Current and past members of the Royal Shakespeare Company are to take part in a rehearsed reading for charity of W S Gilbert’s rarely performed satire Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Taking part, subject to availability, will be Edward Bennett, Nicholas Bailey, Matt Costain, Nicholas Day, Claire Price, Katy Stephens and Hannah Young.
In Gilbert's play, King Claudius had written in his youth a five-act tragedy which was universally damned by the audience. He has banned all reference to the piece under penalty of death.
Rosencrantz and Ophelia convince the self-absorbed Hamlet that Claudius's dire play is perfect for the court.
Edward Bennett played Laertes in Hamlet opposite David Tennant in 2008 and will play Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing at the RSC in the season which runs from September 2014 until March 2015.
Nicholas Bailey is known as Dr Anthony Trueman in EastEnders but has played numerous Shakespeare roles; he played The Duke of Burgundy in Richard Eyre's King Lear with Ian Holm at the National Theatre.
Matt Costain is currently in the RSC's Wendy and Peter Pan; Nicholas Day is appearing in Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies at the RSC; Claire Price was at the RSC in the 1999-2000 season and has subsequently played Lady Anne to Kenneth Branagh's Richard III; Katy Stephens is currently touring as Petruchio for the RSC and played Tamora in Titus Andronicus and Hannah Young was a member of the RSC's 2009-11 ensemble in King Lear, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.
The rehearsed reading of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern will be at 4PM on Sunday (16 February) at the Shakespeare Institute, Mason Croft, Church Street, Stratford. Tickets cost £10 (minimum donation requested) on the door and can be reserved by e-mailing [email protected] or [email protected].