Stephen Fry stars with Mark Rylance in Globe Twelfth Night

Stephen Fry is returning to the London stage to star as Malvolio opposite Mark Rylance’s Olivia in Shakespeare’s Globe’s upcoming production of Twelfth Night.

The final production in the Globe’s “The Play’s The Thing” season, Tim Carroll‘s revival of Twelfth Night will run from 22 September to 14 October 2012.

Fry and Rylance are joined in the cast by Liam Brennan and Peter Hamilton Dyer (reprising their 2002 Globe roles as Orsino and Feste), Globe regular Colin Hurley as Sir Toby Belch and the previously announced Samuel Barnett and Johnny Flynn as the twins Sebastian and Viola.

Rumours that the Globe’s rep productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III (in which Rylance also stars) could be transferred to the West End by commercial producer Sonia Friedman have still not been confirmed by the Globe.

Regularly seen on BBC television hosting quiz show QI, Stephen Fry‘s recent big screen credits include Sherlock Holmes II, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Gosford Park, Peter’s Friends and Wilde for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination.

His television credits include The Borrowers, The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, Kingdom, Jeeves and Wooster, Blackadder as well as appearing with Hugh Laurie in A Bit of Fry and Laurie. He has also appeared in many critically acclaimed documentaries.

Fry was briefly seen on the West End stage in 1995, playing against Rik Mayall in Cell Mates, written and directed by Simon Gray. He left the Albery (now Noël Coward) Theatre production after three days, something he has since attributed to bipolar disorder.

In 2007 Fry wrote a version of Cinderella starring Pauline Collins and Sandi Toksvig produced by the Old Vic. He also took part in a one-night performance of Patrick Barlow‘s Star Child at the Almeida Theatre in December 2010. Last Christmas he leant his voice, alongside regular QI panellist and Whatsonstage.com Awards host Alan Davies, to the Lyric Hammersmith’s pantomime Dick Whittington and his Cat.

Liam Brennan was a regular in Shakespeare’s Globe’s company of players during Mark Rylance‘s tenure as artistic director. He reprises his performance as Duke Orsino having also appeared in Measure for Measure, Edward II and Macbeth.

His extensive credits at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh include A View From The Bridge, Othello and The Lieutenant of Inishmore.

Peter Hamilton Dyer, who will reprise his performance as Feste has also appeared in Globe productions of Frontline and King Lear. His other stage credits include Richard II and The Moonstone (Manchester Royal Exchange), Mansfield Park (CFT) and The Bacchae (Shared Experience).

Colin Hurley also appeared in the original 2002 company of Twelfth Night. He will shortly appear as Cardinal Wolsey in the Globe’s touring production of Anne Boleyn and his previous Globe credits include All’s Well that Ends Well, Macbeth and Measure for Measure. His other theatre credits include Equus (CFT), The Woman in Black (Fortune Theatre) and Loot (Lyric Hammersmith).

Carroll’s production of Twelfth Night reunites the creative team behind the original 2002 staging with design by Jenny Tiramani and music by Claire van Kampen. Their “original practices” approach to staging employs techniques used in Shakespeare’s day to recreate clothing, music and dance.