The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Rome MMXVII season of four Shakespeare plays will transfer to London's Barbican straight after their run at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford.
Season director Angus Jackson who is directing Julius Caesar and Coriolanus said, “I’m thrilled to be bringing the decadence of Shakespeare's Rome to the Barbican.
“We’re presenting these plays not in the order that they were written but in the order that the stories happen. We begin with Coriolanus—a semi-fictional character from 500 BCE—through to Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra, legendary characters who lived just before the birth of Christ. And finally, Titus Andronicus in which we see an entirely imagined Rome at the end of its dominance.
“In this order, we track the ascendance and the decline of a civilisation: the establishment of a republic in the aftermath of the abolition of a monarchy, the republic becoming an empire and ultimately destroying itself.”
Coriolanus will run from 6 until 18 November and Julius Caesar from 24 November until 20 January 2018. Antony and Cleopatra, directed by Iqbal Khan, runs from 30 November until 20 January. Titus Andronicus, directed by Blanche McIntyre, runs from 7 December until 19 January.
The full cast and creative teams for all four shows will transfer from Stratford. Design for all the plays is by Robert Innes Hopkins.
Students can get an insight into the technical process of staging a production by attending a day backstage at the Barbican as the technical team prepares for the evening performance of Julius Caesar. Students will work with members of the RSC lighting, stage management, sound and design teams on specific tasks.
The event will be on Tuesday 16 January 2018 from 10AM until 5PM. To register an interest, e-mail [email protected] using the subject line "Barbican Backstage Pass".
RSC director Iqbal Khan will lead an intensive practical weekend at the Barbican in response to his production of Antony and Cleopatra. The lab is suitable for students, emerging or mid-career actors, directors and theatre-makers aged 18 and over. It will be held on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 January 2018 and includes a ticket to the Saturday evening performance of Antony and Cleopatra.