RSC and Picturehouse Entertainment announce new Titles to be broadcast ‘Live from Stratford-upon-Avon’ in 2017

PART OF THE ROME SEASON

Julius Caesar, directed by Angus Jackson
3 March to 9 September 2017, live to cinemas 26 April

Antony & Cleopatra, directed by Iqbal Khan
11 March to 7 September, live to cinemas 24 May

Titus Andronicus, directed by Blanche McIntyre
23 June to 2 September, live to cinemas 9 August

Coriolanus, directed by Angus Jackson
dates to be announced

Angus Jackson, who recently directed the sell-out productions of Oppenheimer and Don Quixote, is season director for the Rome season. He will direct the opening and closing plays of the season, Julius Caesar and Coriolanus. Iqbal Khan returns to the company to direct Antony & Cleopatra, with Josette Simon taking on the role of Cleopatra after her last RSC appearance in Michael Boyd’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1999. Blanche McIntyre will direct Titus Andronicus, following on from this summer’s production of The Two Noble Kinsmen.

Julius Caesar begins the season, with the politics of spin and betrayal turning to violence in a race to claim the empire, after the all-conquering Caesar returns from war.

Next is Antony & Cleopatra. Following Caesar’s assassination and his own rise to power, Mark Antony chooses a life of decadent seduction with Cleopatra, Queen of Eqypt, where his military brilliance deserts him and his passion leads the lovers to their tragic end.

The decay of Rome reaches its violent depths in Shakespeare’s bloodiest play Titus Andronicus. Titus is a ruler exhausted by war and leaves Rome in disarray, with rape, cannibalism and brutality filling the moral void at the heart of a corrupt society.

Coriolanus concludes the season, as famine stalks Rome and the citizens rise up. The rioting is halted by war and Caius Martius leads the Roman Army to victory, but the people turn against him and he is banished. He vows revenge and returns at the head of the Volscian army to march on Rome.

Angus has put together a great creative team who will share a scenic aesthetic for all four plays, designed by Robert Innes Hopkins. This, together with a reconfiguration of the stage, will bring an added intimacy to what will be a brutal, bloody and thrilling programme in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

LIVE FROM STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
Our series of productions, filmed live from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon to cinemas around the country and internationally, continues next year, with Picturehouse Entertainment as our worldwide distribution partner:

Upcoming live screening dates:

The Tempest 11 January 2017

New Rome Season:

Julius Caesar 26 April 2017
Antony & Cleopatra 24 May 2017
Titus Andronicus 9 August 2017
Coriolanus tbc

On sale dates for live screenings in cinemas:

Julius Caesar, Antony & Cleopatra and Titus Andronicus
RSC Patrons and Members from Monday 26 September

Picturehouse Members 26th September

For general sale 24th October

All Shakespeare productions listed above will also be screening in cinemas across the US and internationally, through a continued partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment.

For cinema listings and booking visit onscreen.rsc.org.uk to sign up for updates and follow the creation of the production online in the run up to the screening.

Live from Stratford-upon-Avon is generously supported by SIDNEY E. FRANK FOUNDATION

The RSC Acting Companies are generously supported by THE GATSBY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION and THE KOVNER FOUNDATION

About The Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company creates theatre at its best, made in Stratford-upon-Avon and shared around the world.

Everyone at the RSC - from actors to armorers, musicians to technicians - plays a part in creating the world you see on stage. All our productions begin life at our Stratford workshops and theatres and we bring them to the widest possible audience through our touring, residencies, live broadcasts and online activity. So wherever you experience the RSC, you experience work made in Shakespeare's home town.

We encourage everyone to enjoy a lifelong relationship with Shakespeare and live theatre. We produce an inspirational artistic programme each year, setting Shakespeare in context, alongside the work of his contemporaries and today's writers. We have trained generations of the very best theatre makers and we continue to nurture the talent of the future. We reach 530,000 children and young people annually through our education work, transforming their experiences in the classroom, in performance and online.

Registered charity no. 212481

About Picturehouse Cinemas / Picturehouse Entertainment
Since its launch in 2010, Picturehouse Entertainment has worked with renowned British directors such as Shane Meadows and Ben Wheatley, and has distributed an eclectic range of theatrical releases, including BAFTA winner The Imposter; 20,000 Days On Earth, featuring Nick Cave; Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story Of Dream Alliance; and The Lobster, starring Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz. 2016 has seen the release of Green Room with Patrick Stewart, Marguerite, The Absent One, Wiener-Dog, and Jim Hosking’s debut comedy The Greasy Strangler on 7th October.

Picturehouse Entertainment also distributes high-profile alternative content to cinemas throughout the world from the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Bolshoi Ballet, Glyndebourne, the Royal Opera House and the National Theatre, and also distributed the shows Monty Python Live (mostly), The Rocky Horror Show Live and Roger Waters The Wall. The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s live season started with The Winter’s Tale and continues with Romeo And Juliet and The Entertainer. Picturehouse Entertainment has been working with Nick Cave once again on the international event One More Time With Feeling, a new film directed by Andrew Dominik, which included the first-ever chance to hear Cave's new album, Skeleton Tree in cinemas around the world on 8th September.

Picturehouse Entertainment is the distribution arm of Picturehouse Cinemas, the owner and operator of 23 Picturehouse Cinemas and programming agent for a further 42 venues across the UK.