RSC's Doctor Faustus, The Alchemist and more arrive in London

The RSC have announced that a further six shows will transfer to London this year.

Polly Findlay's production of The Alchemist and Maria Aberg's production of Doctor Faustus will both transfer to the RSC's London home the Barbican from 2 September to 1 October this year. The shows will run with the same cast. Aberg's Doctor Faustus will arrive in London following Jamie Lloyd's West End run of the same play which stars Kit Harington and Jenna Russell. In Aberg's, Sandy Grierson and Oliver Ryan decide onstage who will play the roles of Faustus and Mephistophilis randomly each night.

Two shows from the RST Cymbeline – directed by Melly Still – and King Lear – directed by Gregory Doran – also arrive at the Barbican from 31 October. The RSC's productions of Love's Labour's Lost and Much Ado About Nothing which run at Chichester Festival Theatre from 29 September will also transfer to the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 9 December.

The transfers mean that 12 RSC productions will have played in London over the Shakespeare 400 year, joining the four history plays King & Country: Shakespeare's Great Cycle of Kings – which was on earlier in the year – and A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Play for the Nation which runs at the Barbican for a week of performances in May. The company's long-running hit Matilda continues to play at the Cambridge Theatre.

The RSC will also be bringing together the much-anticipated Shakespeare Live! show, which will be broadcast from BBC Two on 23 April to celebrate the 400 years since the Bard died.

Head to our dedicated Shakespeare page for everything you need to know about Shakespeare 400