THEATRE TALK: The Globe Giveth And Giveth

I'm not sure I could be more excited about the Globe's 2010 season if I tried. Titled 'Kings and Rogues', punters are going to get an enormous variety of productions this year, from well-known plays like Macbeth and Midsummer Night's Dream to new shows like Bedlam, the first from a female playwright (Nell Layshon) on the Globe stage. In addition, there's Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, as well as Henry VIII, although it is to be hoped that the theatre does not burn down during this year's performance, as it did back in 1613 after a botched special effect saw the thatched roof ignite and disaster strike. It may still only be February, and the casting may have not been fully announced yet - reportedly not until seven weeks before the production hits the stage - but there is still much to ponder and postulate on.

Last year's incredible As You Like It, starring everyone from Jack Laskey to Naomi Frederick, seems to have inspired much of the announced casting. The lovely Laura Rogers (a scene-stealing Celia in As You Like It, as well as a wonderfully catty Sorel Bliss in the recent Chichester Hay Fever) has been announced as Lady Macbeth, while Dominic Rowan, he of the fabulously irreverent and hilarious Touchstone, will play Henry VIII. Rowan, a very versatile actor, hasn't been out of work since As You Like It closed, taking the lead role in the Arcola's Spanish Tragedy, swiftly followed by a choice, if smaller part, in Keira Knightley vehicle The Misanthrope, currently playing in the West End.

Not only are both taking to the stage again this year, but Jamie Parker (pictured, above, credit John Tramper) will be playing Prince Hal in Henry IV Parts 1 and 2. 'Asjfksjhkl' is possibly the most professional way of putting my response to this news. Parker took the role of Oliver in the 2009 As You Like It, making the ridiculously unlikely redemption of Orlando's nasty older brother utterly believable, and also performed a number of roles in the premiere of A New World, a stonkingly long, but interesting, tale of the story of Thomas Paine. He is best known for his role as Scripps in the History Boys, but first came to my attention as Hippolyto in The Revenger's Tragedy, on at the National a couple of summers ago, where he bested Rory Kinnear by far in the acting stakes, giving Vindice's sheep of a brother moments of thrilling nuance that a lesser actor wouldn't have been able to manage.

A friend of mine gave me possibly the most hilarious and interesting quote I think I have read thus far about Parker and his casting in this season. It is a view which I do not subscribe to, as I believe he will definitely pull the role off, but which I think is worth reproducing here nonetheless: "I have come to the conclusion that Prince Hal is a cold, disconnected, slightly gay son-of-a-bitch. And so they have cast Jamie Parker, who gives the impression of warmth, friendliness, heterosexuality, and all-round loveliness. I know he's fecking talented, but I can't quite reconcile the idea of him with Hal. Well, we shall see! I'm sure he'll prove me wrong, because he really is VERY good, but that doesn't stop me crying "Parker? REALLY?" every hour or so in the meantime."

But. I've saved the best till last casting news-wise. Elliot Cowan as Macbeth. Yes, you heard me. To quote a WOS poster: "Swoon." Cowan is perfect and really very exciting casting for the role. He's young enough to make it far more interesting than your usual 40-something interpretation and should, with the sparklingly thorough talents of Rogers to play with, should hopefully be able to create an intense and intriguing partnership between the Macbeths. He, too, first came to my notice alongside Parker in the wonderfully bloody and bawdy Revenger's, as Lussurioso, the Duke's eldest son, imbuing his louche royal with masses of raw sexual energy and haughtiness. He is a rising star of the theatre scene and has an incredible energy and presence that the Globe have been wise to snap up. He followed this up with a TV role as Mr Darcy in Lost In Austen, a recent bit of Miss Marple and of course his much-discussed, beefed-up, unusually-accented (enough hyphens?) portrayal of Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Donmar, opposite Ruth Wilson and Rachel Weisz. Admittedly, I'm not a massive fan of the bodybuilder look and I hope that Cowan has now returned to a more normal body shape, but it did gain him a new fan in the shape of my best friend, who has a thing for American footballers...

So, get as many £5 notes together as possible and book your hearts away, because it does seem that it's going to be a Global summer.

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