Where and when?
London Theatre Company are delighted to announce that a brand-new production of Richard II will open 10 February 2025 and run until 10 May 2025 at the Bridge Theatre.
Guys & Dolls is playing at the Bridge Theatre until 04 January 2025.
Who’s in the cast?
Award-winning screen and stage actor Jonathan Bailey, Richard II will feature alongside a talented cast to illuminate Shakespeare’s powerful work.
The cast features: Royce Pierreson (The Witcher, Judy, Line of Duty) as Henry Bolingbroke, Christopher Osikanlu Colquhoun (Absentia, The Doctor – Duke of York’s Theatre, Comedy of Errors – RSC) as Earl of Northumberland, Olivia Popica (The Wheel of Time, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, The Tattooist of Auschwitz) as Queen Isabel, Amanda Root (Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth – RSC, Persuasion) as Green and the Duchess of York, Phoenix Di Sebastiani (The Great, Top Boy, Anne Boleyn) as Thomas Mowbray and Groom, and Clive Wood (London’s Burning, The Tempest – Theatre Royal Haymarket, Antony and Cleopatra – Shakespeare’s Globe) as John of Gaunt. Returning to the Bridge Theatre is Michael Simkins (Guys & Dolls – Bridge Theatre, The Crown, Silent Witness) as the Duke of York.
In addition, the cast includes Adam Best (Peaky Blinders, The Crown, Twelfth Night – National Theatre) as Sir John Bagot, Seamus Dillane (Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, The Invention of Love – Hampstead Theatre) as Lord Surrey, Vinnie Heaven (Cowbois – RSC, A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare’s Globe, Cuckoo – Soho Theatre) as Aumerle, Jordan Kouamé (Wolf Hall 2, The Mirror and the Light – RSC) as Sir John Bushy and Harry Percy, Gerard Monaco (A Small Family Business, Children of the Sun, The Kitchen – National Theatre, A View from the Bridge – Duke of York’s Theatre) as Sir Stephen Scroop and Keeper, George Taylor (The Lady In The Van, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) as Fitzwater, and Badria Timimi (Our Girl, My Brilliant Friend – National Theatre) as Abbess of Carlisle.
The understudy cast includes Emma Bown (Romeo and Juliet – Original Shakespeare Co, Sex Education), Martin Carroll (Twelfth Night, Richard III – The Apollo, The Royal Hunt of the Sun – National Theatre) and Stephan Boyce (Aladdin – Lyric Hammersmith, The Coloured Valentino – Arcola Theatre).
Creative team
Richard II will be designed by Bob Crowley (for The Bridge: Straight Line Crazy; The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage; in the West End: Olivier Award-winning An American in Paris) with Lighting Design by Bruno Poet (for The Bridge: Julius Caesar; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; in the West End: Tina – The Tina Turner Musical). Lily Dyble is Associate Director and the Casting Director is Robert Sterne (for The Bridge: Straight Line Crazy; The Southbury Child; for screen: Game of Thrones; The Crown).
For the Bridge Theatre, Nicholas Hytner has directed Young Marx; Julius Caesar; Allelujah!; Alys, Always; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Two Ladies; Beat the Devil; The Shrine; Bed Among the Lentils; A Christmas Carol; Bach & Sons; The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage; Straight Line Crazy; The Southbury Child; John Gabriel Borkman; and Guys & Dolls. Previously he was Director of the National Theatre from 2003 to 2015.
What’s the show about?
Richard II is charismatic, eloquent, and loved by his friends. And a disastrous King – dishonest, capricious, and politically incompetent. Echoing down the centuries is the perennial problem: how to deal with a ruler who has a rock solid right to rule but is set on wrecking the country he leads. Shakespeare’s subtle, ambiguous, and beautiful play finds feudal England on the cusp of modernity, as a divinely sanctioned monarch is confronted, in the figure of Henry Bolingbroke, by the hard-headed pragmatism of real authority.
Assisted performances
Audio Described & Touch Tour: Saturday 12 April at 2.30pm
Captioned Performances: Friday 2 May at 7.30pm
Where can I get tickets?
https://bridgetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/richard-ii/
