RSC announces new shows including Othello starring Sharon D Clarke

The RSC has unveiled further details of their 2026-27 season line-up.

Three-time Olivier Award-winning actress Sharon D Clarke, who makes her debut at the theatre in a radical reimagining of Shakespeare’s Othello directed by Monique Touko. Set in a climate threatened future in which a black lesbian holds a seat of power, this movement and music-infused Othello re-imagines Shakespeare’s 400-year-old story through the lens of misogynoir, as an unsanctioned marriage perilously crosses boundaries of race, sex and status, allowing jealousy, suspicion and malign intent to close in. It will be staged at the Swan Theatre from 13 February - 3 April 2027.

This year, the RSC will mount its first commission for early years audiences with the world stage premiere of The Bear and the Piano: an enchanting new co-production with Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Based on the book by David Litchfield and adapted for the stage by Toby Olié and Tom Brady, The Bear and the Piano is a heart-warming story in which a bear’s chance encounter with a piano deep in the forest takes him on an incredible journey to the big city to share his musical gifts with the world. The Bear and the Piano will run at The Other Place from 11 December 2026 to 10 January 2027.

In Spring, the multi-award-winning director Rufus Norris joins the RSC for the first time in his esteemed career, to direct the world premiere of Brock’s Mill by RSC Writer-in-Residence Stewart Pringle, opening in The Other Place from 26 March - 8 May 2027. This acutely observed family drama follows the story of Bernard, who - forty years on from the heyday of his professional career as a stop-motion animator for Bluebell Studios - finds himself confronted with the reality of a past far removed from what he imagined. A homage to the craft of stop-motion filmmaking and an exploration of the corrosive power of nostalgia, with animation by award-winning stop-motion animator Astrid Goldsmith, Brock’s Mill investigates the ownership of memory and the importance of being present in one's own life. It will play from 26 March - 8 May 2027.

Looking ahead to 2028, Blanche McIntyre’s “immaculate” and “utterly joyous” production of William Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor will visit the RSC’s Associate Regional Theatres across England in the spring, following its premiere in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, as part of Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey’s inaugural season. The tour forms part of an embedded programme of audience development, learning and engagement that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. It provides audiences across the country with the opportunity to experience high-quality Shakespeare in their local community. 

Priority booking for Members and Supporters for all new productions opens from 10am on Friday 3 July with public booking opening from 10am on Thursday 16 July. For further information on how to become an RSC Member or Supporter, visit their website.