The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced the principal casting for their upcoming production of Macbeth, directed by Wils Wilsen.
Reuben Joseph will take on the role of Macbeth, playing opposite Valene Kay as Lady Macbeth, and both will make their RSC debut in the production.
Reuben Joseph is currently starring as the titular role in the West End production of Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre, and trained at Glasgow Clyde College, graduating in 2018. His theatre credits include The Tragedy of Macbeth (Almeida); the Stag and the Black, Black Oil; Midsummer (National Theatre Scotland) and A Christmas Carol (Citizens Theatre).
Valene Kane trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Her theatre credits include Miss Julie (Reading Rep), The Lonesome West (Mercury Theatre), and Autumn Fire (Finborough Theatre). Her TV credits include The Fall and Blue Lights.
Macbeth will be directed by Wils Wilson. She directed and co-created The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, which has been touring internationally to non-theatre spaces since 2010 an won a Drama Desk Award for its New York run. She is associate director of the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, and her work includes shows for the Royal Court, Manchester Royal Exchange and Welsh National Opera, along with the Olivier-nominated I Want My Hat Back for the National Theatre.
The production will have design by Georgia McGuiness, lighting by Kai Fischer and sound by Claire Windsor. It will have music by Alasdair Macrae, movement and choreography by Julia Cheng and fights by Kaitlin Howard. Casting will be by Simone Pereira Hind CDG and Anna Dawson.
The production is set to run at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from 19 August to 14 October 2023, with further casting to be announced later this month.
Words by Jess Boot-Cowie
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