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Pericles
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Tamara Harvey
Press Night: Wednesday 7 August, 7pm
Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
Box Office: rsc.org.uk 01789 331111
Full casting is announced for the RSC’s forthcoming production of Shakespeare’s Pericles. Directed by the RSC’s Co-Artistic director, Tamara Harvey, the show runs in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon between 26 July – 21 September.
Alfred Enoch, who is starring in the titular role, is well-known for his television work includingHow to Get Away With Murderas well as his acclaimed stage work including Red (Wyndham's), Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare's Globe) and Orlando in As You Like It (@sohoplace). He will be joined by Rachelle Diedericks as Marina, Leah Haile as Thaisa, Chukwuma Omambala as Cleon, Christian Patterson as Simonides and Gabby Wong as Dionyza.
Shakespeare’s stirring tale of love, hope and miracles will see RSC Co-Artistic Director, Tamara Harvey, make her directorial debut with the company. Harvey said: “Daniel and I are now a year into our tenure as Co-Artistic Directors. In building our first season, we have always come back to the question of “why this show and why now” – of how particular stories, however new or old, might be in conversation with our world today. As one of Shakespeare’s late, great plays, Pericles has so much to say about who we are and who we might become; about what it means to be a leader, what it means to love and to lose everything; what it is to navigate a course through adversity and what it takes to keep striving in a desperately fragile world.
"Like so many artists joining us across the year, this will be my first time directing at the RSC. To be making my début alongside Alfred Enoch, whom I last worked with during lockdown on a screen adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray, is both an extraordinary joy and a privilege. I am so looking forward to collaborating with this wonderful company of actors, immersing ourselves in the unique magic of Shakespeare’s language and bringing this story to life in the exquisite intimacy of the iconic Swan Theatre. The journey begins…”
Alfred Enoch’s television and film credits include: The Couple Next Door (Channel 4), Foundation (Apple TV), Trust Me (BBC), How To Get Away With Murder (ABC), Troy: Fall of a City (BBC), Sherlock (BBC), Mount Pleasant (Sky), Broadchurch (BBC), The Critic, This Is Christmas, Executive Order, Tigers and The Harry Potter series.
He has been seen on stage in productions such as As You Like It (@sohoplace - West End), Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare’s Globe); Crave (Chichester Festival Theatre); The Picture of Dorian Gray (online), What A Carve Up! (online), Tree (Manchester International Festival, Young Vic), Red (Wyndham’s Theatre - West End); King Lear (Manchester Royal Exchange, Birmingham Rep), Coriolanus(Donmar Warehouse), Timon of Athens, Antigone (National Theatre). He is an Artistic Associate of the Young Vic.
Rachelle Diedericks makes her RSC début as Marina. Her previous theatre work includes: The House Party (Chichester Festival Theatre), A View From the Bridge (Rose Theatre Kingston, Chichester Festival Theatre, Bolton Octagon), The Walworth Farce (Southwark Playhouse Elephant), The Crucible (National Theatre), Our Generation (National Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace Theatre), The Band (Theatre Royal Haymarket, UK Tour). Her television and film work includes: Andor (Disney +), Speechless (ABC), This Time Next Year, The Silence and the Noise and How To Be a Person.
Leah Haile also makes her RSC début as Thaisa. Her theatre work includes: The Lovely Bones (UK Tour); Harry Potter And The Cursed Child (The Palace Theatre, West End); Instructions For Correct Assembly (Workshop – Royal Court); The Crucible (Manchester Royal Exchange) and Slick (National Youth Theatre).
Her film and television work includes: Snow White (Disney); Slate (Short), Flatmates (BBC); Casualty (BBC); Doctors (BBC); The Musketeers (BBC) and The Five (Red Productions for Sky One).
Chukwuma Omambala’s previous RSC work includes: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hecuba and Queen Anne. Other theatre work includes: Scandaltown (Lyric Hammersmith), Intimate Apparel (Theatre Royal Bath, Park Theatre), King Lear (BAM / Chichester Festival Theatre). His television work includes: Shakespeare & Hathaway, Magpie Murders, Flack, Queens of Mystery, Liar, Midsomer Murders, Houdini and Doyle, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man.
Christian Patterson’s previous RSC work includes Cymbeline and The Secret Garden. Other theatre work includes: The American Clock (Old Vic), The Way of the World (Donmar Warehouse), Guys and Dolls (Donmar Warehouse and tour), My Country: A Work in Progress (National Theatre), The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Insignificance, All My Sons, Aristocrats, Rape of the Fair Country, Glengarry Glen Ross, As You Like It (Theatr Clwyd), Under Milk Wood (Theatr Clwyd/tour), St Nicholas, Blackbird, The Dying of Today, Blasted (The Other Room); Oliver! (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); Journey’s End (West End / UK Tour); The Gondoliers, The Merchant of Venice, The Water Babies (Chichester Festival Theatre), Peggy’s Song (National Theatre Wales) and One Man, Two Guv’nors (Torch Theatre). He is an Associate Artist of Theatr Clwyd. Christian is also a founder member of Grand Ambition at Swansea Grand Theatre.
His television and film work includes: A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story (ITV), My Lady Jane (Amazon), The Pact, In My Skin (BBC), The English, Why Don’t They Ask Evans?, Industry (HBO), The Accident (The Forge/Channel 4), Pride, Mr Selfridge (ITV), Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire (Comedy Central/BBC), Mickey 17, Pride, I Know You Know and Malice in Wonderland.
Gabby Wong's previous RSC work includes: Jew of Malta, Love's Sacrifice, Volpone and Troilus and Cressida. Other theatre work includes: Macbeth, Othello (Shakespeare’s Globe); Macbeth, The Winter’s Tale (National Theatre); Maryland, Pah-La (Royal Court Theatre); duch*ess of Malfi (Citizens Theatre); Life of Pi (Crucible Theatre); Doctor Faustus (Jamie Lloyd Company); Takeaway, Sinbad the Sailor (Theatre Royal Stratford East); One of Two Stories or Both (Manchester International Festival); Posh- all female (Pleasance Theatre); Last Days of Limehouse (New Earth Theatre).
Broadcast work includes: 1899, KAOS (Netflix); Eastenders, Unprecedented (BBC); Strangers (ITV), Rogue One, Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, Private Revolutions, The Drifted Stream, The Warringham Chronicles (Audible); Dragons of the Pool, The Quiet One and Avenue of Eternal Peace (BBC Radio4).
The full cast comprises Miles Barrow (Thaliard/Boult), Philip Bird (Helicanus), Jacqueline Boatswain (Cerimon/Bawd), Rachelle Diedericks (Marina), Alfred Enoch (Pericles), Chyna-Rose Frederick (Antiochus’ Daughter/Lychorida/Diana), Sasha Ghoshal (Ensemble), Leah Haile (Thaisa), Felix Hayes (Anitochus/Pander), Kel Matsena (Lysimachus), Miriam O’Brien (Ensemble), Emmanuel Olusanya (Ensemble), Chukwuma Omambala (Cleon), Sam Parks (Escanes, Leonine), Christian Patterson (Simonides) and Gabby Wong (Dionyza).
Joining Tamara on the creative team are Jonathan Fensom (Set Designer), Kinnetia Isidore (Costume Designer), Ryan Day (Lighting Designer), Claire van Kampen (Composer), Claire Windsor (Sound Designer), Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster (Movement Director), Charlotte Sutton CDG (Casting Director), Francesca Murray-Fuentes (Associate Director) and Juliano Zaffino (Textual Consultant).
Pericles will transfer to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater from 20 October 2024.
ENDS
For further press information please contact: Olivia Scull, Media Relations Officer, RSC Olivia.Scull@rsc.org.uk, 0778 9937759
LISTING INFORMATION
Pericles
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
Press Night: Wednesday 7 August, 7pm
‘O you gods! Why do you make us love your goodly gifts, And snatch them straight away?’
When Prince Pericles solves a riddle set by the King, he knows the answer could get him killed. Fleeing for safety, he finds himself swept away on an epic voyage that will see him battle princes, marry his true love and become a father. But this is also a journey of storms and shipwrecks, abduction and devastating loss. Adrift in an ocean of grief, will Pericles ever see his family again?
Chilled and Handheld Captioned performance: Wednesday 28 August, 1:30pm
Chilled and Audio Described performance: Saturday 17 August, 1:30pm
Handheld Captioned performance: Wednesday 11 September 1:30pm
Captioned performances: Thursday 15 August, 7.30pm, Saturday 14 September 1:30pm
Performance with Integrated BSL Interpreter: Thursday 19 September, 7:30, Saturday 21 September 1:30pm
Audio Described performance: Thursday 12 September, 7:30pm <br bcx0"="">Director Talk: Tuesday 6 August, 5:15-6pm
Unwrapped: Saturday 7 September, 10:15am
Post Show Talk (BSL Interpreted): Thursday 19 September
NOTES TO EDITORS
The RSC is supported using public funding by Arts Council England
The work of the RSC is supported by the Culture Recovery Fund
The RSC is generously supported by RSC America
Darwin Escapes is the Headline Sponsor of Pericles
Pericles is supported by RSC Production Circle member Peggy Czyzak-Dannenbaum
RSC £10 Tickets for 14-25s supported by TikTok
The RSC Acting Companies are generously supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)
The Royal Shakespeare Company creates exceptional theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, London and around the world, performing plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as commissioning a wide range of original work from contemporary writers. Our purpose is to ensure that Shakespeare – and theatre as a whole – is for everyone, and we do that by unlocking the power of his plays and live performance, and with our learning and education work throughout the UK and across the world.
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk.
Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of the bodies responsible for administering the Government’s unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund, of which we delivered over £1 billion to the sector in grants and loans. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19.
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