Miranda Raison, Tom Bateman and Jessie Buckley will star in The Winter’s Tale and Harlequinade, the first productions to open as part of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s inaugural season at London’s Garrick Theatre this autumn.
Shakespeare’s classic tragicomedy, which also stars Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh, will play in rep with Terence Rattigan’s rare comic gem at the West End venue from 17 October to 16 January.
Last seen on the London stage in Hello/Goodbye at the Hampstead Theatre, Spooks star Raison will play Hermione and Edna Selby in The Winter’s Tale and Harlequinade respectively, while Buckley, whose recent Shakespearean credits include the Jude Law-led Henry V and The Tempest at Shakespeare’s Globe, takes on Perdita and Muriel Palmer.
Bateman, if his last West End role is anything to go by, is arguably the best acquainted with Shakespeare having portrayed the Bard in the West End premiere of Shakespeare In Love. The Jekyll & Hyde actor will play Florizel and Jack Wakefield.
The trio of newly announced performers are joined in the company by Hadley Fraser (Coriolanus, Donmar Warehouse), Michael Pennington (RSC’s Richard II), Zoe Rainey (She Stoops To Conquer, NT), John Shrapnel (Julius Caesar, Barbican), Jimmy Yuill (Macbeth, Manchester International Festival), and RADA graduates Jack Colgrave Hirst and Kathryn Wilder.
Talking about the casting, Branagh, who not only stars in The Winter’s Tale but also directs both productions alongside Rob Ashford, said: “This is a formidable group of actors. They combine fantastic experience in Shakespeare and comedy, with a youthful energy and brilliance that I’m excited to welcome to our season.”
The Bard’s classic tale of obsession and redemption, and Rattigan’s humorous tale of a classical theatre company attempting to produce The Winter’s Tale and Romeo And Juliet, will kick off the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s season following the current run of Let It Be.
The productions will be followed in the five-show season by an equally exciting line-up of star-studded plays including Romeo And Juliet, which features a cast including Lily James, Richard Madden and Derek Jacobi, the Rob Brydon and Branagh-led The Painkiller and The Entertainer, also starring Branagh.
Tickets for the highly anticipated season can be purchased through us here.