Shakespeare Globe's HENRY IV Part 2 Opens 7/3

Shakespeare's masterpieces HENRY IV Parts 1 and 2 play at the new Globe starting with Part 1 June 5 through October 2 and Part 2 July 3-October 3. The production will star Roger Allam as Falstaff, Oliver Cotton as Henry IV, Jamie Parker as Prince Hal, William Gaunst as Worcester/Justice Shallow, Christopher Godwin as Northumberland/Silence, Sean Kearns as Glendower/Bullcolt/Warwick, Paul Rider as Bardolf/Scroop, and Jade Williams as Lady Mortimer/Doll Tearsheet. Dominic Dromgoole will direct.

Launching the season on Shakespeare's birthday, 23 April, will be Lucy Bailey's production of Macbeth with Elliot Cowan. Cowan recently played Stanley Kowalski in the Donmar's award-winning A Streetcar Named Desire, and his screen credits include Mr Darcy in the TV drama series Lost in Austen and Ptolemy in the film Alexander. Bailey's previous credits at the Globe include Timon of Athens and Titus Andronicus and she now returns to collaborate with the mischievous Venezuelan choreographer Javier De Frutos. De Frutos received the Olivier Award for ‘Best Theatre Choreographer' for Cabaret, and last year he premiered a sensational new work at Sadler's Wells for the Diaghilev centenary. Lady Macbeth will be played by Laura Rogers, who received critical acclaim for her performance as Celia in the Globe's 2009 production of As You Like It. Orlando Gough is composing with design by Katrina Lindsay.

Christopher Luscombe's charming and exuberant production of The Merry Wives of Windsor returns in 2010, following its triumphant 2008 Globe premiere. The Merry Wives of Windsor celebrates the foundations of the modern TV sitcom and features many characters from Henry IV Parts 1 and 2. This highly entertaining production will again feature vibrant designs from Janet Bird and Nigel Hess' delightful score.

New writing remains at the core of Dromgoole's vision for Shakespeare's Globe and the 2010 season hosts two world premieres. Award-winning playwright Howard Brenton presents his new play Anne Boleyn which dramatises the life and legacy of Henry VIII's notorious second wife as both a sexually ambitious woman and a religious reformer. Anne Boleyn will re-unite Brenton with director John Dove following their successful partnership on In Extremis at the Globe.

Bedlam by Nell Leyshon marks the Globe's first ever staging of a known female playwright in its entire history, which will be directed by Jessica Swale, who recently scored a big hit with The Rivals at Southwark Playhouse. Leyshon's new play is a fictional portrayal of a London hospital for the insane, and explores the link between art and madness. Nell Leyshon won the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award for Comfort Me With Apples.

For more information or to order tickets, visit online at shakespeares-globe.org.