RSC to stage two world premieres this autumn

The RSC has unveiled two new productions taking place in The Other Place this autumn as part of its Mischief Festival.

The festival will see the premiere of Nina Segal's George Devine Award-shortlisted O, Island!, running from 30 September to 5 November. Guy Jones directs the show, which grapples with themes of modern myth and borders.

The second show is Bea Roberts' darkly comic Ivy Tiller: Vicar's Daughter, Squirrel Killer, which follows a young Devonshire woman who has a drive to murder medium-sized rodents. It runs from 6 October to 5 November, with Caitlin McLeod directing.

Both productions are designed by Camilla Clarke, with lighting design by Elliot Griggs, sound design by Oli Soames and dramaturgy by Becky Latham. The casting director is Annelie Powell CDG.

RSC Acting Artistic Director, Erica Whyman said:"It's a huge privilege to be presenting this irreverent and playful double-bill of new plays as we celebrate the return of the Mischief Festival to The Other Place.

"These inventive and engaging commissions were early casualties of Covid, and now seem to speak directly to a world which is navigating new realities, both domestic and political. Both plays focus on Britain's often overlooked villages and rural communities with an undercurrent of dark and sometimes wicked humour. They each raise profound questions about how we cope with external shocks, what makes a true community and how quickly human beings can plunge into cruelty & crisis.

"Nina and Bea are hugely exciting talents and I am so proud we can, at last, premiere this work in our much-missed studio theatre in The Other Place."

In London, the RSC is also staging the world premiere of My Neighbour Totoro, adapted from the seminal film.

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