The Royal Shakespeare Company bets very large on the power of the stars and the world’s scope with its 2025/26 season, titled by the heart of the heart “Outlander” Sam Heughan making its debut in RSC in “Macbeth” and the winner of Olivier Adrian Lester to face “Cyrano de Bergerac”.
Co-artistic directors of the RSC, Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey, unveiled the list on Tuesday, which covers Malawi continents in Manhattan and marks an important international expansion for the Stratford-Upon-Avon institution.
The casting of the marquee of the season includes Heughan with opposite Olivier and Tony nominé lia Williams (“The Crown”) in a production of “Macbeth” in the other place, directed by Daniel Raggett. The production takes place from October 9 to December 6.
Meanwhile, Lester is at the head “Cyrano de Bergerac” in a new adaptation of Simon Evans and Debris Stevenson to the Swan Theater from September 27 to November 15.
The RSC also makes waves in the West End with “Born With Teeth”, with the star of “Doctor Who” Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel of “Sex Education” as rival playwright Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. The production, directed by Evans, takes place at Wyndham’s Theater from August 13 to November 1.
International expansion continues with the first American “Kyoto” at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater of Lincoln Center, with Tony’s candidate, Stephen Kunken, resuming his role as petroleum lobbyist Don Pearlman. The production, which obtained an appointment of Olivier for the best new game, transfers directly from its closed shopping race @soHoplace.
The spring of 2026 will see the adaptation of Lolita Chakrabarti of the “Hamnet” tour three major American cities, notably the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington and the American Conservatory Theater of San Francisco.
Back in Stratford, Harvey finds Alfred Enoch for “Henry V” at the Royal Shakespeare Theater, after their collaboration acclaimed in 2024 on “Pericles”. The production takes place from March 14 to April 25, 2026.
The season includes “The Winter’s Tale” (July 12 to August 30) at the Royal Shakespeare Theater, followed by “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” in the other place (August 4-31). August also sees the “Fat Ham” winner of the Pulitzer Prize in James Ijames at the Swan Theater (August 15 – September 13), while Emily Burns returns to directly “measure for measure” in the Royal Shakespeare Theater (September 13 to October 25).
The other strengths include the revival of Josh Roche of his “Forsyte Saga” in two parts with the original members of the Fiona Hampton distribution, Joseph Millson and Flora Spencer-Longhurst Returning, and the first on the scene of the scene of the Lytte Lytte Lytte Lytte Lytte scene.
Tony Whitney White’s nominee brings his experimental “All is but fantasy” to the other place, reinventing four characters from Shakespeare in two “Gig-theatre” performances with soundtracks in rock, pop and gospel live.
The season also presents the Development Program of Talents of next generation of the RSC with a new collaborative version of “Timon of Athens” by Shakespeare and Middleton in the other place (August 20-21), and “First encourage with Shakespeare: King Lear” both at Swan Theater (October 23-31) and on tour 24 cities. The family holidays offering “The BFG” take place in the Royal Shakespeare Theater from November 25 to January 31.
“Since he embarked on this trip together, our principal principle as co-artistic directors of the RSC has been to seek daring and exciting works that deepen our understanding of ourselves, each other and the world around us,” said Harvey and Evans in a joint declaration.
“At a time when governments around the world are trying to close borders, our commitment to establishing new international partnerships is stronger than ever,” noted the directors.
The company’s educational initiatives continue with the “first meetings with Shakespeare: King Lear” on tour 24 cities and cities across England, reaching more than half a million young people per year thanks to its creative learning programs.
