A new touring production of Shakespeare's Othello, directed by Anthony Almeida and set against the Falklands War, has confirmed its full cast ahead of a September opening in Newcastle.

Dwane Walcott takes the title role, with Maanuv Thiara as Iago — the ensign whose scheming drives the tragedy. Phoebe Smyth plays Desdemona, making her professional theatre debut after graduating from LAMDA (the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art). Rebecca Banatvala plays Emilia, Grace Hodgett Young plays Bianca, Chris Garner plays Brabantio, Will Stanton plays Cassio and Mattieu Sys plays Roderigo. What's On Stage

Almeida has relocated the action to an isolated British military outpost in the early 1980s, with the Falklands War as backdrop. The setting reframes Shakespeare's tragedy of jealousy, race and manipulation inside the pressures of a wartime garrison — a context that turns the play's domestic catastrophe into something shaped by military hierarchy and isolation.

The production is a co-production — meaning the partner venues pool resources to mount a single show — between Northern Stage in Newcastle, HOME Manchester and the Citizens Theatre Glasgow, in association with Royal and Derngate Northampton. Royal and Derngate will present the production on its Royal stage as part of its "Made in Northampton" programme, a strand for work developed with or alongside the venue. Royal and Derngate, Facebook

The tour opens at Northern Stage, running from 11 to 26 September, with a press night on 16 September. From Newcastle it travels to HOME Manchester (30 September to 10 October), Royal and Derngate Northampton (13 to 17 October), Theatre Clwyd in Mold (20 to 24 October), the Citizens Theatre Glasgow (27 October to 7 November), Derby Theatre (10 to 14 November) and the New Theatre Peterborough (17 to 20 November).

The creative team behind the production includes designer Natasha Jenkins, lighting designer Sinead McKenna, sound designer Matthew Tuckey and video designer Erin Guan. Giaele Mattioli handles movement, fight and intimacy direction — the last of these a standard credit in modern theatre, ensuring scenes of physical contact are choreographed safely. The production manager is Suzie Normand, costume supervisor is Sara Mackenzie and casting director is Karishma Balani. What's On Stage

For audiences outside London, the tour brings a freshly conceived Othello to six regional venues over ten weeks — a model that has become central to how large-scale British theatre reaches audiences beyond the West End. The co-production structure lets three subsidised houses and an associate venue share the cost and risk of mounting a full-scale Shakespeare production, then send it on the road.