RSC & told by an idiot present an uproarious new take on Alexandre Dumas’ the three musketeers adapted and directed by Paul Hunter
Jeremy Herrin (wolf hall trilogy) directs a two-part adaptation of George Eliot’s masterpiece Middlemarch, with script by Nina Raine, co-produced with second half productions.
RSC Co-Artistic Directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey today announce further details of their 2026 Season which sees Tony award-winning Broadway star Jonathan Groff make his RSC début and Harriet Walter return to the company in a landmark RSC touring production, celebrating 20 years of transformative partnership work in schools.
Joining the previously announced world premiere of Game of Thrones: The Mad King, the first-ever stage play arising from George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy series, is a joyful, all-male staging of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, a landmark revival of Julius Caesar directed by Phyllida Lloyd, set in a women’s prison and touring to schools and communities across England throughout the autumn, a vibrant retelling of George Eliot’s Middlemarch, adapted by Nina Raine and directed by Jeremy Herrin, and a mischievous take on Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers by Paul Hunter in a riotous new co-production with Told by an Idiot.
RSC Co-Artistic Directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey said:
“We are delighted to share our new season, which brings together five productions including an epic fantasy, a 19th century literary masterpiece, a swashbuckling adventure and two plays from our in-house playwright. Each of these productions, in their own way, celebrate how time-honoured stories, when viewed through fresh eyes, can defy expectations, and help us to see the world around us anew.
From the sweet-natured romance of As You Like It to the righteous anger of Phyllida Lloyd’s Julius Caesar, the anarchic adventures of The Three Musketeers to the sweeping societal shifts of George Eliot’s Middlemarch, themes of identity, transformation, freedom, justice and the liberation that comes from breaking free of expectations loom large this autumn, as classic stories and universal struggles take on powerful new resonance in the hands of some of the most exciting artists of today.
As ever, our commitment to the dual mission of making theatre and education through theatre remains at the heart of who we are as a company. In 2026, we celebrate the milestone of 20 years working in long-term partnership with schools across the UK. Since 2006, we have seen our network of Associate Schools expand to reach over 280 schools in 100 towns and cities across England, transforming the lives of thousands of young people in the process.
We know, from our own evidence-based research, what a very real difference our pioneering theatre-based teaching approaches to Shakespeare make to the way children see themselves, and the way that the adults in their lives see them, which is why we are thrilled to be working with KPPL productions to bring the seminal production of Julius Caesar to the heart of communities across England. This landmark tour represents a new milestone in the RSC’s long-term partnership work with schools and is one of a series of celebratory events taking place throughout 2026 to showcase the life-changing impact this work has, empowering young people to see themselves and the world with fresh eyes.”
In the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Tony Award-winning Broadway star Jonathan Groff plays Rosalind in a joyful new production of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, directed by RSC Co-Artistic Director Daniel Evans. The production marks Groff’s RSC début performance, having previously originated the roles of Melchior Gabor in Spring Awakening the musical and Kristoff in Disney’s Frozen franchise. His performance as King George III in the international smash-hit musical Hamilton was a fan-favourite, and he won his first Tony Award for playing Franklin Shepherd in the revered revival of Merrily We Roll Along. Jonathan can currently be seen playing Bobby Darin in the hit Broadway musical Just in Time at the Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
He is joined by Fisayo Akinade in the role of Celia. On screen, Fisayo is best known for his roles as Dean Monroe in Russell T. Davies’ hit Channel 4 series’ Cucumber and Banana and Mr. Ajayi in the 2022 Netflix series Heartstopper. Fisayo’s theatre credits include playing Gary in the UK premiere of Jeremy O. Harris’s groundbreaking Slave Play at the Noel Coward Theatre and Reverend Hale in The Crucible, directed by Lyndsey Turner at the National Theatre, alongside roles in Alistair McDowall’s 2022 play The Glow for The Royal Court and Anne Washburn’s Shipwreck at the Almeida Theatre.
As You Like It plays from Saturday 26 September - Saturday 7 November with press night on Tuesday 6 October.
In The Other Place, Olivier Award-winning actress Harriet Walter returns to the RSC to play Brutus in a revival of Phyllida Lloyd’s landmark, all-female, Julius Caesar.
First performed at the Donmar Warehouse in 2012 under Artistic Director Josie Rourke and Executive Director Kate Pakenham as part of a trilogy of all-female Shakespeare plays, the production follows a group of female prisoners who choose to perform Shakespeare's play to express their preoccupations with freedom and justice. The original production was famously described by The Observer as “one of the most important theatrical events of the last 20 years” and remains a seminal event in theatre history.
This First Encounters with Shakespeare production, produced in partnership with KPPL Productions, sees Harriet Walter and the company tour to schools across England for five weeks from Monday 21 September – Friday 23 October as part of a series of events celebrating 20 years of the RSC’s pioneering partnership work with schools and theatres, after which the production will visit The Other Place from Thursday 5 – Saturday 28 November.
An in-depth series of in-school workshops and post-show discussions will accompany the production. These live events, unique to each performance, will see cast, creatives, young people and guest speakers from local communities and the criminal justice system discuss how this 400-year-old text connects with our lives and world today.
In the Swan Theatre, George Eliot’s expansive study of provincial life, Middlemarch, comes to the stage in a sweeping two-part adaptation by Nina Raine (Consent, Tribes, Tiger Country). Directed by Jeremy Herrin (Guess How Much I Love You and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold) in co-production with Second Half Productions, this beloved story of a fictional 1832 Midlands town at the precipice of pivotal social change will be performed with Part 1 playing from Thursday 1 October and Part 2 from Saturday 10 October, and running until Saturday 16 January, with press performances on Wednesday 28 October at 1pm and 7pm.
Looking ahead to the festive season in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, audacious theatre company Told by an Idiot unleash their trademark visual comedy on Alexandre Dumas’s thrilling classic novel in The Three Musketeers, playing from Saturday 28 November – Saturday 9 January with press night on Tuesday 8 December. Adapted and directed by Told by an Idiot Co-founder and Artistic Director, Paul Hunter, this wild new stage adaptation brings together an international company of performers, captivating live music and a charmingly unreliable Spanish narrator, in a theatrical feast full of energy, joy and a raging zest for life.
Priority booking for all newly announced productions opens from Monday 2 March at 10am with public booking opening on Wednesday 18 March at 10am. For further information on how to become an RSC Member or Supporter, visit https://www.rsc.org.uk/support/become-a-member-supporter-or-renew
Priority booking for Game of Thrones: The Mad King opens from Tuesday 14 April 2026 with public booking from Friday 24 April 2026. More information will be announced later in the year.
Celebrating 20 years of transformative partnership work in schools
The RSC’s Associate Schools Programme works with 16 regional theatres and 280 schools across England to embed the active teaching of Shakespeare in the curriculum. First piloted in 2006, the programme is open to primary, secondary and special state-funded schools and further education colleges in England, with a specific focus on schools serving areas of structural disadvantage and is built around the principle of schools and theatres working in local partnership clusters to develop long-term, sustainable pathways to success.
To celebrate 20 years of pioneering collaboration this Autumn, the RSC has commissioned a series of events which – together – explore the changes, challenges and developments in the education system over the last 20 years and the impact that RSC partnerships have on helping to ensure access to an arts-rich curriculum for all.
Building Partnerships: A 20-year story
The RSC will host a major symposium on Friday 18 September inviting colleagues from across the cultural and education sectors to share learnings from 20 years of partnership work in schools. Building Partnerships: A 20-year Story brings together over 200 partner representatives from across England and the wider arts sector to reflect on the transformative role cultural partnerships play in the lives of young people. The RSC will also publish a 20-year overview containing lessons learnt and impact created within an ever-changing landscape of education and cultural policy making.
As part of the symposium and running from Wednesday 16 – Saturday 19 September, Barnsley-based arts charity LUNG, present a new play, commissioned by the RSC, which brings together the testimony of young people, teachers and headteachers from across the RSC’s Associate Schools, Associate Theatres and the wider education sector. The production will be performed by members of the RSC’s young company, Next Generation Act, and features verbatim accounts from young people, education specialists and industry experts to consider real-life experiences of the education system. The production will involve young people from Next Generation Direct and Backstage programme through paid traineeships.
Running alongside Julius Caesar’s five-week tour to schools and communities across England from 21 September – Friday 23 October is a supporting programme of co-curated workshops, post-show discussions and sharing opportunities offering young people from mainstream school and alternative provision settings the opportunity to respond creatively to the themes and ideas. This includes – for the first time – running workshops in a West Midlands Pupil Referral Unit (PRU).
The content created in schools and communities over five weeks will culminate in a Young Creatives Festival taking place in The Other Place on Saturday 21 November 2026. Co-curated by the RSC’s Youth Advisory Board and featuring contributions from the Julius Caesar company, the event will see over 200 young people gather in Stratford for an inspirational programme of workshops, panel discussions and debates, examining themes of justice, governance, leadership and the power of words to inspire and affect change.
Deputy Executive Director and Director of Creative Learning and Engagement, Jacqui O’Hanlon, said:
“We are incredibly proud of the work we have undertaken in collaboration with extraordinary teachers, young people and partner theatres over the past 20 years. They have irrevocably changed our understanding of the value of Shakespeare’s work in education. It has been inspirational to see classroom practitioners bring Shakespeare’s work to life in ways that capture the imagination of learners of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.
We now have a 20-year evidence base that describes the very real difference that an arts rich education makes to a child’s life and learning outcomes. All children should have this entitlement, but all children don’t. Where a child lives and the kind of school they go to is still the greatest predictor of whether they will get access to high quality arts experiences, with all the benefits they bring. We hope that in the next 20 years, that argument will be won and all children, irrespective of background, will have equal access to the arts; they will ultimately shape and define the future of the arts and Shakespeare's work in this country.”
