RSC reveals cast for The Winter’s Tale

The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced casting for its upcoming production of The Winter’s Tale.

Directed by Yaël Farber, the piece will run in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from 12 July to 30 August.

Leading the cast will be Bertie Carvel, returning to the RSC in the role of Leontes, alongside Madeline Appiah as Hermione, Aïcha Kossoko as Paulina and John Light as Polixenes. Further casting will be announced at a later date.

Farber said, “Bertie Carvel is an extraordinary artist. In his hands, the complexity, cruelty and pathos of Leontes feels exciting and possible.”

The director added: “Equally – Madeline Appiah’s Hermione promises not just grace and empathy but ferocity. Portraying women in their complexity can be rare. This will be a Hermione for our times.

“To have an artist of John Light’s calibre playing Polixenes is a gift in a play where we witness not one, but two patriarchs fall prey to their own delusions of control. By contrast, Paulina is one of the most powerful women Shakespeare has conjured. Hers is a feminism of transformative, fireborne love and protection. And as a performer, Aïcha Kossoko brings many layers and worlds with her, laying bare how limited we can often be in understanding women in their full power.”

Farber called the Shakespeare play “a beautiful and strange beast… a mystery to be solved in some ways.” Commenting that it’s “a fusion of gritty tragedy and leaps of faith for both the characters and the audience.”

Before concluding: “We are in such a stark and brutal time in the world – and this story plunges us into the shadows of human nature from the start. The journey then expands into a space of miracles and wonder. I am drawn to stories that explore the shadows – but I am most interested right now in the possibility of redemption. A redemption that is earned.”