All female cast of Julius Caesar comes to The Other Place
Landmark RSC and KPPL Production of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare arrives at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon after five-week tour of schools around U.K. This Phyllida Lloyd production will also include a series of After Show Talks. Running from 5 November to 28 November.
Preview
The Royal Shakespeare Company, in partnership with KPPL Productions, will see Phyllida Lloyd’s acclaimed all-female production of Julius Caesar complete its five-week schools’ tour across England with a sold out, run throughout November at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, having played to over 3500 young people across Peterborough, Newquay, Bradford, Nottingham and Blackpool throughout the Autumn.
Led by Olivier Award-winning actor Dame Harriet Walter as Brutus, the production has taken up residence for one week in RSC Associate Schools in Peterborough, Newquay, Bradford, Nottingham and Blackpool, presenting performances to students alongside a programme of workshops, discussions, curriculum activity and opportunities for young people to gain practical insight into careers in theatre.
First staged at the Donmar Warehouse in 2012 as the opening instalment of Phyllida Lloyd’s all-female Shakespeare Trilogy, Julius Caesar was subsequently presented in London, New York, prisons and schools. The 2016 production was filmed with the BBC and is available to view via Digital Theatre, Drama Online and Amazon Prime Video.
This new touring production of Julius Caesar forms part of RSC’s First Encounters with Shakespeare programme which creates 90-minute versions of Shakespeare’s plays for young people who may be encountering his work in performance for the first time.
At each stop on the five-week tour in schools, teachers from different subject areas adapted lessons to connect with the production and its themes. Members of the company took part in workshops and extracurricular activity, including specially curated debates, career talks and conversations with students about the contemporary relevance of the play and how young people might use their own voices to create change within their communities.
Director Phyllida Lloyd said, “Our pledge with Harriet to take Julius Caesar into schools marks our belief that young people deserve world-class theatre — the absolute best of the best. If they cannot afford to come to us, we are coming to them. When we first produced Julius Caesar in 2012, the world was a different place. Obama had just begun his second term in office and dictatorships were crumbling across the Arab world. Now populist leaders proliferate, ‘NO KINGS!’ marches take place across the USA and international laws are no longer sacred.
“In our own communities, many of the themes we explored in 2012 — unheard women’s voices, the pressures on young men and the manipulating power of social media — seem ever more in need of attention. If there is a play for today, to travel the country and inspire the young voices of the future, this is the one.
“This co-production between the RSC and KPPL Productions brings together three communities: a remarkable cast of actors led by Dame Harriet Walter, a group of women in HMP New Hall and young people in schools across the country. Our mission is to use Julius Caesar to inspire unheard voices to ring out and create change — each of us students of the other.”
Jacqui O'Hanlon, Director of Creative Learning and Engagement at the RSC added, “Every child, in every postcode, should have meaningful access to the arts as part of their education. The Children’s Commissioner’s recent Childhood Lottery report is a powerful reminder that where a child grows up and the school they attend profoundly shape the opportunities available to them. We believe arts and cultural organisations have an important part to play in unlocking more opportunities in more places because of the difference arts subjects and experiences can make to young people’s life and learning outcomes.
“By taking Julius Caesar into schools in towns and communities across England, we are bringing exceptional artists and live theatre directly to young people, creating opportunities for them to explore the connections between a 400-year-old play and their own lives and experiences.
“Twenty years of working in partnership with schools and regional theatres has shown us what sustained arts engagement can achieve: strengthened learning outcomes, greater agency and confidence, and deeper engagement. Our ambition for the next twenty years is simple: that access to an arts-rich education becomes the norm for every young person, rather than an opportunity determined by postcode.”
Throughout the sold-out run at The Other Place, audiences will be invited to join a series of Post Show Talks covering topics inspired by the production.
Further details and to book tickets: https://www.rsc.org.uk/first-encounters-julius-caesar-2026/
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