RSC Announces Full Cast for MACBETH Playing This Summer

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has announced the full cast for Wils Wilson’s upcoming production of Shakespeare’s gripping and brutal tragedy, Macbeth, which opens in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from Saturday 19 August – Saturday 14 October 2023, with Press Night on Wednesday 30 August at 7pm. 

As previously announced, Reuben Joseph and Valene Kane will play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth respectively. They are joined by a cast of Scottish actors, many of whom are making their RSC debuts.

The company includes Anna Russell-Martin as Banquo. This will be Anna’s RSC debut season, her previous theatre credits include Exodus, The Panopticon (National Theatre of Scotland); Life Is A Dream (Royal Lyceum Theatre); Nora: A Doll’s House (Young Vic, Citizens Theatre); Wolfie, Me and My Sister Tell Each Other Everything, Bunny, Colonel Mustard and the Big Bad Wolf (Tron Theatre); Cyrano De Bergerac (Citizens Theatre/Royal Lyceum Theatre/National Theatre of Scotland); A Christmas Carol (Citizens Theatre); Bloodbank (Oran Mor) and Toy Plastic Chicken (Oran Mor/Traverse Theatre). Screen credits include Karen Pirie (ITV), Annika (BBC) and Casualty (BBC).

George Anton joins the company as Macduff. Anton’s RSC credits include The Last Days of Don Juan, Edward II, Two Shakespearean Actors, Curse of the Starving Classes, Richard II, In the Company of Men. Other theatre includes: Mephistopheles (Actors Touring Company), Duchess of Malfi (Cheek by Jowl), Venice Preserved (Manchester Royal Exchange), Life is a Dream, Hamlet (Edinburgh International Festival), Paul Bright’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner (NTS), This Restless House (Citizens Theatre) and Titus Andronicus (Dundee Rep).

Shyvonne Ahmmad will make her RSC debut as Malcolm. Previous theatre credits include Muster Station: Leith (Grid Iron), Britannicus (Lyric Hammersmith), Constellations (Donmar Warehouse), Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation (National Theatre of Scotland/Royal Court), Interference (National Theatre of Scotland), Cymbeline, A View From The Bridge, Three Sisters (RCS) and Snowflake (The Pleasance Courtyard). Screen credits include This Town, Karen Pirie and Annika.

Alison Peebles joins the company as the Porter in her RSC debut season. Previous theatre credits include Life is A Dream (Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh), 24 Hours of Peace (Royal Exchange Theatre), Richard 111 (Perth Theatre), The Locker Room (Traverse Theatre), Paul Bright’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner, My Shrinking Life and 365 (National Theatre of Scotland). Screen credits include Doctors (BBC Studios), Six Four (House Productions), Step 9 (South Of The River / Sister Productions) Molly & Mack; River City (BBC Studios), Shetland (ITV), The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (NTS/Selkie Productions), The Lost King (Baby Cow Productions), Nettie (Macallan Brand Film), The Road Dance (Sheridan Road Productions), Where Do We Go From Here? (Worrying Drake Productions) and Seven Lucky Gods (Dehlavi Films). 

Therese Bradley makers her RSC debut as Duncan. Previous theatre credits include Men Should Weep (National Theatre); Tutti Frutti (National Theatre of Scotland); The Rubber Room (Old Vic);Candida (English Speaking Theatre); Legacy (Voice Theatre); Songs of Solomon (Refraction); Dreams of Anne Frank (Latteson Productions) and Unheimlich Spine (Riverside Studios/Tour). Television includes: HMS Murder (Channel 5); Outlander (Starz); River City (BBC Scotland); The Curse (Channel 4); The Ipcress File (ITV); Vigil (BBC); The Nest (BBC); A Confession (ITV); Chimerica (Playground Productions); Shetland (ITV); Midsomer Murders (ITV); Mr Selfridge (ITV); Peaky Blinders (BBC); The Bill (ITV); Rebus (Scottish Media Group); Doctors (BBC); Rosemary and Thyme (ITV); Taggart (ITV) and Glasgow Kiss (BBC). Film includes Nobody Needs to Know; Village in the Woods (Reel King Media); Anna and the Apocalypse (Blazing Griffin); Tommy’s Honour (Gutta Perch Productions); A Long Way Down (Wild Gaze Films); Filth (Film Gate Films); Railway Man (Scottish Screen); Outcast (Scottish Screen); Half Light (Universal Pictures) and Young Adam (Hanway Films/Warner Brothers) 

Full company comprises; Shyvonne Ahmmad (Malcolm), George Anton (Macduff), Therese Bradley (Duncan), Amber Sylvia Edwards (Witch), Annie Grace (Alice), Ryan Hunter (Ross), Amelia Isaac Jones (Donalbain), Reuben Joseph (Macbeth), Valene Kane (Lady Macbeth), Emma King (Lady Macduff), Liam King (Fleance), Kevin Lennon (Lennox), Eilidh Loan (Witch), Alasdair Macrae (Bloody Captain), Benjamin Osugo (Angus), Alison Peebles (Porter), Dylan Read (Witch), Anna Russell-Martin (Banquo) and Michael Wallace (First Murderer).

Macbeth is directed by Wils Wilson with Design by Georgia McGuinness, Lighting by Kai Fischer, Music by Alasdair Macrae and Sound by Claire Windsor. Movement and Choreography is by Julia Cheng, Fights by Kaitlin Howard with Casting by Simone Pereira Hind CDG and Anna Dawson.

Wils Wilson directed and co-created The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart which has been touring non-theatre spaces internationally since 2010, winning numerous awards including a Drama Desk Award for its New York run.

She is Associate Director at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, where she directed Life is A Dream whose ‘wild, slightly punk-inflected brilliance’ (The Scotsman) recently won multiple awards at the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland, including Best Director, and for which Lorn MacDonald and Anna Russell Martin also won Ian Charleston Awards. 

Her work at the Lyceum also includes Wind Resistance, created with singer-songwriter Karine Polwart and described as "a poignant, unflinching and beautiful show about healing, protection, the fragility of human life and the world around it.” (The Telegraph) for Edinburgh International Festival, Red Ellen (Edinburgh Lyceum/Northern Stage/Nottingham Playhouse), Twelfth Night (Bristol Old Vic/Lyceum), Cockpit and The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other. 

Her other work includes the Olivier-nominated I Want My Hat Back for The National Theatre and shows for the Royal Court, Manchester Royal Exchange and Welsh National Opera.

She has worked extensively for National Theatre of Scotland, including The 306 Dusk, the final part of the trilogy remembering the 306 soldiers shot for desertion in WWI. She created two genre-defying shows with musician Gruff Rhys for National Theatre Wales - Praxis Makes Perfect (Best Director, Welsh Theatre Awards) described as “some sort of god-damn creative masterclass” by Artrocker magazine and Candylion. 

Until 2007 Wils was co-Artistic Director of wilson+wilson, making site-specific work across the UK, where her work included HOUSE, Mapping the Edge, News from the Seventh Floor and Mulgrave.

Photo Credit: Anna Russell-Martin

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