Elizabeth Debicki is set to become the first female to play Richard II in a Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) production. The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning Australian actress, best known for playing Diana, Princess of Wales in The Crown, will make her RSC debut in 2027.
Historic Casting and Production Details
The 36-year-old will take on the titular role in a new production directed by Daniel Raggett, whose previous RSC credits include the 2025 production of Macbeth featuring Sam Heughan and Lia Williams, and Edward II at the Swan Theatre. The production will run at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from April 10 until May 22 2027.
Debicki will be the first female in the RSC's history to play Richard II, a role previously performed by actors including David Tennant, Sir Derek Jacobi, Jeremy Irons, Michael Redgrave, Sam West and Alan Howard.
Artistic Directors' Praise and Creative Collaboration
The company's co-artistic directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey said: "Having admired Elizabeth's work on stage and on screen, and her ability to match immense vulnerability with deep courage, we are hugely excited by the prospect of her playing Richard at the RSC."
They added that Raggett and Debicki had discussed working together "for a number of years" and were "delighted when they agreed to be part of our forthcoming season". "Both are fascinated by what this play might reveal to us about leadership and the tension that exists between the symbolic roles we occupy in public and our private selves," they continued.
Raggett said: "It is beyond my wildest dreams to be returning to the RSC for a third time, and I feel incredibly proud and grateful." He also praised Evans and Harvey, saying they had "made the RSC a home where I can realise my most ambitious ideas" and that under their leadership, the RSC is "once again cementing itself as the place where the greatest actors in the world come to play Shakespeare".
Summer 2027 Season Announcement
The announcement came as the RSC revealed full details of its Summer 2027 programme, comprising four Shakespeare plays and two world premieres inspired by novels from Virginia Woolf and Susanna Clarke. The season opens with Coriolanus, starring Damien Molony, which the RSC said "examines Shakespeare's political tragedy through the lens of contemporary populism, societal instability and elemental scarcities in a turbulent world".
Other productions include Joanna Bowman's Romeo And Juliet, and Born With Teeth, which replaces the previously scheduled Othello, postponed after its star Sharon D Clarke was diagnosed with cancer and undergoes treatment. The world stage premiere of Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, adapted by Zoe Cooper, and the world stage premiere of Piranesi, based on Clarke's novel and adapted by Sami Ibrahim, are also scheduled.
The season is rounded out by The Comedy Of Errors, directed by Francesca Goodridge, which will visit partner schools and theatres across England. Priority booking for members and supporters opens from 10am on Monday October 5, with public booking opening from Wednesday October 21.
