Michelle Terry announces her inaugural season at Shakespeare’s Globe

Michelle Terry’s first season as artistic director at Shakespeare’s Globe has been announced and productions include Hamlet, As You Like It, The Two Noble Kinsmen, The Winter’s Tale, Othello and Love’s Labour’s Lost.

A premiere of three new plays, a national and international tour of Shakespeare, and other performances, on and off site, are announced together with a year-long programme of events exploring the history and future of theatre censorship, as well as a series of events looking at race, refuge and refugees in relation to Shakespeare.

Opening the season on 25 April will be Hamlet, which will play alongside As You Like It from 2 May.

Both written around 1599, the year the original Globe was built, the plays will be presented by The Globe Ensemble, which includes, among others, Federay Holmes, Bettrys Jones, Jack Laskey, Nadia Nadarajah, Pearce Quigley, Shubham Saraf, Elle While, Tanika Yearwood and Michelle Terry.

Brendan O’Hea will direct a tour of eight actors with The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night.

From 25 May, The Two Noble Kinsmen by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare will be directed by Barrie Rutter.

Barrie is soon to be directing and appearing in his forthcoming production of The Captive Queen in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse as part of the 2017/18 winter season, co-produced by Northern Broadsides.

From 22 June, The Winter’s Tale will be directed by Blanche McIntyre. Blanche returns to the Globe, having previously directed The Comedy of Errors (2014) and As You Like It (2015).

From 20 July, Othello will be directed by Claire van Kampen, starring André Holland as Othello and Mark Rylance as Iago.

André Holland is best known for his roles in Academy Award-winning films Moonlight and Selma. The multi-award-winning actor’s other screen credits include 42 and The Knick.

From 23 August, Love’s Labour’s Lost will be directed by Nick Bagnall in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.

Two new plays will premiere on The Globe stage this summer.

Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s Emilia will explore the life of Emilia Bassano, whom many consider to be the Dark Lady of the Sonnets, but was also a writer, poet, mother, feminist and woman in her own right.

It will be followed by Matt Hartley’s Eyam . When the plague arrives surprisingly in the Derbyshire village of Eyam in 1665, the community face the moral dilemma of having to decide whether to flee and risk spreading the vicious disease or stay, protect others from the risk.

GLOBE THEATRE

Hamlet, 25 April – 26 August
As You Like It, 2 May – 26 August
The Two Noble Kinsmen, 25 May – 30 June
The Winter’s Tale, 22 June – 14
Othello, 20 July – 13 October
Emilia, 10 August – 1 September
Eyam, 15 September – 13 October.

SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE

Love’s Labour’s Lost, 23 August – 15 September.

SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE ON TOUR

Globe Theatre, 8 – 19 May; 6 – 9 September
Chilham Castle, Kent, 25 – 27 May
Art Carnuntum, Austria, 9 June – 1 July
Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond, North Yorkshire, 5 – 8 July
Brighton Open Air Theatre, 11 –14 July
Oxford Bodleian Library Quad, 18 – 29 July

Further venues TBA.