RSC Reveals Full Cast for All-Male As You Like It Headlined by Jonathan Groff
The Royal Shakespeare Company has confirmed full casting for its all-male production of As You Like It, with Tony Award-winning actor Jonathan Groff making his RSC debut as Rosalind.
The production, directed by RSC co-artistic director Daniel Evans, runs in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon from 26 September to 7 November 2026, with a press night on 6 October. WhatsOnStage
Groff, best known to British audiences for his stage work on Broadway and his screen roles in Glee, Frozen and Mindhunter, plays Rosalind — Shakespeare's most famous comic heroine, who disguises herself as a man and flees into the Forest of Arden. In this all-male staging, the cross-dressing tradition of Shakespeare's original company is taken a step further: a male actor plays Rosalind, who then disguises herself as a male shepherd.
Fisayo Akinade plays Celia, Rosalind's cousin and confidante. Elliot Barnes-Worrell takes the role of Orlando, the wrestler-turned-lover. Gary Wilmot, a veteran of West End musicals and pantomime, plays the dual roles of Duke Frederick and Duke Senior — the rival brothers at the centre of the play's court-and-country divide.
Richard McCabe takes on Jaques, the melancholic lord who delivers the "All the world's a stage" speech. Greg Haiste plays Touchstone, the court jester who accompanies Rosalind and Celia into exile.
The full company also includes Giles Cooper as Le Beau, Jamal Franklin in the ensemble, Steffan Harri as Gwilym and Syr Osian, Steffan Hughes in the ensemble and as vocal captain, Rhys Parry Jones as Corin, Hymen and two court lords, Edward Judge as Charles the Wrestler and Silvius, Gareth Kennerley as First Lord in Arden, Luke McCall as Amiens, Tim Preston as Phoebe and a court lord, Caleb Roberts as Oliver, and Gareth Snook as Adam and Audrey.
The creative team behind the production features set designer Anisha Fields, costume designer Colin Richmond, lighting designer Ryan Day, composer and music supervisor Theo Jamieson, sound designer Paul Groothuis, movement director Michela Meazza, fight director Kev McCurdy, dramaturg Dr Will Tosh and casting director Charlotte Sutton.
The RSC describes As You Like It as Shakespeare's most sweet-natured comedy, a play in which "love is love no matter where it falls." Evans and Groff discussed the production in a video published on the RSC's YouTube channel on 23 July, giving audiences an early glimpse of the director and star in conversation about the play's approach.
As You Like It sits within a packed 2026/27 season for the RSC. Current productions in Stratford — The Cherry Orchard in Laura Wade's version and Robin Belfield's edition of A Midsummer Night's Dream — close at the end of August. Later in the season, the company stages Paul Hunter's The Three Musketeers, a co-production with Told by an Idiot, and Middlemarch Parts 1 and 2, adapted by Nina Raine from George Eliot's novel in a co-production with Second Half Productions. A stage adaptation of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones: The Mad King, written by Duncan Macmillan, is also in the season. A family co-production with Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, The Bear and the Piano, runs over the Christmas period.
The RSC has also announced that its upcoming production of Othello starring Sharon D Clarke has been postponed while she undergoes treatment for cancer.
