Cast announced for Royal Shakespeare Company production of Julius Caesar

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has announced casting for its new production of Julius Caesar.

Shakespeare’s political thriller runs at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from 18 March – 8 April 2023.

The production then tours to venues in England, visiting Canterbury, Truro, Bradford, Newcastle upon Tyne, Blackpool, Nottingham, Norwich, York and Salford between 20 April – 24 June.

This visceral new production is directed by Atri Banerjee, and will feature Thalissa Teixeira as Brutus and Kelly Gough as Cassius, in the roles of the leaders who plot to kill Caesar.

Completing the cast are 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), 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) and William Robinson (Mark Antony).

Direct 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.”

Joining Atri on the creative team are: Rosanna Vize (Set Designer and Co-Costume Designer), Tomás Palmer (Co-Costume Designer), Lee Curran (Lighting), Jasmin Kent Rodgman (Music), Claire Windsor (Sound), Jennifer Jackson (Movement), Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown (Fights), Alison Bomber (Voice and Text) and Matthew Dewsbury CDG (Casting).

For more information and tickets, visit www.rsc.org.uk/Julius-caesar