Eccleston’s Stratford debut in ‘thrilling’ Macbeth
CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON is to star as Macbeth in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s summer 2018 season.
The former Doctor Who star will make his RSC debut next year in Stratford-upon-Avon alongside Rebellion star Niamh Cusack as Lady Macbeth.
RSC artistic director Gregory Doran said the summer season would also include Romeo And Juliet and The Merry Wives of Windsor. He promised that the Macbeth would be “a thrillingly dark, modern production”.
Other 2018 shows include John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, The Fan- tastic Follies Of Mrs Rich — a revival of a 17th-century play by little-known Mary Pix — and Miss Littlewood, a new musical by Sam Kenyon based on the life of Joan Littlewood.
Doran’s 2016 production of King Lear will be shown for a limited season.
He also announced the Next Generation ACT, which aims at getting more young people into theatre, and Stitch in Time, a campaign to raise money for the restoration of the RSC Costume Workshop.
The Next Generation ACT will see the RSC create a company of 20 aged between 12 and 16, all of whom would ordinarily find it difficult to pursue a career in the arts. They will perform a variety of productions and explore all elements of creating a play. Doran said: “They have the opportunity to work with us until they are 18 years old as a member of the RSC Next Generation ACT company.”