Yahoo Lifestyle Roald Dahl’s ‘BFG’ Headlines Royal Shakespeare Company’s Star-Studded 2025 Season
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is bringing a giant dose of whimsy to Stratford-upon-Avon, announcing a new adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “The BFG” as its marquee family production.
The big-hearted tale, adapted by Tom Wells, marks RSC co-artistic director Daniel Evans’ directorial debut with the company in a partnership between RSC, Chichester Festival Theatre and the Roald Dahl Story Company. The story was previously adapted by Steven Spielberg as a film in 2016.
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The theatrical powerhouse is also flexing its star-casting muscle for its summer 2025 lineup. “Doctor Who” alum Freema Agyeman and Nick Blood will make their RSC debuts in “Much Ado About Nothing,” while “Game of Thrones” star Rose Leslie will headline “The Constant Wife,” a new adaptation by Olivier Award winner Laura Wade. Theater heavyweight Simon Russell Beale returns to the company alongside Emma Fielding and Natey Jones in “Titus Andronicus.”
As previously announced, the company will also premiere “Hamlet Hail to the Thief,” which marries Shakespeare’s tragedy with Radiohead’s music, featuring orchestrations by Thom Yorke. The production is adapted by Christine Jones with Steven Hoggett.
The RSC is also breaking new ground in the gaming world, with “Lili,” a video game adaptation of “Macbeth” set in modern Iran. The project, developed with Brooklyn-based iNK Stories, will feature Cannes Best Actress winner Zar Amir as Lady Macbeth.
The season will also include the European premiere of James Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize-winning “Fat Ham,” Sarah Kane’s “4.48 Psychosis,” and new productions of “The Winter’s Tale,” “Measure for Measure,” and “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.”
The company’s touring arm will bring Rupert Goold’s “Hamlet” to regional theaters across England in 2026, while their First Encounters program will present an 80-minute version of “King Lear” directed by Justine Themen, targeting young audiences in schools and communities.
“Our 2025/26 season will bring together an international roster of creative talent, where the works of William Shakespeare stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the most compelling voices in modern playwriting,” said co-artistic directors Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans in a joint statement.
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