Christmas Carol and Timon of Athens open at RSC

Published: 1 December 2018
Reporter: Steve Orme

Director Rachel Kavanaugh and Aiden Gillett in rehearsal for A Christmas Carol Credit: Manuel Harlan
Sam Pay (Ventidius) and Kathryn Hunter (Timon) in rehearsal for Timon of Athens Credit: Simon Annand

Two shows are to open at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford: a revival of David Edgar’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol and Timon of Athens, Shakespeare’s poignant satire on wealth, greed and betrayal.

Aden Gillett will make his Royal Shakespeare Company debut as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. He is known for his extensive television credits which include Father Brown, Holby City, Silent Witness and House of Elliott.

His stage appearances include Noises Off by Michael Frayn at the National Theatre, Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse and he played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing at the Theatre Royal Bath in 2005.

The cast also includes Victoria Blunt (Mrs Baldock / Caroline), Tom Byrne (Fred), Gerard Carey (Bob Cratchit), Claire Carrie (Lady Tibshelf / Christmas Past), Sally Cheng (Katherine / Belinda Cratchit), Matthew Dale (Uber / doctor), Steven Elliott (Marley), Clive Hayward (Fezziwig / Old Joe), Danielle Henry (Mrs Trowell / Christmas Present / Mrs Fezziwig), Samantha Hull (swing), Sam Jenkins-Shaw (father / coachman), Beruce Khan (John Forster), Bethany Linsdell (Martha Cratchit / Amy), Jessica Murrain (Isabel / Lucy), Kwami Odoom (Wicker / sailor), Emma Pallant (Mrs Cratchit), Joey Phillips (Slingshot / young man), Shiv Rabheru (swing), Joseph Timms (Charles Dickens) and Rachel Winters (Fanny / Jane).

A Christmas Carol will be directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and designed by Stephen Brimson Lewis, with lighting by Tim Mitchell. Music is by Catherine Jayes and sound by Fergus O’Hare. Choreography is by Georgina Lamb.

It runs in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford from Tuesday 4 December until Sunday 20 January 2019. Press night will be Tuesday 11 December.

Kathryn Hunter will take the title role in Timon of Athens which is being produced in the Swan Theatre for the first time. She returns to the company after being part of the 2010-12 ensemble, playing Juliet in Ben Power’s A Tender Thing, Cleopatra in Michael Boyd’s production of Antony and Cleopatra, Fool in King Lear and Gavrilo in The Grain Store.

The cast also includes Salman Akhtar (Lucillius), Sagar I M Arya (painter), James Clyde (Sempronius), Anton Cross (Caphis), Ralph Davis (poet), Patrick Drury (Flavius), Ross Green (merchant / Varro’s servant), Nia Gwynne (Apemantus), Zainab Hasan (jeweller), Debbie Korley (Alcibiades), Rosy McEwen (Flaminius), Sam Pay (Ventidius), Riad L Richie (Servilius), Imogen Slaughter (Lucia), Vivienne Smith (Isadore’s servant), David Sturzaker (Lucullus) and Edmund Wiseman (Demetrius).

Simon Godwin directs. For the RSC he directed Paapa Essiedu in Hamlet at Stratford in 2016 and at the Hackney Empire in March 2018.

Designer is Soutra Gilmour and lighting designer is Tim Lutkin. Music is by Michael Bruce, sound by Christopher Shutt and movement by Jonathan Goddard.

Timon of Athens runs in the Swan Theatre from Friday 7 December until Friday 22 February 2019. Press night will be Thursday 13 December.

*Some links, including Amazon, Stageplays.com, ATG Tickets, LOVEtheatre, BTG Tickets, Ticketmaster, The Ticket Factory, LW Theatres and QuayTickets, are affiliate links for which BTG may earn a small fee at no extra cost to the purchaser.

Are you sure?