The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced its most anticipated production of 2026. This September, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon will host a landmark staging of As You Like It, bringing Shakespeare’s most sweet-natured comedy to life with a cast that returns the play to its primal, Tudor roots.
“If I were a woman…”
In a major casting coup, Tony Award-winner Jonathan Groff (Hamilton, Merrily We Roll Along) makes his RSC debut as Rosalind.
The production, directed by Daniel Evans, employs an all-male cast—a bold and authentic engagement with the play’s original Elizabethan performance tradition. In Shakespeare’s time, the role of Rosalind was written for a male player to navigate the intricate layers of a character who is a woman, disguised as a young man (Ganymede), who then instructs her lover to woo “him.”
Joining Groff is Fisayo Akinade (Heartstopper) as the devoted Celia. Together, they will explore a forest where “love is love”—no matter where it falls—and where the games of the heart are played with high-stakes artistry.
While the performance takes place on the Stratford stage, the story’s DNA remains firmly rooted in the heritage of Soulton Hall. As You Like It is a uniquely regional play, drawing its spirit from the Shropshire Marches:
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The Original Sir Rowland: The play’s “Old Sir Rowland” is a direct tribute to Sir Rowland Hill, the Tudor master and builder of Soulton Hall.
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The Forest of Arden: The theatrical woods of the RSC find their real-world inspiration in the Shropshire landscape that shaped Thomas Lodge—author of the play’s primary source—during his youth at Soulton.
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The Dance of Harmony: The resolution of the play is a “Dance of Harmony,” a concept physically encoded into the Dancing Pavement that sits at Soulton to this day.
This production promises to be a total sell-out, marking a rare moment where the ancient history of “Old Sir Rowland” meets a world-class, traditionally-cast theatrical event.
Tickets are being released shortly. We recommend marking these dates in your diary:
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10 March 2026: Priority Booking for RSC Members
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18 March 2026: Public Booking Opens
The production runs from 26 September – 7 November 2026.
