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The RSC has announced further casting for the 2026 touring production of Julius Caesar directed by Phyllida Lloyd, a revitalisation of The Donmar Warehouse production that began its journey in 2012.
The announcement will see original cast members Jackie Clune (Julius Caesar), Leah Harvey (Mark Antony), Jennifer Joseph (Trebonius), Jenny Jules (Cassius) and Carolina Valdés (Casca) return to the production alongside new cast members Kosar Ali (Calpurnia/Metellus Cimber/Pindarus), Shona Babayemi (Cinna the Conspirator), Darcy Dixon (Lucius), Shalisha James-Davis (Portia/Octavius) and Siân Stephens (Soothsayer).
They join the previously announced Harriet Walter as Brutus in this landmark 'First Encounters with Shakespeare' production, touring to RSC partner schools across England this Autumn and playing in The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon from 5 – 28 November.
Opening at Ormiston Bushfield Academy, Peterborough from 21 September, Julius Caesar will go on to visit Treviglas Academy in Cornwall, Dixons Cottingley Academy in Bradford, Bluecoat Beechdale Academy in Nottingham and St Mary's Catholic Academy in Blackpool as part of a new residency model in which up to 20 young creatives from each of the five schools on tour will be given the opportunity to explore the themes and ideas of the play within their own communities and to share their creative responses as part of a one-day Young Creatives Festival in November, at The Other Place in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The production is part of the RSC's Building Partnerships programme: a series of special events and performances taking place this Autumn to celebrate two decades of the RSC working in long-term partnerships with schools and theatres across the country.
A supporting programme of co-curated workshops, post-show discussions, 'In Conversation' events and sharing opportunities will run alongside the production in each school. In each of the schools there will be opportunities for up to four young people to shadow members of the touring production team, offering a hands-on insight into what a career in a backstage/technical role on tour feels like.
The new touring production also sees Phyllida Lloyd and KPPL Productions renew its collaboration with Criminal Justice Associate Artist Rachel Frank and women from HMP New Hall, who will work alongside the RSC to ensure that the production's setting of a women's prison is rooted in authenticity, and real-world knowledge is integrated into the schools' workshops and post-show conversations taking place in communities across England from September-November.
This latest partnership with HMP New Hall builds upon Rachel's thirteen years of sustained trauma informed & educational arts practice at HMP New Hall which utilises theatre as a tool for personal and social change for women in prison. KPPL's work with Rachel over the last eight years advocates for the value of arts access for women in prison.
The HMP New Hall drama group created for this project will work with Rachel and HMP New Hall staff over a three-month period, during which time they will be introduced to the play of Julius Caesar and develop their own creative response pieces which will be shared as part of the schools' workshops and with audiences at Stratford-upon-Avon.
Members of the Julius Caesar company will visit the drama group in person through rehearsals, ensuring a dialogue and sharing of skills into the HMP New Hall drama sessions, and taking the women's reflections on the play back into the rehearsal room in London.
The full Julius Caesar company will spend two days working with the drama group at HMP New Hall ahead of the opening of the production in Peterborough in September.
Director Phyllida Lloyd said: “This co-production between the RSC and KPPL Productions brings together three communities – a remarkable cast of actors led by Dame Harriet Walter, a group of women in HMP New Hall and young people in schools across the country.
Our mission is to use our production of Julius Caesar to inspire unheard voices to ring out and inspire change – each of us students of the other.”
Criminal Justice Associate Rachel Frank said: “Eight years on from my first collaboration with KPPL productions, this important partnership with HMP New Hall and HMP Askham Grange continues to creatively illuminate true stories from marginalised groups of women in the criminal justice system and shine a light on the systemic issues surrounding violence against women and girls in society. Julius Caesar's characters and themes afford women in prison the creative opportunity to explore issues of social justice, power, powerlessness, betrayal and violence in relation to their own lives and communities. Through this process, they learn to speak up and to develop confidence in having a voice and being listened to.
The learning between prisoner, actor, director, facilitator, prison staff member is a rich and productive experience for all involved and we are delighted to be extending the reach of this work, in conversation with young people and community leaders across England in 2026.”
First performed at the Donmar Warehouse under Artistic Director Josie Rourke and Executive Director Kate Pakenham as part of a trilogy of all-female Shakespeare plays directed by Phyllida Lloyd, the production follows a group of female prisoners who choose to perform Shakespeare's play to express their preoccupations with freedom and justice.
The original production was famously described by The Observer as “one of the most important theatrical events of the last 20 years” and remains a landmark event in theatre history.
Joining Director Phyllida Lloyd on the creative team are Set and Costume Designer; Bunny Christie, Lighting Designer; Zeynep Kepekli, Original Sound Designer Tom Gibbons, Sound Designer; Pete Malkin, Original Movement Director; Ann Yee, Movement Director; Carolina Valdés, Fight Director; Kate Waters, Casting Director; Matthew Dewsbury CDG with Original Casting by Anne McNulty and Vicky Richardson, Voice & Text by Barbara Houseman, Associate Director; Jordana Golbourn, Associate Set Designer; Reiltin Hart and Associate Costume Designer; Deborah Andrews.
This First Encounters with Shakespeare production of Julius Caesar in co-production with KPPL Productions, is aimed at young people who are often seeing Shakespeare for the first time. These 90-minute, edited versions of Shakespeare's plays tour to partner schools, theatres and community venues, adapting to play in different spaces in the heart of communities across England.
The production will conclude its run in The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon from Thursday 5 – Saturday 28 November, during which young people from across the tour will come together to share their creative responses to the production, as part of a one-day Young Creatives Festival taking place in The Other Place on Saturday 21 November 2026.
Co-curated by the RSC's Youth Advisory Board and featuring contributions from the Julius Caesar company, the event will see over 200 young people gather in Stratford for an inspirational programme of workshops, panel discussions, live performance and debates, examining themes of justice, governance, leadership and the power of words to inspire and affect change.
