Kathryn Hunter to lead RSC's Timon of Athens in new winter season

The RSC has announced its winter season with highlights including Timon of Athens starring Kathryn Hunter, Tamburlaine and Troilus and Cressida.

The season kicks off in the Swan Theatre with Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine (16 August to 1 December), directed by Michael Boyd, who returns to the RSC for the first time since stepping down as artistic director in 2012. His edit of the play, staged in New York in 2014, combines parts I and II into a single production.

Tamburlaine will run in rep with a new version of Molière's Tartuffe (7 September 2018 to 23 February 2019) by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto and directed by Iqbal Khan.

Simon Godwin will then direct Timon of Athens in the Swan Theatre from 7 December 2018 to 22 February 2019, with Olivier Award-winner Hunter in the title role.

In the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, RSC artistic director Gregory Doran will helm a production of Troilus and Cressida from 12 October to 17 November, broadcast in cinemas on 14 November. The production will be the first time the RSC has produced a full-length Shakespeare play with an equal gender balanced cast.

This will be followed by the return of David Edgar's adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh from 4 December 2018 to 20 January 2019. Kavanaugh's production ran at the Stratford venue this Christmas, receiving widespread acclaim.

Doran said: "Our winter season is full of dark comedy and satire, with productions exploring abuse of power, greed, lechery and human potential for change.

"Continuing our mission to ensure Shakespeare and theatre are for everyone, this season is packed with exciting theatre artists and has bite, humour and powerful resonances in our volatile world."