Cast Set For RICHARD III at Shakespeare's Globe

Shakespeare’s Globe has announced the cast of Richard III, directed by Elle While (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2023). The cast comprises Catrin Aaron as Hastings/Tyrell, Rosalind Blessed as Executioner/Citizen/Ensemble/Cover, Hayley Carmichael as Duchess of York, Sam Crerar as Richmond/Catesby, Isabelle Chiara Dawodu as Prince Edward, Katie Erich as Lady Anne, Sarah Finigan as King Edward/Mayor, Poppy Miller as Margaret, Marianne Oldham as Elizabeth, Holly-Jade Roberts as Young Richard, Helen Schlesinger as Buckingham, Poppy Setrem as Young Richard, Kibong Tanji as Clarence/Stanley, Michelle Terry as Richard, Em Thane as Rivers/Commissioner, Felicity Tong as Prince Edward, Ayla Wheatley as Messenger/Ensemble/Cover, and Tanika Yearwood as Grey/Ratcliffe. 

Richard III is designed by E. Mallin Parry, with Globe Head of Music James Maloney as Composer, and 2023 Globe Resident Associate Director Indiana Lown-Collins as Associate Director.

Cast biographies

Catrin Aaron will play Hastings/Tyrell. Catrin trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes Hamlet and As You Like It as part of the Globe Ensemble. Other theatre includes: Romeo and Julie (National Theatre) Isla (Theatre Clwyd/Royal Court) Missing Julie (Theatre Clwyd) The Wizard of Oz (Sheffield Crucible); Henry V (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Sex and the Three Day Week (Liverpool Playhouse); Contractions – nominated Best Actress, Wales Theatre Awards (Chapter, Cardiff); The Forsythe Sisters (Gaggle Babble); The Norman Conquests (Torch Theatre); Tartuffe, The Three Musketeers, The Norman Conquests (Haymarket Basingstoke); The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, All My Sons, The Light of Heart, Aristocrats, Salt, Root & Roe, God of Carnage, A Doll’s House, Roots, Gaslight, Dancing at Lughnasa, A Small Family Business, Festen, Mary Stuart, Macbeth, A Toy Epic, Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, Hobson’s Choice, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Silas Marner (Theatr Clwyd, where Catrin is an Associate Artist). Film includes Apostle (Netflix). Television includes: Dope Girls (BBC) Truelove (Channel 4) Coronation Street (ITV) Isla (BBC) Carnival Row: S2 (Amazon) The Bastard Executioner (FX) The Indian Doctor (BBC) and Casualty (BBC). Radio Includes Medici (BBC Radio 4).

Rosalind Blessed will play Executioner/Citizen/Ensemble/Cover. Rosalind has worked extensively for Guildford Shakespeare Company, where her roles include: Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ariel in The Tempest, Feste in Twelfth Night, Emelia in Othello, Mistress Quickly in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Goneril in King Lear, as well as The Miller in Canterbury Tales.Other favourite roles include Agrippina in Octavia (Barbican R.S.C), Henrietta in The Hollow (Mill at Sonning), Wife of Bath in Canterbury Tales (Southwark Playhouse) Tamora in Titus Andronicus (Arcola) Molly Brown in Iceberg Right Ahead (The Gatehouse), Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, (The Gatehouse) and Sylvia Plath in Letters Home (New End Theatre) TV includes: Doctors, (BBC) Celebrity Murder Mystery (Channel 5) Someone you used to know, (Discovery) Film includes, Naked in London, Cloud Cuckoo Land, Mist the Sheep Pup and Re-Evolution. As a writer, Rosalind has written two, multiple five star, OnComm awarded plays, The Delights of Dogs, and the Problems of People - dealing with domestic abuse, and Lullabies for the Lost – exploring mental health. 

Hayley Carmichael will play Duchess of York. Hayley Carmichael is co-founder of Told By An Idiot and has appeared in many of their productions well as working with The National Theatre, Complicité and Kneehigh. Theatre includes: Shed (Royal Exchange), The Killing of Sister George (Told by an Idiot & New Vic), Super High Resolution/ First Love is the Resolution (Soho Theatre),  Home (Chichester), Why; The Prisoner; Fragments By Beckett (Les Bouffes des Nord), Under Glass (The Clod Ensemble); Beyond Caring ( Yard Theatre), Here Be Lions (The Print Room), Hamlet (Young Vic), Bliss (Royal Court).  TV includes: Silent Witness, Landscapers, Les Misérables, Witness For the Prosecution, Call The Midwife, Chewing Gum, Our Zoo, Garrow's Law & Viva Blackpool. Film includes: Undergods, Casanova, The Tale of Tales and Paddington.

Sam Crerar will play Richmond/Catesby. Sam Crerar trained at LAMDA and graduated in 2020. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Black British Theatre Award nominated). Other theatre includes Happy Meal (Australia and London Tour); Happy Meal (UK Tour); Rapture (The Pleasance Theatre); Once Before I Go (The Gate Theatre, Dublin) and Living Newspaper (Royal Court Theatre). Television credits include Fool Me Once (Netflix/Quay Street Productions).

Katie Erich will play Lady Anne. Katie is an actor from Merseyside who uses both spoken English and British Sign Language. Theatre credits include Julius Caesar (Royal Shakespeare Company), Wind in the Willows (Shakespeare North Playhouse), The Gruffalo (Tall Stories), The Solid Life of Sugar Water (Orange Tree Theatre), Oliver Twist (Leeds Playhouse/Ramps on the Moon). Screen credits include Doctors (BBC), What If? (BSL Zone). Other credits include The Book Eaters (Audiobook). Katie was a finalist for ‘Best Performer in a Play’ at The Stage Debut Award in 2020 for Oliver Twist (Leeds Playhouse) and reprised her role in 2021 as part of Oliver Twist at Home.

Sarah Finigan will play King Edward/Mayor. Sarah trained at Drama Studio London. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merry Wives Of Windsor, Twelfth Night, The Taming Of The Shrew and The Merchant Of Venice. Other theatre credits include Back To The Light (Pentabus Theatre); Cinderella (Hall For Cornwall); The Duration (Omnibus Theatre); A Christmas Carol (American Drama Group); Much Ado About Nothing (Bedouin Shakespeare); Much Ado About Nothing (Infinite Jest/Polka Theatre); Romeo & Juliet (AFTLS/USA Tour); Deny Deny Deny (Park Theatre); She Stoops To Conquer, All’s Well That Ends Well (Changeling Theatre); The BFG (Bolton Octagon), The Hunters Grimm (Watermill Theatre), Cabbage Heart  (Lyric Hammersmith), The Last Women (Belgrade Theatre), The Portable Virgin (Bridewell Theatre and Segal Theater New York), Fahrenheit 451, Death Of A Salesman, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (TNT theatre), Stepping Out (Artsdepot London). TV credits include Renegade Nell (Disney+), The Ipcress File (ITV), Outlander (Starz), Eastenders (BBC), Marvellous, Call The Midwife, Count Arthur Strong, Cuckoo, Holby City, Doctors, Upstart Crow (BBC), Edge Of Heaven, The Great Fire, The Bletchley Circle (ITV), The Borgias (Sky), New Worlds, Thinspiration (Channel 4). Film includes And Mrs, Overlord, Ashes In The Snow, Suffragette, Cesar Chavez, 28 Weeks Later and Cass.

Poppy Miller will play Margaret. Poppy trained at the Webber Douglas Academy. On stage she has worked with Ed Hall, Michael Grandage, Laurence Boswell, Rupert Goold, Hettie McDonald, Sean Holmes, David Farr, and John Tiffany. She reunited with director Rupert Goold and actor Tobias Menzies in The Hunt at the Almeida Theatre, after playing Ophelia to Menzies’ Hamlet. She created the role of Ginny Potter in the original West End cast of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, for which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2016 WhatsOnStage Awards. She reprised the role on Broadway. Film credits include The Second Best Marigold Hotel, and Sex and Drugs and Rock & Roll. Her television credits include Line of Duty, A Song for Jenny, Endeavour, as well as series regulars in Mapp & Lucia, Goldplated and The Commander. Her recent credits are the fourth series of The Syndicate for the BBC and the second series of The Innocent for ITV, and she has a lead role in The Gathering, an upcoming serial by World Productions for Channel 4.

Holly-Jade Roberts will play Young Richard. Training: LJ Wrey performing Arts. Holly-Jade made her West End debut at the age of 9 in the west end cast of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Palladium. She then continued her role on the UK & international tour of Joseph. Holly-Jade recently took her final bow in the originally west end cast of The Time Travellers Wife playing the role of young Clare and Alba. Holly-Jade is delighted to be making her Shakespeare debut at such an incredible venue. She would like to thank her family and agent for their continued support!

Marianne Oldham will play Elizabeth. Marianne trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream and King Lear. Othe theatre credits include hang (Crucible Theatre), A Monster Calls (Bristol Old Vic), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (The Old Vic), The Argument (Hampstead Theatre), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Chichester Festival Theatre), Sons without Fathers, Uncle Vanya (Arcola Theatre / The Belgrade Theatre), You Can Still Make A Killing (Southwark Playhouse), The Real Thing, The Changeling (ETT), Hamlet (The Factory), Design for Living (Salisbury Playhouse), Persuasion (Salisbury Playhouse), The Years Between (The Royal & Derngate), The Girl in the Yellow Dress (Market Theatre Johannesburg/Live Theatre Newcastle), An Inspector Calls (Novello Theatre / Wyndhams Theatre), Mad Forest (BAC), Mimi and the Stalker (Theatre 503), Troilus and Cressida (Cheek by Jowl), Hamlet (The Factory), Sweethearts (The Finborough Theatre), Relatively Speaking (English Playhouse Theatre), How many miles to Basra (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Cherry Orchard (Southwark Playhouse), Present Laughter (Theatre Royal Bath), Intermission (True/False), Finally the Girl (Old Red Lion), The Venetian Twins, The Gentleman from Olmedo (The Watermill Theatre), and We Happy Few (Malvern Theatre). Television credits include The Midwich Cuckoos (Sky), Endeavour, Foyle’s War, Grantchester (ITV), A Very English Scandal, The Living and the Dead, The Musketeers, The Crimson Field, Doctors, The Impressionists, WPC56 (BBC), Life in Squares (Ecosse Films for BBC), and Obsession (October Films). Film credits include Finding Your Feet (StudioCanal), Absolutely Anything (Bill and Ben Productions), Silent Girl (Ascension Productions), Titus (Dakus Films), and 500 Miles North.

Michelle Terry will play Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Currently Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe, she trained at RADA. Previous work for the Globe includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2023), King Lear (2022), The Fir Tree (2021), Twelfth Night (2021), The Taming of the Shrew (2020), Henry IV Part 1 (2019), Macbeth, Hamlet and As You Like It (2018), The Complete Walks (2016), As You Like It (2015), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2013), and Love’s Labour’s Lost (2007). Other theatre includes Love’s Labour’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, The Winter’s Tale, Pericles and The Crucible (RSC); Henry V (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Privacy and The Man Who Had All the Luck (Donmar Warehouse); Cleansed, 50 Years of The National Theatre, The Comedy of Errors, London Assurance, All’s Well That Ends Well and England People Very Nice (National Theatre); Before the Party (Almeida); In the Republic of Happiness and Tribes (Royal Court); Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (Arcola); War on Terror, Two Cigarettes and 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (Bush); The Promise (New Wimbledon Theatre); Beautiful Thing (Sound Theatre); Burial at Thebes (Nottingham Playhouse); As You Like It (New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-Under-Lyme); and Blithe Spirit (The Peter Hall Company UK tour / West End). TV includes Marcella, The Café (as writer and performer) and Extras.

Helen Schlesinger will play Buckingham. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes Henry V, Hamlet and As You Like It. Othe theatre includes Straight Line Crazy (The Bridge Theatre); Albion (Almeida Theatre); Boys Will Be Boys (Bush); Frozen (Park); Single Spies (Rose Theatre Kingston); Coriolanus (Donmar Warehouse); Bracken Moor (Tricycle); Fireface (Young Vic); Blue/Orange (Arcola); The Gods Weep and Comfort Me With Apples (Hampstead); The Stone, Wild East, The Weather and Bear Hug (Royal Court); Whipping It Up (Bush/Ambassadors); The Crucible (RSC Stratford/Gielgud Theatre); A Moon for the Misbegotten, Uncle Vanya and King Lear (Royal Exchange Manchester); The Oresteia, War and Peace, An Inspector Calls and Inadmissible Evidence (National Theatre); Messiah- Scenes from a Crucifixion (Old Vic Theatre);The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night (RSC) and The Mill on the Floss (Shared Experience). Film includes Dirty War, Persuasion and 24 Hour Party People. Television includes Midsomer Murders, Lewis, EastEnders, Merlin, The Hour, Nativity, Criminal Justice, Trial and Retribution, Sensitive Skin, The Playground, The Way We Live Now, Bad Girls and The Cormorant.

Kibong Tanji will play Clarence/Stanley. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes Titus Andronicus (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse). Other theatre credits include Recognition (Talawa); The Famous Five (Chichester and Theatre Clwyd); The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs (Soho Theatre); All My Sons (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch); The Sun, the Moon and the Stars (Stratford East); Tina the Musical (Aldwych Theatre); Understudy of Arinzé Kene in Misty (Trafalgar Studios). Kibong plays Lafeyette in Neil Marshall’s The Lair.

Em Thane will play Rivers/Commissioner. Em can currently be heard starring as Danni in Rose Tyler: The Dimension Cannon audio drama for BBC Doctor Who Big Finish Productions. On stage Em starred as Frankie in Charlie Josephine’s One Of Them Ones (UK tour) and Jesse in Same, Same, But Different at Brixton House, which they also co-wrote. Further credits include: 3 Body Problem (Netflix), Misnomer (Aella Jordan-Edge), Remember That? (Aella Jordan-Edge), The Girlfriend Experience (Transactional Pictures/Amazon) and Beige (The VAULT Festival). 

Tanika Yearwood as Grey/Ratcliffe. Tanika Yearwood trained at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She is a Globe Associate Artist and an Associate Artist at Complicité. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes Hamlet and As You Like It. Other theatre work includes The Wolf The Duck and The Mouse (The Unicorn), As She Likes It (UK Tour), Emilia (The Vaudeville Theatre); Anansi and The Grand Prize (Bristol Old Vic); Love Reign (The Young Vic); Cinderella (The Lyric Theatre Hammersmith); Anansi The Spider (The Unicorn Theatre); Tomorrow I’ll Be Twenty (Complicité).

 

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