Bethan Walker  makes her debut at the RSC, playing Emilia and understudying Hermione and Perdita in The Winter's Tale. She is a passionate foodie, skiier and collector of vintage postcards, who hails from the beautiful beaches of Gower.

Thomas Pickles  is from Lancashire. He's playing Simple in The Merry Wives of Windsor and a variety of characters in The Mouse and his Child. This is his first job since leaving drama school in September.

Youssef Kerkour  returns to the RSC after last year's Swan winter season. He is a 6'4'' British/Moroccan, and will be seen playing and understudying roles including Captain of the Guard in The Orphan of Zhao, Kurbsky in Boris Godunov, and the Philosopher in A Life of Galileo.

In preparation for his production of The Orphan of Zhao in the 'A World Elsewhere' season this autumn, Greg Doran and Designer Niki Turner spent a week in Shanghai and Beijing on a research trip. Greg's blog reveals some of their attempts to learn as much as they can about Ming China in their brief visit.

Nathan Hawthorne  is a 19-year-old student, aspiring to be a professional actor and currently playing Lysimachus in Pericles.

Chris Clarke  is playing Pander in Pericles. A Birmingham born lad and 'verily chuffed' that he is part of such a unique project. First ever role in a Shakespearean play so hope he won't be 'bard' after his performance...

Hannah Kelly , aged 18, from Burntwood, Staffordshire is qualified in British Sign Language and always sneezes at least three times in a row.

Sope Dirisu  has previously done student and youth theatre. He's just graduated with a degree in economics, and is hoping Pericles will help him take the big leap into professional acting.

Louise Fulwell  has been a member of The Nonentities at the Rose Theatre, Kidderminster, for eight years. She is playing Dionyza, the villain in this piece, but is nice really...

Jane Durant  is currently in rehearsal, playing the role of Bawd in the Open Stages production of Pericles to be performed in October.

The first RSC productions in the World Shakespeare Festival are three plays cast from one acting company, looking at migration, exile, and the discovery of brave new worlds. Actors Nick Day and Ankur Bahl share their experiences in rehearsal for The Tempest, Twelfth Night and The Comedy of Errors.

Nick has beached on the shores of the RSC for the fifth time. Having drifted about in a variety of theatre, TV and film roles over 40 years the winds and tides have given him good passage into our waters a little more often lately. He loves it here and has absolutely no desire to be taken off this magic isle.

After spending his youth on the international jump rope circuit, Ankur arrived in Britain six years ago as a postgraduate studying migration and diaspora. Shipwrecked in London, he began performing in theatre pieces about the people he was studying.

Tom Piper is the RSC's Olivier Award-winning Associate Designer. He is designing Iqbal Khan's production of Much Ado About Nothing for the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, and the Noel Coward Theatre, London next year.

Tom is also working alongside the team designing Shakespeare: Staging the World - The BP Exhibition at the British Museum as part of the World Shakespeare Festival.

Tom's blog will take us from his initial research, designs and ideas through to the opening of Much Ado About Nothing and the British Museum exhibition in July.

Deborah Shaw is Director of the World Shakespeare Festival, which the RSC is producing as part of the official culture programme for the London Olympics in 2012. This blog describes her journey to bring together thousands of artists from around the world to take part in a celebration of Shakespeare as the world's playwright.