Full casting has been revealed for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s new version of The Constant Wife by Laura Wade, based on the 1926 play by W Somerset Maugham.
As previously announced, Rose Leslie will make her RSC debut in the role of Constance Middleton.
Kate Burton will play Mrs Culver, Constance’s mother. She was Constance in the 2005 production of The Constant Wife on Broadway for which she was nominated for a Tony Award.
Raj Bajaj will play Bernard Kersal. His previous RSC credits include Changez in the 2024 production of Emma Rice and Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia and Abdul in Tanika Gupta’s The Empress in 2023.
Emma McDonald will make her RSC debut as Marie-Louise Durham. She played Alice in Emma Hemingford’s Foreverland at Southwark Playhouse in 2024.
Mark Meadows will play Bentley. He was previously seen at the RSC in 2021 as Vilna Lutz in The Magician’s Elephant by Nancy Harris and Marc Teitler. He also took the role of Nye Bevin in Beth Steel’s The House of Shades at the Almeida Theatre in 2022.
Daniel Millar will play Mortimer Durham in The Constant Wife. His previous RSC credits include Fabian in Twelfth Night in 2024 and he took the role of Enobarbus in Antony and Cleopatra at Shakespeare’s Globein 2024.
Amy Morgan will make her RSC debut as Martha. She played Margery in Dodie Smith’s Dear Octopus in 2024, Queen Marie in Patrick Marber’s version ofEugène Ionesco’s Exit the King in 2018 and Cherry in The Beaux' Stratagem by George Farquhar in 2015, all at the National Theatre.
Luke Norris will play John Middleton in The Constant Wife. He was Jimmy in the RSC production of Dennis Kelly’s The Gods Weep at Hampstead Theatre in 2010 and Dan in the RSC’s tour of Roy Williams’ Days of Significance in 2009.
Also making their RSC debuts are offstage understudies Connor Going and Jess Nesling.
RSC co-artistic director Tamara Harvey who directs The Constant Wife said, “I’m so excited to welcome our company to the rehearsal room, bringing together internationally renowned talent and new voices making their RSC debuts as well as some familiar faces.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Kate Burton who returns to the play as Constance’s mother Mrs Culver. I can’t wait to discover what her experience of the play will bring to the room.
“Thanks to the RSC’s flexible working practices, many members of our acting company are parents and we feel privileged they’ve chosen to join us.”
The creative team includes set and co-costume designer Anna Fleischle, co-costume designer Cat Fuller, lighting designer Ryan Day, composer Jamie Cullum, sound designer Claire Windsor, movement and intimacy director Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster and casting director Charlotte Sutton CDG.
The Constant Wife will run in the Swan Theatre, Stratford from Friday 20 June until Saturday 2 August. Press night will be Tuesday 1 July.