The Royal Shakespeare Company has completed casting for its revival of Phyllida Lloyd’s all-female Julius Caesar, set to tour schools before a public run at the Other Place in Stratford. The production explores themes of freedom and justice through a unique prison-based perspective, returning much of the original 2012 company.

The RSC’s Julius Caesar revival, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, opens at Ormiston Bushfield Academy in Peterborough on 21 September before touring schools across England and concluding with a run at the Other Place from 5 to 28 November. The production notably features Harriet Walter as Brutus alongside original cast members Jackie Clune as Julius Caesar and Leah Harvey as Mark Antony.

This revival is based on Lloyd’s acclaimed 2012 staging at the Donmar Warehouse, which formed part of an all-female Shakespeare trilogy. The play imagines a group of women in prison who stage Julius Caesar, using the text to examine justice and freedom.

The cast includes Jennifer Joseph as Trebonius, Jenny Jules as Cassius, and Carolina Valdés as Casca, with new additions such as Kosar Ali in multiple roles including Calpurnia and Pindarus, and Shona Babayemi as Cinna the Conspirator. Siân Stephens appears as the Soothsayer, while Shalisha James-Davis plays both Portia and Octavius.

Alongside the school tour, up to 20 young creatives from each partner academy will participate in a residency programme addressing the play’s themes, culminating in a Young Creatives Festival at the Other Place on 21 November. The tour also offers workshops, post-show discussions, and backstage careers opportunities for students.

This initiative is part of the RSC’s Building Partnerships programme, celebrating two decades of collaboration with schools and theatres across England. It aims to engage young people in theatre-making and deepen their understanding of Shakespeare’s work.

The revival also renews Lloyd and KPPL Productions’ partnership with criminal justice associate artist Rachel Frank and women from HMP New Hall, who have contributed creative responses developed over a three-month period. The cast will work closely with the prison drama group during rehearsals and spend time at HMP New Hall before the tour begins.

The creative team includes set and costume designer Bunny Christie, lighting designer Zeynep Kepekli, sound designers Tom Gibbons and Pete Malkin, movement directors Ann Yee and Carolina Valdés, and fight director Kate Waters. The production is supported by casting director Matthew Dewsbury and voice and text director Barbara Houseman.

Lloyd described the project as a collaboration between “three communities” — the cast, the women at HMP New Hall, and young people across England — aiming to let “unheard voices ring out and inspire change.”