RSC Return to Newcastle Theatre Royal with Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Newcastle
Theatre Royal
Tuesday
9 – Saturday 13 May 2023
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is to return to Newcastle Theatre Royal with a visceral new production of Julius Caesar in May.
Directed by the award-winning Atri Banerjee, Julius Caesar will feature Thalissa Teixeira as Brutus and Kelly Gough as Cassius – both making their RSC debuts - in the roles of the leaders who plot to kill Caesar.
Talking about the production, Atri Banerjee said: “I’m delighted that audiences will get to see Thalissa Teixeira and Kelly Gough as, respectively, Brutus and Cassius. Along with several other parts across the company, we’ve re-imagined these roles to tell a story about power today: who holds it, who wields it, and who gets to challenge it.
“Julius Caesar is the
perfect play for our age of emergency, asking uncomfortable questions about
today. When asked to imagine a better future for us all, what resources do we
have left? What are the limits of peaceful activism? How far would you,
personally, go, to make the world a better place?
“By thinking of the roles in this play across intersectional lines - gender, race, class, disability, among others - we’re inviting audience members to think of their own place within the status quo and what might be at stake for each of us within it.
“Thalissa and Kelly are two
formidable actors and I’m so excited for their take on this central character
relationship, within the context of an extraordinary cast of 19 from across the
nation. I can’t wait to show audiences that Shakespeare’s searing political
tragedy, is as pertinent now as it ever was.”
Thalissa
Teixeira will be making her RSC debut as Brutus and earned an
Ian Charleson award nomination for her role in Electra at The Old Vic.,
Her theatre credits include Women Beware Women, Othello, The Broken Heart and The Changeling
(Shakespeare’s Globe) whilst on television she has played Gemma in Trigonometry
(BBC Two) and Madge Shelton in Anne Boleyn (Channel 5), as well as
appearing in The Musketeers (BBC).
Also appearing with the RSC for the first time is Kelly Gough as Cassius. Other theatre credits include The House of Shades (Almeida Theatre) and A Streetcar Named Desire (English Touring Theatre). On film Kelly has appeared in Tarrac, Out of Innocence, Kill Command, Jump and Belonging to Laura whilst on TV, credits include Grace, Marcella, Shadow and Bone, Call the Midwife, Broadchurch, Vera, Casualty, Law & Order and Raw.
William Robinson makes his RSC debut as Mark Antony with Nigel Barrett (Julius Caesar), Nadi Kemp-Sayfi (Portia) and Jimena Larraguivel (Calpurnia) all making a welcome return to the RSC.
The full cast is: Jamal Ajala (Lucius), Mercedes
Assad (Marullus/Artemidorus), Annabel
Baldwin (Soothsayer), Nigel
Barrett (Julius Caesar), Matt
Ray Brown (Cicero), Matthew
Bulgo (Casca), Ella Dacres
(Octavius Caesar), Joshua Dunn
(Cinna The Poet/Popilius/Carpenter), Katie
Erich (Caius Ligarius/Cobbler), Niamh
Finlay (Pindarus), Kelly Gough
(Cassius), Gina Isaac (Decius
Brutus), Robert Jackson
(Flavius/Cinna The Conspirator), Tom
Kanji (Metellus Cimber/Lepidus), Nadi
Kemp-Sayfi (Portia), Jimena
Larraguivel (Calpurnia), Pedro
Leandro (Trebonius), William
Robinson (Mark Antony) and Thalissa
Teixeira (Brutus).
Shakespeare's political thriller exposes the ambiguity in trying to shift power. As we rage against the crises surrounding us, how far will we each go for our political principles?
Photo: Marc Brenner
Tickets:
Performances by the Royal
Shakespeare Company are amongst the most eagerly anticipated in the Newcastle
Theatre Royal calendar. Julius Caesar plays
from Tuesday 9 – Saturday 13 May 2023. Tickets can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre
Royal Box Office on 0191 232 7010.
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