Mark Rylance will return to the West End this autumn with Stephen Fry in tow when forthcoming Shakespeare’s Globe productions Richard III and Twelfth Night transfer to the Apollo theatre.
Tim Carroll’s productions will play as part of the al fresco venue’s The Play’s The Thing season this summer before crossing the river for a 13 week run at the Apollo theatre. The plays will run in repertoire from 2 November (press day 17 November) to 3 February.
Rylance and Fry are joined in the all-male double bill by Samuel Barnett (The History Boys, Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead), Johnny Flynn (Jerusalem, The Heretic) and Peter Hamilton Dyer (Frontline). Following its 2002 premiere, original Twelfth Night cast members Liam Brennan and Colin Hurley will also appear in both productions.
Rylance, who returns to Shakespeare’s Globe this summer following his 10 year tenure as Artistic Director of the venue, was last seen in the West End in the revival of the award-winning play Jerusalem. The Olivier Award-winning actor is one of Britain’s most respected stage actors with West End credits including major productions of Boeing Boeing and La Bête. Rylance was also awarded a BAFTA for his performance in Channel 4 drama The Government Inspector.
Rarely seen on the London stage, QI presenter Fry is best known for his work on screen which includes films Sherlock Holmes II and Gosford Park, and television shows The Borrowers, Blackadder and Jeeves And Wooster.
The Shakespearian double bill will follow another high profile production at the Apollo theatre with David Suchet and Laurie Metcalf leading the cast of Long Day’s Journey Into Night from 2 April to 18 August.