comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor is directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and designed by Peter McKintosh, with music by Terry Davies and movement by Scarlett Mackmin. The political tragedy Coriolanus is directed by David Farr, who earlier this year became joint artistic director of the Bristol Old Vic, and is designed by Ti Green, with music by Keith Clouston and movement by Lorna Marshall. Both productions have lighting by Hartley T A Kemp and sound by Gregory Clarke.

- by Terri Paddock

Related Content