Cymbeline

An ineffectual Queen Cymbeline rules over a divided dystopian Britain. Consumed with grief at the death of two of her children, Cymbeline’s judgment is clouded. When Innogen, the only living heir, marries her sweetheart Posthumus in secret, an enraged Cymbeline banishes him. Behind the throne, a power-hungry figure plots to seize power by murdering them both.

In exile Innogen's husband is tricked into believing she has been unfaithful to him and in an act of impulsive jealousy begins a scheme to have her murdered. Warned of the danger, Innogen runs away from court in disguise and begins a journey fraught with danger that will eventually reunite Cymbeline with a long-lost heir and reconcile the young lovers.

The themes of Cymbeline are as relevant today as they were when Shakespeare first wrote the play. With echoes of Brexit and questions of national identity, Melly Still’s direction of this rarely performed play feels surprisingly contemporary. Cymbeline is an amalgam of a variety of different Shakespeare’s earlier triumphs, especially Hamlet, Othello and Romeo and Juliet.

Gillian Bevan stars as Cymbeline, the first woman to take on the role for the RSC.

Melly Still (who designed Tales from Ovid and Midnight's Children for the RSC and whose directing credits include The Cunning Little Vixen for Glyndebourne Opera and Coram Boy for the National Theatre) directs.