Alex Kingston stars opposite Branagh’s Macbeth in Manchester church

Alex Kingston will play Lady Macbeth opposite Kenneth Branagh in the title role in of Macbeth, which, as previously announced, runs for two weeks only from 4 to 21 July 2013 as part of this summer’s Manchester International Festival (MIT).

The site-specific production, co-directed by Branagh and Rob Ashford, will be staged in an intimate deconsecrated Manchester church, details of which are being sent direct to ticket-holders only. The run has already completely sold out but, to meet demand, the penultimate evening’s performance on Saturday 20 July will be relayed live to a big screen erected in a carpark in Manchester. Tickets for the open-air event are now on sale, priced £8.

Branagh is renowned for his Shakespeare credits on stage and screen, but this will be the first time that he has played Macbeth. His last performed Shakespeare at Sheffield Crucible in 2002, playing Richard III. His other most recent stage credits include Ivanov for Donmar West End, Edmond at the National (for which he won the Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Actor) and, most recently, the 2011 premiere of The Painkiller with Rob Brydon in his native Belfast.

Best known to television fans from credits including ER, Doctor Who and Moll Flanders, Kingston is a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, whose recent stage credits include Luise Miller at the Donmar Warehouse and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest with Christian Slater in the West End.

In other major play casting news this summer, in the West End:

Seth Numrich

At the Old Vic, Broadway’s Seth Numrich will play young gigolo Chance Wayne opposite Kim Cattrall’s fading Hollywood actress Alexandra Del Lago in Marianne Elliott’s revival of Tennesee Williams’ 1959 classic Sweet Bird of Youth, which runs from 12 June to 31 August 2013 (previews from 1 June). Numrich’s Broadway credits include War Horse and Golden Boy.

The Sweet Bird of Youth cast will also feature Owen Roe and Brid Brennan as well as Charles Aitken, Michael Begley, Daniel Betts, Ruari Cannon, Emily De Cosimo, Louise Dylan, Kurt Kansley, Sean McConaghy, Katie Meekison, Bryonie Pritchard, Lucy Robinson, Violet Ryder, Ryan Saunders, Alistair Scott, Anthony Taylor, Joe Townley, John Trindle and David Webber.

And, as part of the Michael Grandage Company season at the Noel Coward Theatre, full casting has been announced for Grandage’s upcoming revival of Martin McDonagh’s 1996 play The Cripple of Inishmaan starring Daniel Radcliffe. The third play in the Grandage season, it runs from 18 June to 31 August 2013 (previews from 8 June). Radcliffe is joined by Ingrid Craigie, Pádraic Delaney, Sarah Greene, Gillian Hanna, Gary Lilburn, Conor MacNeill, Pat Shortt and June Watson.

** CLUB EXCLUSIVE! Members of the Whatsontage.com Theatre Club can attend THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN on 24 June 2013, including a FREE programme and EXCLUSIVE post-show Q&A with Michael Grandage, producer James Bierman and the cast! CLICK HERE FOR MORE INO & TO BOOK! **