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Dateline: 22nd January, 2004 Casting Complete for RSC "Tragedies" Season Casting has been completed for the newly formed Royal Shakespeare Company Core Ensemble which will be performing four of the Bard's tragedies this year at Stratford. The Ensemble is rehearsing and training together over twice the normal rehearsal time in the UK. The aim is to create the freedom for directors and actors to test ideas and take risks in the rehearsal room, providing the opportunity to develop the best possible performances. The first play in the season will be Macbeth. Greg Hicks, who takes on the title role, returns to the RSC where last year he played Coriolanus, for which he received an Olivier Award nomination for best actor. His other recent work includes Messiah: Scenes from the Execution with Stephen Berkoff at the Old Vic. Sian Thomas plays Lady Macbeth. She last performed with the RSC as Goneril in Yukio Ninagawa's King Lear with Nigel Hawthorne in 1999. Her other stage work includes Sean Holmes' The Price with Warren Mitchell at the Tricycle Theatre. Pal Aron makes his RSC debut as Malcolm. He has had long-running parts in The Bill as Brandon Kane and in Casualty. Duncan is played by Richard Cordery who last year was Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor. The cast also includes Scottish actor Forbes Masson as the Porter and RSC favourites Clive Wood (Macduff) and Louis Hilyer (Banquo). RSC associate director Dominic Cooke is in charge. His last production was Cymbeline in the Swan Theatre last year. Macbeth previews from March 6th and runs until October 2nd. Making their RSC debuts as Romeo and Juliet are Matthew Rhys and Sian Brooke. Rhys appeared as Benjamin in The Graduate opposite Kathleen Turner while Brooke's stage credits include Dina in Franco Zeffirelli's Absolutely! (Perhaps). Directed by Peter Gill, Romeo and Juliet previews from March 25th and runs until October 1st. Bill Alexander will direct Corin Redgrave in the title role of King Lear. Redgrave's last appearance at the RSC was in Richard Nelson's play The General from America in the 1996-97 season. He won the Barclays Theatre Awards best actor category in 2002 for The Browning Version at Derby Playhouse. The Olivier Award-winning former RSC associate director Alexander was also artistic director of the Birmingham Rep from 1992 to 2001. David Hargreaves, who plays Gloucester, has worked with Alexander on numerous occasions in Birmingham. He is a familiar face to television viewers and can be seen in the current season of Mersey Beat. Ruth Gemmell, who plays Regan, starred as Colin Firth's long-suffering girlfriend in the film version of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch and has appeared in a string of TV dramas including Spooks 2 and Waking the Dead. King Lear previews from June 17th and runs until September 29th. Michael Boyd directs his first production for the RSC as artistic director with Toby Stephens taking on the role of Hamlet. Stephens is internationally renowned for his film work which includes the latest James Bond film Die Another Day in which he plays the villain. His previous work for the RSC includes David Thacker's Coriolanus for which he picked up the Sir John Gielgud Award for best actor in 1994 and the Ian Charleson Award in 1995. Meg Fraser will be making her RSC debut as Ophelia. She previously worked with Boyd on his production of The Trick is to Keep on Breathing for the Glasgow Tron and Toronto World Stage Festival. Her other stage work includes Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew for the Edinburgh Royal Lyceum. Hamlet previews from July 8th and runs until October 2nd. Reporter: Steve Orme Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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