OTHELLO With Sharon D Clarke and More Join The RSC's 2026-27 Season
Rufus Norris will direct BROCK'S MILL world premiere, and Martin Lowe joins as Music Associate at Stratford-upon-Avon.
Further details have been announced for the RSC's 2026-27 season line-up, which sees three-time Olivier Award-winning actress Sharon D Clarke take up the titular role in a radical reimagining of Shakespeare's Othello directed by Monique Touko, and Rufus Norris direct for the company for the first time with the world premiere of Brock's Mill by RSC Writer-in-Residence Stewart Pringle. The company also mounts its first commission for early years audiences with the world stage premiere of The Bear and the Piano: an enchanting new co-production with Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, developed for ages 3+ and based on the best-selling children's book by David Litchfield.
Audiences across England, from Nottingham to Newcastle, will be able to experience Blanche McIntyre's sell-out production of The Merry Wives of Windsor in their local theatre in Spring 2028, as part of a major four-year touring programme opening at Blackpool's Grand Theatre with further casting and on-sale details to be announced.
RSC Co-Artistic Directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey said, “We want to ensure that as many people as possible feel welcome at the RSC through the stories we choose to tell and the artists who tell them, whether delivering high-quality arts experiences to first-time theatre theatregoers in Stratford, re-examining 400-year-old texts through an urgent new lens, touring world-class Shakespeare productions to communities across England, or welcoming our 13 millionth audience member to Matilda The Musical worldwide in the show's 15th birthday year.
“This announcement brings together three very different plays, each of which explore the theme of transformation and how the stories we choose to tell ourselves can help shape the way we see the world and help us navigate our place within it.
“Meanwhile, our mission to find new ways to grow RSC audiences continues, with the news that the multi-award-winning Hamlet Hail to the Thief will make its London premiere later this year in a direct transfer from Stratford-upon-Avon. This thrilling marriage of Shakespeare's words and Thom Yorke's haunting soundtrack, performed live by a cast of musicians and actors, is our seventh production to be presented in London this year and speaks to our ambition to create world-class theatre that is part of the local, national and global conversation, and to collaborate with the very best International Artists.”
Priority booking for Members and Supporters for all new productions opens from 10am on Friday 3 July with public booking opening from 10am on Thursday 16 July.
The Bear and the Piano
Based on the beloved book by David Litchfield, The Bear and the Piano is a heart-warming story in which a bear’s chance encounter with a piano deep in the forest takes him on an incredible journey to the big city to share his musical gifts with the world. Adapted by Toby Olié and Tom Brady and suitable for ages three and over, this brand-new co-production with Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is brought to life through a captivating wordless fusion of puppetry and music and is the first production for early-years audiences to be commissioned under Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey’s tenure. The production will make its world premiere in The Other Place from 11 December 2026 – 10 January 2027.
Othello
Marking her RSC debut in 2027, three-time Olivier Award-winning actor Sharon D Clarke takes up the titular role of Othello in Shakespeare’s tragedy of shattered passion, revenge and psychological warfare, playing from 13 February – 3 April 2027 in the Swan Theatre. Set in a climate threatened future in which a black lesbian holds a seat of power, this movement and music-infused Othello by Monique Touko (Marie and Rosetta, Jaja's African Hair Braiding) re-imagines Shakespeare’s 400-year-old story through the lens of misogynoir, as an unsanctioned marriage perilously crosses boundaries of race, sex and status, allowing jealousy, suspicion and malign intent to close in.
Brock’s Mill
Looking ahead to spring, multi award-winning director Rufus Norris joins the RSC for the first time in his esteemed career, to direct the world premiere of Brock’s Mill by RSC Writer-in-Residence Stewart Pringle, opening in The Other Place from 26 March - 8 May 2027. This acutely observed family drama follows the story of Bernard, who - forty years on from the heyday of his professional career as a stop-motion animator for Bluebell Studios - finds himself confronted with the reality of a past far removed from what he imagined. A homage to the craft of stop-motion film making and an exploration of the corrosive power of nostalgia, with animation by award-winning stop-motion animator Astrid Goldsmith, Brock’s Mill investigates the ownership of memory and the importance of being present in one's own life.
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Looking ahead to 2028, Blanche McIntyre’s production of William Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor will visit the RSC’s Associate Regional Theatres across England in the spring, following its premiere in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon as part of Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey’s inaugural season. The tour forms part of an embedded programme of audience development, learning and engagement that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
This latest announcement is part of a major four-year, national touring programme developed in collaboration with 280 Associate Schools and 16 Associate Regional Theatres (ARTs) across England and made possible through funding from Arts Council England, using money from the National Lottery.
Opening at Blackpool Grand Theatre, the production will go on to visit venues including Newcastle Theatre Royal, Bradford Theatres, Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall Nottingham, York Theatre Royal, Hall for Cornwall and Marlowe Theatre Canterbury, giving audiences across the country the opportunity to experience high-quality Shakespeare in their local community.
New appointments at the RSC
Also announced, Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning composer, orchestrator and music supervisor Martin Lowe will take up the role of Music Associate with responsibility for music across all RSC productions.
He will be joined by Paula Stephens as Head of Voice. Paula joins the previously announced Patsy Rodenburg (who took up the honorary role of RSC Emeritus Director of Voice in October last year) and will be responsible for delivering the RSC's work in classical voice training and performance.
Other newly announced roles include the appointment of Emily Burns and Ryan Day, who join Elizabeth Freestone as Associate Directors of the RSC.
Commenting on the news, Co-Artistic Directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey added, “In seeking to create the best possible conditions at the RSC for artists to make work, we're thrilled to be deepening our relationships with Directors Emily Burns and Elizabeth Freestone and Lighting Designer Ryan Day. Each of these appointments reflect our commitment to working with the very best artists to deliver innovative and resonant productions which speak directly to the world today.
As a Director and Dramaturg, Emily Burns has already delivered two phenomenal Shakespeare productions at the RSC during our tenure, approaching classical texts in a way that brings them to vivid, contemporary life. Ryan Day's experience and versatility as a lighting designer coupled with his empathy for the freelance workforce make him an ideal collaborator, whilst Elizabeth Freestone's long association with the RSC – including her thrilling productions of The Tempest and The Rape of Lucrece – means she brings a wealth of artistic experience alongside deep expertise in environmentally aware and sustainable theatre-making.”
Internationally acclaimed Composer, Orchestrator and Musical Supervisor Martin Lowe's incredible CV really does speak for itself. His experience working across plays, television, blockbuster musicals and internationally acclaimed film reflects our wider commitment to the craft of music-making at the RSC. In the appointment of Paula Stephens, we also look forward to further cementing the RSC's reputation as a world leader in voice training, giving new generations of actors the vital tools to bring classical and contemporary texts fully to life on stage.”
Emily Burns is an award-winning director and writer for stage, whose previous productions for the RSC include Love's Labour's Lost (2024) and her 'boldly contemporary' (The Telegraph) adaptation of Measure for Measure, for which Isis Hainsworth won the Ian Charleson Award as Isabella. Emily was previously an associate of The National Theatre and the Bridge Theatre, and was named in The Stage 25 “theatre makers to watch out for in 2022 and beyond”. Emily's other theatre credits include Dear Octopus and Jack Absolute Flies Again for The National Theatre, The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage (2021) as Co-Director for The Bridge and the 2021 screen adaptation of Romeo and Juliet – a National Theatre production broadcast on PBS and Sky Arts.
Ryan Day is a lighting designer for theatre, opera, dance, concerts, and fashion. Ryan won Best Lighting Design (Body of Work) at the Black British Theatre Awards 2024. His previous RSC credits include collaborations with RSC Co-Artistic Director Tamara Harvey on Henry V, The Constant Wife in Stratford-upon-Avon and Pericles which visited the Chicago Shakespeare Theater in 2024. Additional RSC credits include: All Is But Fantasy, written and directed by Whitney White, Macbeth directed by Daniel Raggett and The Red Shoes directed by Kimberley Rampersad.
Elizabeth Freestone is a theatre director, creative consultant and environmentalist. Her previous productions for the RSC include The Tempest starring Alex Kingston, The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes by former RSC Playwright in Residence Adriano Shaplin, and her award-wining production of The Rape of Lucrece which premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival before going on tour internationally. She has directed more than thirty professional productions including at the Royal Exchange, the Young Vic, Shakespeare's Globe and The Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, as well as for Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory and Pentabus Theatre Company, where she was the Artistic Director. She has previously been an Associate Director for ETT and Artist in Residence at the National Studio. She has a particular interest in climate-aware theatre-making about which she has co-authored two books: 100 Plays To Save The World and Performing Shakespeare on an Endangered Planet.
Martin Lowe's work as a composer, orchestrator and music supervisor spans internationally-acclaimed theatre productions, musicals and film. He won the Tony, Grammy, Olivier, Drama Desk, Obie and Helpmann Awards for his work on the hit musical Once, and a Golden Reel Award for Mamma Mia! The Movie, where he served as Musical Director.
His extensive theatre credits include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (West End, Broadway and International), Once (West End, Broadway and International), Mamma Mia! (West End and International), Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (West End and International), Make It Happen, War Horse, Pinocchio, Tori Amos' The Light Princess, Caroline or Change, Jerry Springer The Opera, The Wolves in the Walls, Appointment with the Wicker Man and Earthquakes in London (National Theatre and National Theatre of Scotland), After The Act, Sound of the Underground, The Twits and Jack Thorne's Hope (Royal Court) and Jedermann and Mackie Messer for the Salzburg Festival. Other West End shows include Cats, Les Miserables, The Full Monty, and Once on this Island.
Martin was the music supervisor for Abba Voyage at the Abba Arena, and musical director for the Thames TV series I Have a Dream.
Paula Stephens brings international experience as a voice, text and presence coach and consultant across theatre, actor training, corporate communication and leadership development. Her work is rooted in artistic excellence, supporting actors and speakers to find clarity, authenticity, audibility and presence. At the RSC, Paula leads and shapes voice practice in support of actors, productions and the Company's wider artistic vision, placing voice, language and connection with audiences at the heart of the work. Her RSC production credits include: Henry V, The Forsyte Saga Parts 1 and 2, The Constant Wife, The Winter's Tale, First Encounters: The Tempest and Next Generation: The Two Gentlemen of Verona. She has also provided post-press voice, text and actor support across a wide range of RSC productions, including The Merry Wives of Windsor, The School for Scandal, As You Like It, Pericles, The New Real, Othello, The Red Shoes, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Edward II, Titus Andronicus, Much Ado About Nothing and The Tempest.
