2019 in pictures

Look back at the past 12 months on the RSC stage with photos from our shows in Stratford, London and beyond.

What a year we had at the RSC.

We started out with A Christmas Carol in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and have ended disco-style with our huge new musical The Boy in the Dress. In between, there was new writing to enjoy in the Swan Theatre and at The Other Place, a pair of Restoration dramas and a summer of Shakespeare in rep. Meanwhile in London we had three big Shakespeares playing at the Barbican...

Relive 2019 with our gallery of photos from our shows - how many did you see?

2019 in pictures

David Edgar's adaptation of A Christmas Carol returned to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre for the 2018/19 Christmas season, with Aden Gillett taking on the role of miser Ebenezer Scrooge.

Photo: Danielle Henry as Christmas Present.

Photo by Manuel Harlan © RSC Browse and license our images

This hilarious retelling of Molière's provocative French classic Tartuffe saw the story move to Birmingham's Pakistani Muslim community, where a conman uses his religious persona to take over one family's home and finances.

The show opened in late 2018 in the Swan Theatre and will have a second life in its spiritual home of Birmingham when it transfers to the Repertory Theatre from 20 March - 4 April 2020.

Photo: Asif Khan as Tartuffe and Sasha Behar as Amira Pervaiz.

Find out more

Photo by Topher McGrillis © RSC Browse and license our images

Premiering in 2018, Timon of Athens continued in the Swan Theatre at the start of this year. The show will head across to America in 2020 for a short tour, with Kathryn Hunter reprising her role alongside a new US cast.

Photo: Kathryn Hunter as Timon with Sam Pay and Anton Cross.

Find out more

Photo by Simon Annand © RSC Browse and license our images

After playing as part of our summer 2018 Royal Shakespeare Theatre season, Polly Findlay's Macbeth transferred to the Barbican in London in 2019. The production saw Christopher Eccleston make his RSC debut in the title role, while Niamh Cusack returned to the company to play his wife, the notorious Lady Macbeth.

Photo: Niamh Cusack and Christopher Eccleston as the Macbeths.

Photo by Richard Davenport © RSC Browse and license our images

Another of our summer 2018 Royal Shakespeare Theatre shows, Romeo and Juliet also took to the stage at the Barbican in London this year and headed out on a UK tour. Romeo actor Bally Gill won the 2018 Ian Charleson Award for his performance in the production.

Photo: Karen Fishwick and Bally Gill as the star-cross'd lovers.

Photo by Topher McGrillis © RSC Browse and license our images

The final of 2018's three summer Shakespeares, The Merry Wives of Windsor, also spent the early part of the year at the Barbican in London. David Troughton took on the role of Falstaff in the show, which mixed Shakespeare with The Only Way is Essex to hilarious effect.

Photo: Karen Fishwick and Luke Newberry as Anne Page and Fenton.

Photo by Manuel Harlan © RSC Browse and license our images

John Kani wrote and starred in Kunene and the King in the Swan Theatre earlier this year. The play featured John and Antony Sher as two men from very different walks of life reflecting on the changes in South Africa since the end of apartheid.

The play will be revived at the Ambassadors Theatre in London next year, with performances from 24 January - 28 March.

Photo: John Kani and Antony Sher in Kunene and the King.

Find out more

Photo by Ellie Kurttz © RSC Browse and license our images

Director Phillip Breen brought together Caroline Quentin and Alexandra Gilbreath for Restoration romp The Provoked Wife this year. The play ran in the Swan Theatre alongside Venice Preserved and featured a memorable RSC debut from Les Dennis as the roguish Colonel Bully.

Photo: Caroline Quentin as Lady Fancyfull.

Photo by Pete Le May © RSC Browse and license our images

Our second Restoration play of the summer season, Venice Preserved, moved the tragedy into a world inspired by the dystopias of Blade Runner and Gotham. Prasanna Puwanarajah made his RSC directorial debut with this Swan Theatre show.

Photo: Michael Grady-Hall as Jaffeir and Jodie McNee as Belvidera.

Photo by Helen Maybanks © RSC Browse and license our images

Our series of First Encounters with Shakespeare shows continued this year with The Merchant of Venice. Twenty-two students from our Next Generation: ACT company took the roles of Jessica and Lorenzo alongside the professional cast when the show toured the UK.

Photo: Two of the young cast members play Lorenzo and Jessica.

Photo by Sam Allard © RSC Browse and license our images

Artistic Director Gregory Doran brought Measure for Measure into the #MeToo era this summer, with Lucy Phelps as Isabella and Sandy Grierson as the corrupt official Angelo.

The production started in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre before transferring to the Lowry in Salford, playing at two festivals in Spain, and now showing at the Barbican Theatre in London. Next year, it will go on tour around England with As You Like It and The Taming of the Shrew.

Photo: Graeme Brookes as Barnadine.

Find out more

Photo by Helen Maybanks © RSC Browse and license our images

Justin Audibert's The Taming of the Shrew swapped gender roles but kept the classic Elizabethan dress to create a fresh take on the play. As part of the rep season in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre this summer, it ran alongside As You Like It and Measure for Measure before moving to the Lowry in Salford and now the Barbican in London. The show will go on a tour around England next year, as well as play in the USA, South Korea and Tokyo.

Photo: Amelia Donkor as Hortensia and James Cooney as Bianco.

Find out more

Photo by Ikin Yum © RSC Browse and license our images

The third part of our summer season of Shakespeare in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, As You Like It saw love blossom in the forest in a show that added audience participation and a giant puppet into the mix. It's currently playing at the Barbican, London, and will be on tour around England in 2020.

Photo: Sandy Grierson as Touchstone, Sophie Khan Levy as Celia and Lucy Phelps as Rosalind.

Find out more

First played at The Other Place this summer, Robin French's Crooked Dances explored music, time and the demands of the digital age through the story of a young journalist's interview with a famous but reclusive concert pianist.

Photo: Ruth Lass as Silvia de Zingaro.

Originally part of a Mischief Festival double bill with Day of the Living at The Other Place in 2018, #WeAreArrested was revived for a short run at Arcola, London, at the end of this year. Peter Hamilton Dyer returned to play the role of Can, a journalist imprisoned for publishing details of illegal government activity.

Photo: Peter Hamilton Dyer as Can.

Matilda The Musical kept going from strength to strength in 2019. The UK and Ireland tour continued, as did the West End production at the Cambridge Theatre, with the show now also playing to audiences in China. 2019 also saw the first foreign language production of the musical, staged in South Korea.

Photo: Matilda and the librarian Mrs Phelps in the London production.

Book tickets

Eleanor Rhode's King John, a vision of a nation in turmoil, began playing in the Swan Theatre this winter. Featuring Rosie Sheehy in the title role and Charlotte Randle as Constance, the play runs until 21 March 2020 followed by a cinema screening on 29 April.

Photo: Michael Abubakar as The Bastard.

Book tickets

Now playing in the Swan Theatre before travelling to Kiln Theatre in London, Hannah Khalil's play A Museum in Baghdad explores what it means to try to create a nation. Emma Fielding returns to the RSC to play archaeologist Gertrude Bell in the show, directed by Erica Whyman.

Photo: Houda Echouafni as Layla Hassan.

Book tickets

Our current Royal Shakespeare Theatre production, The Boy in the Dress, brings David Walliams' much-loved novel to the stage as a musical for the first time. Featuring new songs from Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers, this family-friendly show plays until 8 March 2020.

Photo: Two of the young actors from the musical playing Lisa James and Dennis.

Book tickets

Launch Gallery

2019 in pictures

You may also like

The Boy in the Dress

King John

A Museum in Baghdad