The production will run from the 13th May until the 20th June.
Full casting has now been announced for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s upcoming production of The Tempest.
Joining the previously announced Kenneth Branagh as Prospero (playing the role for the first time) will be David Bark-Jones (Alonso), Darrell Brockis (Boatswain), Halle Brown (Spirit), Keir Charles (Trinculo), Philip Childs (Master), Stuart Edgar (Offstage Understudy), Amber Sylvia Edwards (Spirit), Tallulah Hamilton Barr (Offstage Understudy), Guy Henry (Stephano), Paul Jesson (Gonzalo), Mark Meadows (Antonio), Amara Okereke (Ariel), Razak Osman (Spirit), Henry Pettigrew (Sebastian), Ruby Stokes (Miranda), Fred Woodley Evans (Ferdinand) and Ashley Zhangazha (Caliban).
On a remote island, an exiled Duke prepares to perform his swansong, his great act of revenge. Kenneth Branagh takes the role of Prospero in Shakespeare’s final play, a meditation on art, power and freedom, directed by Richard Eyre.
Prospero summons his magical gifts into a devastating sea storm which hurls a ship’s crew onto the island – among them his usurping brother. With supernatural islanders as unwilling agents of his scheme and the castaways spellbound, Prospero’s plot advances. Old scores must be settled; his daughter Miranda must find love.
But as his vision unfolds, a different ending emerges – one of forgiveness, love, compassion. And with it, the chance to renounce his magic forever.
This production marks the first time that Richard Eyre will be directing in Stratford-upon-Avon following an esteemed career as a director, writer and former Artistic Director of the National Theatre. Talking about the news he said: “The play remains endlessly fascinating — I see it as Shakespeare’s autobiography, a meditation on art and freedom. Of course, there are themes of power, belonging, and colonisation that have long invited new readings and responses. The Tempest is a story shaped by encounters between cultures and systems of power, a story of revenge and magic, and I am thrilled to be working with such an incredible company to tell this story.”
Meanwhile, he is joined on the creative team by: Set Designer, Bob Crowley; Costume Designer, Fotini Dimou; Lighting Designer, Hugh Vanstone; Composers, Akintayo Akinbode and Stephen Warbeck; Sound Designer, Nicola T. Chang; Video Designer, Akhila Krishnan; Movement & Intimacy Director, Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster and Casting Director, Charlotte Sutton CDG.
To book tickets visit: https://www.rsc.org.uk/the-tempest