First Performance 14/06/2018
Closing 08/09/2018
Running Time 3h40, inc. 2 intervals

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s two-part thriller Imperium comes to conquer the West End, through Conspirator and a second play, DictatorPlease note that this page is for tickets to Imperium. For tickets to Dictator, please click here.

Adapting Robert Harris’ best-selling Cicero trilogy for the stage, playwright Mike Poulton presents the historical epic as six one-act plays presented in two performances, each with two intervals, chronicling life in a capital city with monumental empirical ambitions – and impact.

Cicero devoted all his energy and cunning to preserve the rule of law, and defend Rome’s Republic against the predatory attacks of political rivals, discontented aristocrats, and would-be military dictators.

In Imperium: Conspirator, events are recanted through the watchful eyes of Cicero’s loyal secretary, centring on the influential orator’s early successes – and how they unwittingly paved the way for a brutal and bloody end to the Roman Republic.

Chaos pervades in Rome at the start of Imperium: Dictator. It falls upon Cicero to muster all of his brilliance and political prowess to fend off the civic mob, restore the power of the Senate, and fend off their would-be Emperor: a certain Julius Caesar.

Epic, exhilarating and timely, Imperium transfers to London following its recent sold-out run at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon. The production reunites the RSC with Playful Productions, following their last collaboration on Poulton’s stage adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies. Both enjoyed huge success at the Aldwych Theatre, and went on to transfer across the Atlantic to Broadway in 2015.

Featuring Olivier and Tony Award-winner Richard McCabe (The Audience) as Cicero and Joseph Kloska (The Crown, RSC’s Written On The Heart) as Tiro, audiences can choose to enjoy the plays, from RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran and adaptor Poulton, as one riveting theatrical event or two unmissable historical thrillers.

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