Andrew Richardson is to join the cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Royal Shakespeare Company production which ran in Stratford and is transferring to London’s Barbican.
Richardson, who will play Oberon and Theseus, took the role of Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, directed by Nicholas Hytner, at the Bridge Theatre, London in 2023.
Katherine Pearce, who played Horatia Poskitt in Juliet Gilkes Romero’s The Whip and Cardinal Pandulph in Shakespeare’s King John at the RSC in 2020, will play Puck.
New cast members also include Alexander Bellinfantie (Moth), Eliza Smith (Mustardseed) and Natalie Thomas (Peaseblossom).
They join returning cast members Nicholas Armfield (Demetrius), Mathew Baynton (Bottom), Emily Cundick (Snout), Esme Hough (Cobweb), Ryan Hutton (Lysander), Laurie Jamieson (Snug), Neil McCaul (Egeus), Helen Monks (Rita Quince), Adrian Richards (Philostrate), Boadicea Ricketts (Helena), Sirine Saba (Titania and Hippolyta), Dawn Sievewright (Hermia), Mitesh Soni (Flute) and Premi Tamang (Starveling).
Director Eleanor Rhode said, “I’m so excited to be back in the rehearsal room for A Midsummer Night’s Dream with our incredible company. There was so much joy and energy in the making of the original production and this came through strongly to our audiences in Stratford who responded in kind. What a treat to be able to get to do it all again—we can’t wait to fill the Barbican stage with love, laughter and magic.”
The creative team also includes Lucy Osborne (set and costume design), John Bulleid (illusion direction and design), Matt Daw (lighting design), Will Gregory (composer), Pete Malkin (sound design), Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster (movement design), Will Duke (video design), Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown (fight and intimacy direction) and Matthew Dewsbury CDG (casting).
A Midsummer Night’s Dream will run at the Barbican from Tuesday 3 December until Saturday 18 January 2025.