Hugh Quarshie and Lucian Msamati are to return to the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford to play Othello and Iago in Iqbal Khan’s production of Othello.
Hugh Quarshie is back with the RSC after more than a decade working in film and television on projects from Star Wars to Holby City. He was last seen with the company in Goethe’s Faust and Julius Caesar, in which he played Mark Antony, in 1996. He will play opposite Lucian Msamati who played Pericles in 2006.
The production is directed by Iqbal Khan who directed Much Ado About Nothing for the RSC in 2012.
Joanna Vanderham will make her RSC debut as Desdemona. She played Denise Lovett in the BBC Drama series The Paradise, appeared in Jimmy McGovern’s Banished on BBC Two and will be Marian Maudsley in a new BBC adaptation of L P Hartley’s novel The Go-Between in July.
The cast for Othello also includes Nadia Albina (Duke of Venice), David Ajao (Montano), Scarlett Brookes (Bianca), James Corrigan (Roderigo), Ayesha Dharker (Emilia), Eva Feiler (Citizen of Venice), Owen Findlay (Gentleman of Cyprus), Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (Cassio), Guy Hughes (soldier), Rina Mahoney (citizen of Venice), Ken Nwosu (gentleman of Cyprus), Brian Protheroe (Brabantio), Jay Saighal (gentleman of Cyprus) and Tim Samuels (Lodovico).
The set and lighting are by Ciaran Bagnall. Costume design is by Fotini Dimou. Music is composed by Akintayo Akinbode with sound by Andrew Franks. Movement is by Diane Alison Mitchell and the fight director is Kev McCurdy.
Othello runs in repertoire with The Merchant of Venice in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from Thursday 4 June until Friday 28 August. Press night will be on Thursday 11 June. The production will be broadcast live to cinemas on Wednesday 26 August.