FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR RSC’S LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST
WHATSONSTAGE AWARD-WINNER LUKE THOMPSON (BRIDGERTON) MAKES RSC DEBUT AS BEROWNE IN EMILY BURNS’ CONTEMPORARY STAGING
FIRST PRODUCTION PROGRAMMED BY NEW RSC CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTORS, DANIEL EVANS AND TAMARA HARVEY
Love’s Labour’s Lost
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Emily Burns
Thursday 11 April – Saturday 18 May 2024
Press Night: Thursday 18 April, 7pm
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
Box Office: rsc.org.uk 01789 331111
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Full casting is announced for director Emily Burns’ playful and contemporary take on Shakespeare’s vibrant comedy, Love’s Labour’s Lost, which runs in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon between 11 April – 18 May. The production is the first programmed by the RSC’s new Co-Artistic Directors, Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey, as part of their inaugural season.
As previously announced the production features WhatsOnStage award-winner Luke Thompson (Bridgerton) as Berowne, alongside Melanie-Joyce Bermudez as the Princess, Ioanna Kimbook as Rosaline, and Rilwan Abiola Owokoniran as Ferdinand. All four are making their RSC debuts.
Best known for his role as series regular Benedict Bridgerton in the popular Netflix drama, Luke Thompson has just won the WhatsOnStage award for Best Supporting Performer in a Play for A Little Life (Harold Pinter Theatre/Savoy Theatre). Other theatre credits include King Lear (Duke of York’s Theatre), Hamlet (Almeida Theatre/Harold Pinter Theatre), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar and The Broken Heart (Shakespeare’s Globe/Sam Wanamaker Playhouse). Television credits include Transatlantic, Kiss Me First, In the Club and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, and the films Misbehaviour, Making Noise Quietly and Dunkirk.
Melanie-Joyce Bermudez (the Princess) recently played Regan alongside Kenneth Branagh in his production of King Lear (Wyndham’s Theatre). Ioanna Kimbook’s (Rosaline) theatre credits include: Women, Beware the Devil, Daddy, The Duchess of Malfi (Almeida Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (National Theatre), and Bitter Wheat (Garrick Theatre). Television credits include: The Couple Next Door, Wedding Season, Suspicion and Inside No. 9. Rilwan Abiola Owokoniran (Ferdinand) won the 2023 Ian Charleson Award for his professional debut in The Importance of Being Earnest. He recently starred in Beautiful Thing at Stratford East, and is currently filming The Sandman.
Love’s Labour’s Lost is directed by Emily Burns in her RSC debut. Associate Director of the National Theatre and of The Bridge, her other work includes the acclaimed Jack Absolute Flies Again, and Dear Octopus, both National Theatre, the latter of which is running there until 27 March.
Emily Burns, director, said:
“I’m delighted to be working with this outstanding company on Love’s Labour’s Lost, the first production of Daniel and Tamara’s inaugural season at the RSC. This production contextualises the lords - with their strict regime of self-improvement, restrictive dieting and perverse ideas about the intellectual benefits of chastity - as modern tech billionaires, whose lease of land (in our production a contemporary, fictional island) from the Princess’ father is the real catalyst for the play. As the men play at being adults, the women take agency over the men’s childish games to serve their own ends. Love’s Labour’s Lost is a romantic comedy, but it’s also a meditation on fiction and reality, on the intertwining of language and power, and on the moment one “grows up”. It’s an enormous privilege to have such a talented, rigorous and joyful company to explore that with.”
The full cast comprises: Jack Bardoe (Don Armado); Brandon Bassir (Dumaine); Melanie-Joyce Bermudez (the Princess); Jeffrey Chekai (Marcade); Iskandar Eaton (Moth); Nathan Foad (Costard); Sarita Gabony (Maria); Tony Gardner (Holofernes); Shailan Gohil (Ensemble); Amy Griffiths (Katherine); Ioanna Kimbook (Rosaline); Kok-Hwa Lie (Dull); Jordan Metcalfe (Boyet); Tika Mu’tamir (Ensemble); Rilwan Abiola Owokoniran (Ferdinand); Marienella Phillips (Jaquenetta); Eric Stroud (Longaville); Luke Thompson (Berowne); and Jamie Tyler (Ensemble). Full actor and creative bios can be seen here
Joining Emily Burns on the creative team are: Joanna Scotcher (Set and Costume Designer); Neil Austin (Lighting Designer); Paul Englishby (Composer); George Dennis (Sound Designer); Shelley Maxwell (Movement Director); and Charlotte Sutton CDG (Casting Director).
For media enquiries, please contact:
Dean Asker, Senior Media Relations Officer, RSC
dean.asker@rsc.org.uk or 0778 9937759
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Love’s Labour’s Lost
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
Thursday 11 April – Saturday 18 May 2024
Press Night: Thursday 18 April, 7pm
Taking an oath to isolate themselves from the trivial distractions of women and love, four men think a spell of celibacy, study and self-improvement is the key to maxing out their potential. But when a Princess and her three companions arrive on a diplomatic mission, the allure of abstinence begins to evaporate. Something’s got to give….
Audio Described performance: Wednesday 1 May, 7.15pm
Chilled and Handheld Captioned performance: Saturday 4 May, 1.15pm
Chilled performance: Thursday 9 May, 1.15pm
Audio Described and Captioned performance: Saturday 11 May, 1.15pm
Captioned performance: Friday 17 May, 7.15pm
Director Talk: Wednesday 17 April, 5.15-6pm
Unwrapped: Saturday 4 May, 10.15-11.15am
Post Show Talk: Wednesday 15 May
NOTES TO EDITORS
The RSC is supported using public funding by Arts Council England
The work of the RSC is supported by the Culture Recovery Fund
The RSC is generously supported by RSC America
RSC £10 Tickets for 14-25s supported by TikTok
The RSC Acting Companies are generously supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)
The Royal Shakespeare Company creates exceptional theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, London and around the world, performing plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as commissioning a wide range of original work from contemporary writers. Our purpose is to ensure that Shakespeare – and theatre as a whole – is for everyone, and we do that by unlocking the power of his plays and live performance, and with our learning and education work throughout the UK and across the world.
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk.
Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of the bodies responsible for administering the Government’s unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund, of which we delivered over £1 billion to the sector in grants and loans. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19.
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