Theatre News

David Tennant’s Richard II leads RSC’s winter season

New Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Gregory Doran has announced details of the company’s 2013 winter season, with David Tennant set to return to star in a production of Richard II. The season will also feature the world premiere of Wendy & Peter Pan by Ella Hickson, and adaptations of Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies.

In the Royal Shakespeare Theatre

The season, which is the first drawn up by Doran, will start with Richard II, which will be directed by Doran himself. It will run in at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from 10 October to 16 November 2013, before transferring to the Barbican in London from 9 December 2013 to 25 January 2014.

The production will mark Tennant’s first return to the RSC since his acclaimed Hamlet in 2008, which was also helmed by Doran. Tennant will be joined in the cast by Oliver Ford Davies, who is currently appearing in Goodnight Mister Tom in the West End, as the Duke of York.

Doran said today he was “delighted” to welcome Tennant back to the RSC. The former Doctor Who caused an unprecedented stampede for tickets when he played Hamlet, though his appearance in the London transfer was curtailed due to a back injury. Public booking for Richard II will open on 18 March.

Richard II also marks the first time the RSC has transferred a production to the
Barbican since ending its relationship with the venue in 2002, during
Adrian Noble‘s tenure as artistic director. Doran said at today’s
press launch that although this doesn’t necessarily mark a permanent return of the RSC to the Barbican, the option was “back on the table”.

He added: “The Swan will be dedicated largely to looking at the stable of writers who worked alongside Shakespeare; to the plays which inspired him and which he inspired; and to writing which matches his scale and ambition, providing a deeper context to the genius of our house playwright.”

Doran also officially unveiled Erica Whyman as deputy artistic director, a newly created role. Whyman, who joins the RSC following her tenure as artistic director of Northern Stage, will be tasked with overseeing the redevelopment of studio theatre The Other Place.

Whyman said: “The Other Place has always seemed to me to embody a philosophy as much as a physical space and I want to continue its rich culture of innovation and celebration as we create a new place for artists to experiment, encounter each other and encounter Shakespeare… We’ve secured planning permission to retain the Courtyard structure and to remodel the interior to create a small scale studio theatre, two new rehearsal rooms and to allow us to move our costume store into the former auditorium, opening it up to the public for the first time.”

– by Theo Bosanquet & Rosie Bannister