A dark fairytale comes to life…

Cymbeline tumbles from Rome to the hills of Wales, and teems with extraordinary fairy tale characters: a wicked stepmother, a girl who flees in disguise, a faithful servant, lost brothers and even a headless corpse. As Jupiter descends on an eagle to resolve this beguiling tangle of tales, Cymbeline rises to a breathtaking crescendo, the giddiest climax in the entire canon.

To celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, Artistic Director Emeritus Gregory Doran directs the last play in that miraculous volume.

Gregory Doran, RSC Artistic Director Emeritus, said:

“2023 is the 400th anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio. Without the Folio we would not have half of Shakespeare’s plays today, including many of his most famous and loved works. This year we are doing five of them. We opened the year with the first play to appear in that miraculous book, The Tempest, and I am directing the last one in it, Cymbeline. 

I have often wondered why Cymbeline is the last play in the Folio. It is listed under the tragedies, but it could just as easily have been placed in the comedies or even the histories as it is set Ancient Britain at the time of the Romans. Though its thrilling story threatens to end in tragedy, its astonishing denouement is full of joy. I think the compilers of the Folio put Cymbeline at the end of the book because it defies categories and won’t be pinned down- that is what makes it so exciting.

I am honoured to be opening Cymbeline as this year’s birthday play on Shakespeare’s birthday weekend, which coincides with the publication of a book. My Shakespeare: a director’s journey through the First Folio concludes with an epilogue as I set out on rehearsals for Cymbeline. When we open, I shall be able to say I have worked on every single play in that amazing life manual, Shakespeare’s First Folio.”

Royal Shakespeare Theatre Stratford-upon-Avon

Box Office
01789 331111
Opening times

• Running time:

  Part 1: 1 hr 15 mins (15 mins interval) Part 2: 1 hr (5 mins pause) Part 3: 51 mins