The Royal Shakespeare has announced its season of productions taking place during its 400th anniversary season in the Spring/Summer of 2016.

First up at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre will be Erica Whyman’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play for the Nation, which will be co-produced with 14 amateur companies from every nation and region of the UK. It opens in Stratford on the 17th February until the 5th of March before embarking on a UK tour, returning to the theatre from the 15th June – 16th July.

Following on from that production, will be a new production of Hamlet directed by Simon Godwin, with Paapa Essiedu in the title role. Simon Godwin directed the highly successful production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona for the RSC in 2014. Hamlet will appear at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from the 12th March to the 13th August.

Booking for tickets for all of these shows opens to the public on the 19th October. 

Lastly at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre will be a production of Cymbeline directed by Melly Still, whose previous credits include The Cunning Little Vixen for Glyndebourne Opera and Coram Boy and The Revenger’s Tragedy for the National Theatre. The production will be at the theatre from the 29th April until the 12th August.

Meanwhile at the Swan Theatre the spring/summer season will open with a production of Doctor Faustus , which will be directed by Maria Aberg. Christopher Marlowe’s most famous play is a tale of greed and vanity and still rings true in today’s society. Aberg’s production will appear at the theatre from the 4th February until 4th August.

Then James Fenton’s adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes’s novel Don Quixote  will be appearing at the theatre. Directed by Angus Jackson and starring David Threlfall, the play tells the story of a man who sets out to become a wondering knight, defending the helpless but increasingly loses his grip on reality. It will appear at the Swan Theatre from the 25th February until the 21st May.

Finally, the theatre will put on a prodution of Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist , which will be directed by Polly Findlay. Findlay returns to the RSC following her productions of Arden of Faversham and The Merchant of Venice in the last two seasons. The Alchemist will begin previews on the 26th May and will play until the 6th August.