Tara Fitzgerald makes RSC debut in Winter’s Tale

Tara Fitzgerald will make her debut with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre next year, starring opposite Jo Stone-Fewings in The Winter’s Tale.

According to the Daily Mail, Fitzgerald will play Hermione in the production, which runs from 24 January to 23 February 2013 in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, ahead of a UK tour.

Fitzgerald’s recent stage credits include Farewell to the Theatre at Hampstead Theatre and Broken Glass at the Vaudeville Theatre, for which she received a Whatsonstage.com Award nomination for Best Takeover in a Role.  Jo Stone-Fewings, last seen in Heartbreak House at Chichester Festival Theatre, is a seasoned RSC veteran and, as previously announced, will play Leontes.

Lucy Bailey made her RSC directorial debut with Julius Caesar, which enjoyed runs in Stratford-upon-Avon, London and New York (2009-11). This was followed by The Taming of the Shrew, which toured the UK in early 2012.

Her other work includes includes Uncle Vanya, Kingdom of Earth and Snake in the Grass at the Print Room, where until recently she was joint artistic director, and Macbeth, Timon of Athens, Titus Andronicus and As You Like It for Shakespeare’s Globe.

Speaking about The Winter’s Tale, Bailey said: “In our version, which is set in the 1860’s, the play begins in Sicilia, where Leontes and his court live a sheltered, beautiful dream of a life, bathed in endless sunshine, and completely removed from the real world of work and suffering. It is in essence an Ivory Tower. At the bottom of their tower, well beyond view, is Bohemia, where the working men and women, despite their struggle, make the most out of very little.  We have tried to encapsulate this in our design for the play.”

– Caitlin Jackson