RSC announces new season for 2025 to 2026 starring Adrian Lester & Alfred Enoch

The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon has announced a new season of productions for 2025 to 2026.

The season promises to bring fresh takes on Shakespeare, new literary adaptations and a brand new musical.

The season casts a number of well-known names such as Adrian Lester, Sam Heughan, Lia Williams and Alfred Enoch, with directors including Tamara Harvey, Daniel Raggett, Lynette Linton, and Simon Evans.

From an intimate Macbeth in The Other Place to an epic, two-part staging of The Forsyte Saga and the uplifting true story of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, read more for highlights of the new season.

Already announced for 2025 is their big Christmas show, a new production of Roald Dahl’s much-loved children’s storyThe BFG, adapted by Tom Wells and directed by RSC Co-Artistic Director Daniel Evans in his directorial debut for the RSC.

Coming up is a new version of W. Somerset Maugham’s play The Constant Wife by Laura Wade, directed by Tamara Harvey and starring Rose Leslie and Kate Burton. Also, the European premiere of Fat Ham by Pulitzer Prize-winner James Ijames; Yaël Farber directs The Winter’s Tale; A new staging of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure will be directed by Emily Burns.

The RSC has also announced that its acclaimed production of Kyoto, which also ran in the West End, is transferring to New York’s Lincoln Center this autumn, with Tony-award nominated actor Stephen Kunken (Billions) reprising his role as oil lobbyist Don Pearlman.

Cyrano de Bergerac starring Adrian Lester

Olivier Award-winner Adrian Lester (Riviera, Hustle) dons the famous nose in a new co-adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac by director Simon Evans (Inside No. 9 Stage/Fright) and poet Debris Stevenson, rekindling Rostand’s classic with a contemporary twist.

Macbeth starring Sam Heughan

Outlander’s Sam Heughan makes his RSC debut as Macbeth, opposite Lia Williams (The Crown) as Lady Macbeth, in Daniel Raggett’s (Accidental Death of an Anarchist) up-close and personal exploration of ambition, prophecy and remorse. Macbeth is playing in the intimate setting of the RSC’s The Other Place in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Forsyte Saga (Parts 1 and 2) Starring Joseph Millson

Following a sold-out, five-star season at the Park Theatre in London, Lin Coghlan and Shaun McKenna bring their acclaimed stage adaptation of John Galsworthy’s family epic The Forsyte Saga to Stratford, in Josh Roche’s acclaimed two-evening production. The show sees a number of the original cast reprise their roles, including Fiona Hampton as Irene, Flora Spencer-Longhurst as Fleur, and Joseph Millson as Soames.

All is But Fantasy created by Whitney White

Award-winning artist Whitney White fuses gig-theatre energy with Shakespearean icons — Lady Macbeth, Juliet, Emilia and Richard III — for new show All is But Fantasy, backed by a live band and three irreverent witches.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind directed by Lynette Linton

The world premiere of new musical The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind tells the true story of inventor William Kamkwamba, celebrating ingenuity in the face of drought and doubt. The show is directed by Lynette Linton (Alterations, Shifters, Barcelona), former artistic director of the Bush Theatre, with a score by Tim Sutton (Restless Natives, The Merry Wives of Windsor) and lyrics by Richy Hughes (Superhero).

Henry V starring Alfred Enoch

RSC Co-Artistic Director Tamara Harvey reunites with Alfred Enoch (How to Get Away with Murder), following last year’s production of Pericles, to take on Shakespeare’s Henry V, charting the young king’s transformation from carefree prince to warrior-monarch at Agincourt.

Next Generation: Timon of Athens

The RSC launches a new collaborative version of Shakespeare and Middleton’s morality fable Timon of Athens, by the RSC’s talent development programme for young theatre – Next Generation Act Young Company.

RSC in the West End

Current RSC productions in the West End include smash-hit, long-running Roald Dahl musical Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge Theatre; and the Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation of My Neighbour Totoro at the Gillian Lynne Theatre.

Coming up, RSC co-artistic director Daniel Evans directs Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel in a razor-sharp new drama about Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, with Born With Teeth coming to the Wyndham’s Theatre from 13 August 2025.

RSC 2025-2026 Season – Shows and dates

Show	Venue	Dates
The Constant Wife	Swan Theatre	20 June 2025 – 2 August 2025
The Winter’s Tale	Royal Shakespeare Theatre	12 July 2025 – 30 August 2025
The Two Gentlemen of Verona	The Other Place	4 August 2025 – 31 August 2025
Born With Teeth	Wyndham’s Theatre (London)	13 August 2025 – 1 November 2025
Fat Ham	Swan Theatre	15 August 2025 – 13 September 2025
Measure for Measure	Royal Shakespeare Theatre	13 September 2025 – 25 October 2025
Cyrano de Bergerac	Swan Theatre	27 September 2025 – 15 November 2025
Macbeth	The Other Place	9 October 2025 – 6 December 2025
The BFG	Royal Shakespeare Theatre	25 November 2025 – 31 January 2026
The Forsyte Saga Part 1: Irene	Swan Theatre	28 November 2025 – 10 January 2026
The Forsyte Saga Part 2: Fleur	Swan Theatre	1 December 2025 – 10 January 2026
All Is But Fantasy (Lady Macbeth, Emilia)	The Other Place	21 January 2026 – 21 February 2026
All Is But Fantasy (Juliet, Richard III)	The Other Place	28 January 2026 – 21 February 2026
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind	Swan Theatre	10 February 2026 – 28 March 2026
Henry V	Royal Shakespeare Theatre	14 March 2026 – 25 April 2026

What They Said

RSC Co-Artistic Directors Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans said in a joint statement:

“Since embarking on this journey together, our guiding principle as Co-Artistic Directors of the RSC has been to seek out bold and exciting works which deepen our understanding of ourselves, each other and the world around us. From illuminating and daring classical productions to inventive and socially resonant new writing, this season is a celebration of globally inspired stories, thrillingly told by the most exciting theatre artists of today.

“From Malawi or Manhattan, through French fields, Scottish heaths, mythical lands and Giant country, our 2025/26 programme celebrates what we believe a 21st Century RSC can and should be: global in ambition and outlook, open and collaborative in nature and continuously redefining how Shakespeare and great storytelling can bring joy, connection and improve our understanding of one-another.

“We are delighted to welcome so many artists in their RSC debuts this season, including internationally renowned acting talents Adrian Lester, Sam Heughan and Lia Williams, playwrights Debris Stevenson, Richy Hughes, Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan, alongside the visionary theatre-makers of tomorrow, Lynette Linton, Simon Evans, Josh Roche and Whitney White to name a few.

“We also look forward to continuing and deepening relationships with some of our most recent collaborators, Alfie Enoch and Daniel Raggett who – alongside Emily Burns, returning to direct Measure for Measure this Autumn – played a central role in helping to shape our first season.

“As ever, our pioneering work with young people in schools and communities continues to transform lives both here in the UK and across the globe, whether that’s a first-encounter with Shakespeare’s King Lear performed in a school hall in Skegness or nurturing the next generation of backstage talent with Timon of Athens, part of our Next Generation Act programme made by and for young theatre makers from across the country.

“Meanwhile, our presence in London grows apace, with the announcement that Daniel will direct Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel in a new co-production of Born With Teeth, our seventh production to be presented in London in 2025 alone, with further details of our upcoming Barbican 2025 programme to be revealed in early July.

“And at a time when governments across the globe are trying to shut down borders, our commitment to building new international partnerships is stronger than ever with the news that Kyoto will make its US premiere at the Lincoln Center, New York this Autumn following its sell-out run @sohoplace earlier this year, the highest grossing play to be presented at the venue since it first opened in 2022.

“Wherever and however our audiences experience the RSC in 2025/26, we hope that they encounter work that is beautifully crafted, inspiring and always entertaining.”