Photos: Jonathan Bailey Rehearses For RICHARD II

London Theatre Company has released new photos from the Richard II rehearsal room, starring Jonathan Bailey and directed by Nicholas Hytner. This comes after last week's first look into the rehearsal room which can be found here. Check out the new photos below!

This fresh take on Shakespeare’s subtle, caustic and powerful play is currently in rehearsals with performances set to begin 10 February 2025 at the Bridge Theatre playing for 13 weeks only, until 10 May 2025.

Joining Jonathan Bailey (Wicked, Bridgerton, Company) as Richard II, is Royce Pierreson (The Witcher, Judy, Line of Duty) as Henry Bullingbrook, Christopher Osikanlu Colquhoun (Absentia, The Doctor – Duke of York’s Theatre, Comedy of Errors – RSC) as Earl of Northumberland, Olivia Popica (The Wheel of Time, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, The Tattooist of Auschwitz) as Queen Isabel, Amanda Root (Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream,  Macbeth – RSC, Persuasion) as Alice Green and the Duchess of York, Phoenix Di Sebastiani (The Great, Top Boy, Anne Boleyn) as Thomas Mowbray and Groom, and Clive Wood (London’s Burning, The Tempest – Theatre Royal Haymarket, Antony and Cleopatra – Shakespeare’s Globe) as John of Gaunt. Returning to the Bridge Theatre is Michael Simkins (Guys & Dolls – Bridge Theatre, The Crown, Silent Witness) as the Duke of York.

The cast is completed by Adam Best (Peaky Blinders, The Crown, Twelfth Night – National Theatre) as Sir John Bagot, Seamus Dillane (Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, The Invention of Love – Hampstead Theatre) as Lord Surrey, Vinnie Heaven (Cowbois –  RSC, A Midsummer Night’s Dream –  Shakespeare’s Globe, Cuckoo – Soho Theatre) as Aumerle, Jordan Kouamé (Wolf Hall 2, The Mirror and the Light –  RSC) as Sir John Bushy and Harry Percy, Gerard Monaco (A Small Family Business, Children of the Sun, The Kitchen – National Theatre, A View from the Bridge – Duke of York’s Theatre) as Sir Stephen Scroop and Keeper, George Taylor (The Lady In The Van, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) as Lord Fitzwater, and Badria Timimi (Our Girl, My Brilliant Friend – National Theatre) as Abbess of Carlisle. Understudies are Emma Bown (Romeo and Juliet – Original Shakespeare Co, Sex Education), Martin Carroll (Twelfth Night, Richard III – The Apollo, The Royal Hunt of the Sun – National Theatre) and Stephan Boyce (Aladdin – Lyric Hammersmith, The Coloured Valentino – Arcola Theatre).

Richard II is charismatic, eloquent, and flamboyantly witty. And a disastrous King – dishonest, dangerous, and politically incompetent. Echoing down the centuries is the perennial problem: how to deal with a ruler who has a rock-solid right to rule but is set on wrecking the country he leads. Shakespeare’s subtle, caustic, and powerful play revolves round two startlingly modern figures: Richard, an autocrat who believes he is divinely sanctioned, and Henry Bullingbrook, a hard-headed pragmatist who has genuine authority.

Photo Credit: Manuel Harlan