Shakespeare's Globe Announces Full Casting For RICHARD II

Shakespeare's Globe has announced the full ensemble for Richard II, opening 22 February 2019. Who are we as a nation post-Empire and pre-Brexit, and how do we speak truth to power? Who made this country and how do we move forward together? As we wrestle with questions of identity and ownership, we turn to our greatest playwright to reflect on 'This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England' as staged by the first-ever company of women of colour in a Shakespeare play on a major UK stage. Co-directed by Adjoa Andoh and Lynette Linton, Adjoa will also play the titular role.

This will be the second time Lynette and Adjoa have teamed up, following their Offie-nominated Assata Taught Me at The Gate Theatre (2017), for which Adjoa was nominated for Best Actress.

Actor and Director Adjoa Andoh is currently starring as Ulysses in the RSC's Troilus and Cressida, opening today. She most recently appeared in Leave Taking at the Bush Theatre and Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre. Her other theatre credits include Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Donmar Warehouse), Julius Caesar, The Dispute, Tamburlaine, The Odyssey (RSC), Or You Could Kiss Me, His Dark Materials, Stuff Happens, The Revenger's Tragedy (National Theatre), A Wolf In Snakeskin Shoes, Starstruck (The Tricycle), Sugar Mummies, Breathboom (Royal Court), and Joe Turner's Come and Gone, In the Red And Brown Water (Young Vic). Her screen credits include Brenda Mazibuko in Clint Eastwood's Invictus, Noel Clarke's Adulthood and Brotherhood, Cucumber (Channel 4), Death in Paradise, Francine (Martha Jones' mother) in Doctor Who, Sister Colette Griffiths in Casualty, New Tricks, River (BBC) and Line of Duty (BBC Two). For 12 years Adjoa was co-Artistic Director of Wild Iris Theatre Company. She is the award-winning narrator of the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency audiobooks.

Director and writer, Lynette Linton, is soon to direct the UK premiere Sweat at The Donmar Warehouse, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play from Lynn Nottage. Lynette was Associate Director of The Gate Theatre from 2016 to 2017 and was most recently the Resident Assistant Director at The Donmar Warehouse. In September 2017, she was nominated for Best Director at the Stage Debut Awards. She is also a co-founder of Production Company Black Apron Entertainment.

Dona Croll will play John of Gaunt and the Duchess of York. In 1991, she played the first Black Cleopatra in a production of Antony and Cleopatra (Talawa Theatre Company and Liverpool Everyman). Her recent theatre credits include Pride and Prejudice (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), All My Sons (Manchester Royal Exchange and Talawa Theatre), Twelfth Night (Sheffield Crucible), and Heresy of Love (RSC). Her many screen credits include Adlyn in Hallelujah Anyhow, Ruby In The Smoke, Doctors, EastEnders, Doctor Who, Gimme Gimme Gimme, and Birds of a Feather (BBC), and Family Affairs (Channel 5).

Shobna Gulati will play the Duke of York. She is currently playing Ray in the West End musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie. She is best-known for playing Anita in Victoria Wood's Dinnerladies (BBC) and Sunita Alahan in Coronation Street. Her other credits include Hold the Sunset, River City, Edith, and Casualty (BBC). Shobna is also known for her appearances on Loose Women (ITV).

Ayesha Dharker will play Aumerle. Ayesha is about to appear at the Kiln Theatre in Stephen Sharkey's adaptation of Zadie Smith's White Teeth. She most recently appeared in Pericles at the National Theatre, launching their Public Acts initiative. Her other theatre credits include Disconnect, The Djinns of Eidgah (Royal Court), Arabian Nights, Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream (RSC), Anita and Me (Birmingham REP and Theatre Royal Stratford East), Dr Faustus (Bristol Old Vic), and Bombay Dreams (West End and Broadway). Her screen credits include Indian Summers (Channel 4), The Indian Doctor, Doctor Who (BBC One), Coronation Street (ITV), Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, and Outsourced.

Indra Ové will play Mowbray and Northumberland. Indra's recent theatre work includes #WeAreArrested (RSC), The Ugly One (Park Theatre), The Interrogation of Sandra Bland (Bush Theatre), and Torn (Royal Court). Indra's screen credits include Unforgotten, Dark Heart and Marcella (ITV), Finding Your Feet, Second Spring and Jurassic.

Lourdes Faberes will play Bagot and Exton. She is soon to be appearing in the Amazon/BBC series Good Omens, and in the title role of The Tide Whisperer (National Theatre of Wales). Her other credits include Absence (Young Vic), Hidden (Royal Court), La Bohème (ROH), Grantchester (ITV), and Doctors (BBC).

Leila Farzad will play the Queen, having appeared at the Globe for the 2012 Globe to Globe Festival. She most recently appeared in Julius Caesar (Bridge Theatre) and Innocent (ITV), and her other credits include Blue Remembered Hills (Chichester Festival Theatre), Twenty Twelve (BBC).

Sarah Lam will play the Duchess of Gloucester and Gardener. She most recently appeared in Lucky Man (Sky), and The Country Wife (Southwark Playhouse). Her other credits include Snow in Midsummer (RSC), Chimerica (Almeida), World of Extreme Happiness (National Theatre), Casualty, Holby City, and Sherlock (BBC).

Sarah Niles will play Bolingbroke. Sarah most recently appeared in Leave Taking at the Bush Theatre earlier this year. Her other stage work includes B (Royal Court), The Interrogation of Sandra Bland (Bush Theatre) and Boy (Almeida). Television includes Catastrophe (Channel 4/Amazon) and Moving On (BBC). Sarah will also be appearing in Sarah Gavron's new film Untitled Girls Film, shooting this year.

Nicholle Cherrie will play Percy, Green, and Ross. She most recently appeared in Leave Taking (Bush Theatre) and Jesus Christ Superstar (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre).

Rajha Shakiry will design. She currently has two shows which she has designed transferring to the West End, Nine Night (National Theatre) and Misty (Bush Theatre), with a third iteration of The Mountaintop (Young Vic) is about to open. She was a Finalist at World Stage Design (2013), and her work has been exhibited at the V&A (Make:Believe, 2015).

Dominique Le Gendre will compose. Director of Strongback Productions, Dominique has written music extensively for theatre, dance, film, television and radio drama for BBC Radio 3 and 4. She composed and produced music for all 38 Shakespeare plays recorded for audio, "The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare", directed by Clive Brill.

Yarit Dor will be Movement and Fight director. She is an Associate Artist at the Globe and was most recently fight director for this year's Hamlet and As You Like It. Her other work includes fight direction for Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Park Theatre), fights & physical comedy for One Man Two Guvnors (Trinity Theatre), fight director for Assata Taught Me (The Gate), and for Macbeth (RIFT Theatre).

British artist and photographer, Ingrid Pollard, will be photographing and documenting the production and its process. She is the first woman of colour to receive an Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Photographic Society. Her work is included in numerous collections including the UK Arts Council and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Her work uses portraiture and traditional landscape imagery to explore social constructs of Britishness and racial difference. Ingrid was a founding member of the Association of Black Photographers (now Autograph), shares the work of artists who use photography and film to highlight issues of identity, representation, human rights and social justice.