Paapa Essiedu will play the lead role in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s next production of Hamlet.
Simon Godwin who directs said, “I wanted to find a context where, as a character, Hamlet could feel dislocated, where he could feel conflicted by the demands of his ancestors against the pressure to find a new way of thinking. I began to imagine a Denmark re-conceived as a modern state influenced by the ritual, beauty and cosmology of West Africa.”
Essiedu returns to the RSC after appearing in Tamsin Oglesby’s adaptation of Russell Hoban's The Mouse and his Child in 2012. He also played Fenton in Philip Breen’s production of The Merry Wives of Windsor in the same year. In 2015 he appeared as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet at the Tobacco Factory.
Cyril Nri returns to the RSC to play Polonius. He last performed with the company as Cassius in Gregory Doran’s production of Julius Caesar in 2012.
Tanya Moodie will play Gertrude. She received an Olivier Award nomination for her role as Makeda in Indhu Rubasingham’s production of Marcus Gardley’s The House That Will Not Stand at the Tricycle Theatre in 2014. She also appeared as Constance in the Shakespeare’s Globe production of King John in 2015.
The rest of the cast of Hamlet comprises: Hiran Abeysekera (Horatio), Romayne Andrews (Osric), Doreene Blackstock (Player Queen), Eke Chukwu (Voltimand), James Cooney (Rosencrantz), Bethan Cullinane (Guildenstern), Marième Diouf (Cornelia / player), Kevin N Golding (Bernardo / priest / Player King), Marcus Griffiths (Laertes), Byron Mondahl (Professor of Wittenberg / English ambassador), Theo Ogundipe (Fortinbras / Marcellus / Lucianus), Natalie Simpson (Ophelia), Clarence Smith (Claudius), Ewart James Walters (ghost / gravedigger) and Temi Wilkey (player).
Design is by Paul Wills with lighting by Paul Anderson. Music for the production is composed by Jamiroquai percussionist Sola Akingbola. Sound is by Christopher Shutt.
Hamlet runs in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from Saturday (12 March) until Saturday 13 August.