Elizabeth Debicki to play Richard II in the RSC’s new season for summer 2027

Elizabeth Debicki will mark her debut with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the title role of “Richard II”, in the company’s new season for summer 2027, details of which were announced on 1 October. As BroadwayWorld reports, the actress of “The Crown” — winner of Emmy and Golden Globe awards — will play the monarch in a new production directed by Daniel Raggett, which will run at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford from 10 April to 22 May 2027.

The season will open with “Coriolanus”, with Damien Molony — known from “Bergerac” and “Two Weeks in August” — in the title role, directed by Elizabeth Freestone, who returns to the company after her acclaimed version of “The Tempest” in 2023. According to the PA agency, the production, which will run from 6 February to 20 March, views Shakespeare’s political tragedy through the lens of contemporary populism, social instability and the battle for control of critical resources in a troubled world.

The programme includes four Shakespeare plays: besides “Coriolanus” and “Richard II”, Joanna Bowman returns after the success of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” to direct “Romeo and Juliet” from 6 July to 28 August, while Francesca Goodridge directs “The Comedy of Errors”, which will also tour schools and partner theatres across England. Also part of the season are two world stage premieres: Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs Dalloway”, adapted by Zoe Cooper, and Susanna Clarke’s “Piranesi”, adapted by Sami Ibrahim.

The season is completed by “Born With Teeth”, a two-hander that reimagines the relationship between the young William Shakespeare and his rival Christopher Marlowe, arriving fresh from the West End. The play replaces the previously planned “Othello”, which was postponed after its lead Sharon D Clarke was diagnosed with cancer and is receiving treatment. Director Daniel Raggett said his third return to the RSC is “beyond dreams” and that the company “is once again cementing itself as the place where the world’s greatest actors come to play Shakespeare”.