The RSC has announced casting for its forthcoming production of Shakespeare’s political thriller, Julius Caesar, running between 18 March– 8 April in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, before a nine date tour of England visiting Canterbury, Truro, Bradford, Newcastle upon Tyne, Blackpool, Nottingham, Norwich, York and Salford.

This visceral new production is directed by Atri Banerjee, and will feature Thalissa Teixeira (Electra, Old Vic) as Brutus and Kelly Gough (The House of Shades, Almeida) as Cassius, in the roles of the leaders who plot to kill Caesar. 

Talking about the production, Atri Banerjee said:

“I’m thrilled to be welcoming this extraordinary cast to our production of Julius Caesar. In particular, 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, both in Stratford and on tour, Shakespeare’s searing political tragedy, as pertinent now as it ever was.”

The cast also includes William Robinson (Britannicus, Lyric Hammersmith) as Mark Antony, Nigel Barrett (Living Newspaper, Royal Court) as Julius Caesar, Nadi Kemp-Sayfi (Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights, Shakespeare’s Globe) as Portia and Jimena Larraguivel (A Fight Against, Royal Court) as Calpurnia.

Completing the cast are Jamal Ajala as Lucius, Mercedes Assad as Marullus/Artemidorus, Annabel Baldwin as Soothsayer, Matt Ray Brown as Cicero, Matthew Bulgo as Casca, Ella Dacres as Octavius Caesar, Joshua Dunn as Cinna The Poet/Popilius/Carpenter, Katie Erich as Caius Ligarius/Cobbler, Niamh Finlay as Pindarus, Gina Isaac as Decius Brutus, Robert Jackson as Flavius/Cinna The Conspirator, Tom Kanji as Metellus Cimber/Lepidus, and Pedro Leandro as Trebonius.

The production has set and co-costume design by Rosanna Vize, co-costume design by Tomás Palmer, lighting by Lee Curran, music by Jasmin Kent Rodgman, sound by Claire Windsor, movement direction by Jennifer Jackson, and casting by Matthew Dewsbury CDG.

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