Cast and Creatives

Alfred Clay headshot
Ensemble Alfred Clay

Previous RSC includes: The Winter's Tale, Troy Story, Swingin' the Dream

Trained: Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts

Theatre (whilst training) includes: Boy, Gravel Heart, After The Fall, Live Like Pigs, Pomona, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Loveclots (Mountview); Two Cities (Criterion Theatre)

Film and television includes: Industry, London Unplugged

Andrew French
Ensemble Andrew French

Previous RSC includes: Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet

Theatre includes: Two Trains Running (UK tour); While We're Here, I Like Mine with a Kiss (Bush Theatre); This Flesh of Mine/When Nobody Returns (Border Crossings); The Iphegenia Quartet (The Gate); Bully Boy (Mercury Theatre Colchester); Boi Boi is Dead, Refugee Boy (West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Initiate/Our Teacher is a Troll (Roundabout Season, Paines Plough); Measure for Measure (Almeida Theatre); Monster (Royal Exchange Manchester); As You Like It (Wyndhams Theatre London); Reference to Salvador Dali... (Arcola/Young Vic London); The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest (Nottingham Playhouse); The Merchant of Venice, Troilus and Cressida (Royal National Theatre); The Merchant of Venice, The Honest Whore (Shakespeare Globe Theatre); Things Fall Apart (West Yorkshire/Royal Court Theatre); The Tempest (Shared Experience)

Television includes: A Very English Scandal; Marvin Can't Fail; Capital; EastEnders; Holby City; Doctors; Perfect Parents; Primeval; Soundproof, Blast!; The Bill; Trust; In Deep; A Touch of Frost; Casualty; Family Affairs; Burnside; Tough Love

Film includes: Artificial Horizon, Breaking the Bank, Song for Marion, Assassination Games, Exorcist: The Beginning, Exorcist: Dominion, The Merchant of Venice, Doctor Sleep, Tailor of Panama

Radio includes: Doctor Who: Original Sin; The Mother Of...; The Last Supper

Read about what Andrew did in lockdown as part of our Royal Shakespeare Community blog series.

Read andrew's blog

 

Kemi-Bo Jacobs headshot
Ensemble Kemi-Bo Jacobs

This is Kemi-Bo's RSC debut season

Trained: LAMDA

Theatre includes: All My Sons (Manchester Royal Exchange); Hedda Gabler (Salisbury Playhouse); Betrayal (Derby Theatre); Wild East (Young Vic)

Television includes: McMafia, Thirteen, Death in Paradise, Delicious, The Honourable Woman, Lewis, Doctor Who, The Dark Crystal, The Letter for the King, The Great

Kemi-Bo was awarded the RSC’s British Bursary Award 2014 and is the founder of The Darlings Club and arts zine Making it Work Even When. Listen to Kemi-Bo talking to playwright Juliet Gilkes Romero as part of our Interval Drinks podcast series.

Listen now

Cornell John headshot
Ensemble Cornell S. John

This is Cornell's RSC debut season

Theatre includes: The Rubenstein Kiss (Nottingham Playhouse); But I Cd Only Whisper (Arcola Theatre); Waiting For Godot (West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Meeting (Pleasance Theatre/UK tour); Slaves (Theatre 503); Catalysta (Oval House Theatre); You Don’t Kiss (Stratford Circus); The Messiah (Riverside); Leave To Remain, Brother To Brother (Lyric Hammersmith); Romeo and Juliet (Belgrade Theatre); Dutchman (Café Theatre Dublin)

Television includes: Gangs of London, Victoria, Roadkill, EastEnders, Waterloo Road, Inside Men, Top Boy, Five Days 2, Casualty, Doctors, Holby City, ‘Orrible, No Signal, Lenny Henry In Pieces, Maisie Raine, Revolver, The Knock, Thief Takers

Film includes: His House, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Captain America: Civil War, Brotherhood, Adulthood, Jack The Giant Slayer, Dreams of a Life, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Kidulthood, Anuvahood, Hush Your Mouth, Rottweiler

Georgia Landers headshot
Ensemble Georgia Landers

This is Georgia's RSC debut season

Theatre includes: A Woman of No Importance (UK Tour); Anna, Antony & Cleopatra (National Theatre); Balm in Gilead, HeronsGreat ExpectationsAugust (Guildhall School of Music and Drama)

Television includes: Press, The Looming Tower

Mogali Masuku - High Res Headshot_2023_c_ the artist_350114
Ensemble Mogali Masuku

RSC includes: The Winter’s Tale 

Theatre Includes: Belle & Sebastien (Bristol Old Vic), Pericles, The Comedy Of Errors, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare’s Globe Tour), Dr. Faustus (Tangle Theatre co.), Norway.Today, Macbeth (Iris Theatre Company). 

Television/Film credits include: The Gold (ViacomCBS International), Drift (Memento Films), Dashcam (Blumhouse Productions), Generation Of Vipers (Partizan), Damage 2012 (Television Bandits). 

Radio includes: The Archers (BBC) 

Trained at: Central Speech School of Speech & Drama  

Listen to Mogali interviewing actor, playwright, and political activist Dr John Kani for the RSC Interval Drinks Podcast.

 

zara-mcfarlane
Ensemble Zara McFarlane

Zara McFarlane is a multi- award winning jazz vocalist and singer songwriter, with four critically acclaimed albums to her name, Zara has collaborated with musicians from a range of genres, most notably South African legend Hugh Masekela, house music legend Lil’ Louie Vega and Jazz sensation Gregory Porter. Zara is signed to record label Brownswood Recordings, owned by DJ Gilles Peterson.

Previous RSC: Anthony and Cleopatra 2017 Season

Theatre: Agreed Glyndebourne Opera House 2018

Albums: Until Tomorrow (2011); If You Knew Her (2014); Arise (2017) and Song Of An Unknown Tongue (2020).

Awards: Best Jazz-  MOBO Award; Vocalist of the Year - Jazz FM Award (twice); Best Jazz - Urban Music Award and Session of the Year - Worldwide Award.

TV: Sing It Loud: Black and Proud (2020); BBC Young Jazz Musician (Judge, 2018) and The Outcast - BBC Drama (2015).

Baker Mukasa headshot
Ensemble Baker Mukasa

Previous RSC includes: The Winter's Tale, Troy Story, Swingin' the Dream, Festive Tales

Trained: Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

Theatre includes: The Last King of Scotland (Sheffield Crucible); Peter Pan (Hull Truck); Tina the Musical (Aldwych Theatre, West End); The Hartlepool Monkey (Fuel/Stratford Circus Arts Centre, UK Tour); The Beggar’s Opera, Alice in Wonderland (Storyhouse Chester); Beasty Baby (Theatre Rites, UK Tour)

Anne Odeke headshot
Ensemble Anne Odeke

This is Anne's RSC debut season

Trained: Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts

Theatre includes: Bartholomew Fair, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare's Globe); Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Storyhouse); Winnie and Wilbur (Birmingham Rep); Night Must Fall (UK Tour); The Crucible (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh); Next Lesson (The Pleasance Theatre); You Should Be So Lucky (Above the Stag); Women of Troy (The Scoop); Aladdin (Newbury Corn Exchange); Finian's Rainbow (The Union Theatre/Charing Cross Theatre)

A concert of a work in progress including original music and songs from the 1939 production

Telling the story of an intriguing Broadway musical adaptation of Shakespeare. This jazz-infused version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream opened in 1939 with a heady mixture of talent, including Louis Armstrong and Maxine Sullivan, and musical contributions from Count Basie and Benny Goodman.

Book now and watch any time until Saturday 16 January, 7pm GMT 

BOOK FOR ONLINe

Songs

  • Pick-a-Rib - Benny Goodman (Instrumental)
  • Swingin’ A Dream - Jimmy Van Heusen & Eddie DeLange
  • Spring Song - Felix Mendelssohn 
  • Peace, Brother - Jimmy Van Heusen & Eddie DeLange 
  • Moonglow - Will Hudson, Eddie de Lange and Irving Mills 
  • Doing the Saboo - Sammy Lowe & Erskine Hawkins (Instrumental)
  • Jumpin' at the Woodside - Count Basie  (Instrumental)
  • Darn That Dream - Jimmy Van Heusen & Eddie DeLange

Fragments of the following songs are featured in the ‘Pyramus & Thisbe Opera’, performed with different lyrics:

  • Darktown Strutters Ball - Shelton Brooks
  • St. Louis Blues - WC Handy 
  • Jeepers Creepers - Harry Warren & Johnny Mercer 
  • Ain't Misbehavin' - Fats Waller & Harry Brooks 
  • My Melancholy Baby - Ernie Burnett & George A Norton & Larry Clinton 
  • I Can't Give You Anything But Love - Jimmy Hugh &  Dorothy Fields 
  • Christopher Columbus - Leon Berry & Andy Razaf 
  • She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain Traditional
  • Blue Moon - Rogers & Hart
  • Ol' Man Mose - Louis Armstrong & Zilner T Randolph 

 

Musicians

Piano - Peter Edwards
Trumpet - Chris Storr
Bass - Neil Charles
Clarinet/ Saxophone - Mebrakh Haughton-Johnson
Drums - Barrell Jones 

Credits

Production Manager - David Tanqueray
Company Manager - Pip Horobin
Stage Managers - Sarah Caselton-Smith, Jen Davey, Briony Kirkman
Assistant Director - Aaron Parsons
Producer - Ben Tyreman
Lighting - Caroline Burrell, Claire Gerrens & Lauren Watson
Sound - Steven Atkinson, Chris Vernon, Oliver Soames, Jake Smith            

Production acknowledgements

Stage: Craig Almond, Lex Kelly, Kurt Moores, Dan Avery, Simon Firth
Screen Director & Vision Mixer: Andrew Brooks
Camera Operator: Sam Oates
Content Producer: Mark Kendrick
Live Stream Producer: Gemma Short
Production Video: Oli Quintrell, Jon Ryan
Music coordination: Nicola Rossiter
Captioning: So Speedy Ltd.
Cameras and streaming technology supplied by Blackmagic Design

Artwork from the original production: © The Al Hirschfeld Foundation AlHirschfeldFoundation.org