A story of power and plotting, Richard II is the first of Shakespeare's four plays about the House of Lancaster. Richard is King. A monarch ordained by God to lead his people. But he is also a man of very human weakness. A man whose vanity threatens to divide the great houses of England and drag his people into a dynastic civil war that will last 100 years. RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran directs David Tennant in the title role.

"A definitive production of a great play and well worth catching when it is broadcast live to cinemas." (The Daily Mail ★★★★★)

"Gregory Doran's exceptional production is a rousing triumph." (The Observer ★★★★★)

"David Tennant gives a bravado performance of a multi-layered, complex and intelligent medieval king in Shakespeare's masterful history play. Gregory Doran's production is superbly orchestrated. This is a lucid, moving production packed with tremendous performances. From Michael Pennington's John of Gaunt, the last great Englishman, to Oliver Ford Davies's wonderfully bewildered Duke of York." (The Daily Express ★★★★★)

"David Tennant is mesmerising in the first show of Gregory Doran's six-year plan to present all of Shakespeare's works. A beautifully crafted, richly detailed production. " (The Guardian ★★★★)

"One of the hottest tickets of the year." (The Times ★★★★)

"A lucid and gripping account of Richard II. David Tennant is in splendid form here. In his gorgeous, gold-embroidered robes, this Richard is wrapped in the mystique of medieval majesty. There isn't a weak link in the cast. Ferocious eloquence overcomes deathbed infirmity in Michael Pennington's superb portrayal of John of Gaunt, and Oliver Ford Davies gives a fine edge of grumpy comedy to the Duke of York's conscience-stricken dithering." (The Independent ★★★★)

"David Tennant delivers a vivid, intelligent performance in Gregory Doran's clear, detailed and dynamic production. One of the year's hottest tickets. Oliver Ford Davies's Duke of York is an unalloyed delight." (The Evening Standard ★★★★)

"Michael Pennington is little short of magnificent as John of Gaunt." (The Daily Telegraph ★★★★)

"Nigel Lindsay's Bolingbroke is a palpably dangerous figure… Jane Lapotaire turns the Duchess of Gloucester into a silver-haired figure whose widowed grief manifests itself in a burning appetite for revenge." (The Guardian)

"A fine, restrained Michael Pennington gives desperate dignity to John of Gaunt's lush – sceptred isle and silver sea – lament for England. Emma Hamilton brings a lovely grace to the small, beguiling part of Richard's wife. As the Duke of York, Oliver Ford Davies is radiantly authentic. He delivers many speeches as if he were quietly arguing with himself and the audience were eavesdropping. When he erupts into violent confrontation he is shattering." (The Observer)

David Tennant, 1971- Emma Hamilton, 1984- Michael Pennington, 1943- Show more Show less

With his crown under threat from enemies both foreign and domestic, Henry IV prepares for war. As his father gets ready to defend his crown, Prince Hal is languishing in the taverns and brothels of London, revelling in the company of his friend, the notorious Sir John Falstaff. With the onset of war, Hal must confront his responsibilities to family and throne.

"Shakespeare's two greatest plays have always been a defining experience for RSC directors. Gregory Doran now puts his decisive seal on the company by offering a production that, like last year's Richard II, combines richness of texture with psychological insight. It also contains a major performance from Antony Sher as Falstaff.But, although Sher's is the dominant performance, everything in Doran's production bespeaks long-range planning. Jasper Britton's fine Henry IV is a tormented usurper, first seen prostrate in self-abasing prayer, capable of volcanic violence: his brutal treatment of Trevor White's bolshie Hotspur in the opening scenes explains the ensuing rebellion." (The Guardian ★★★★)

"Performed on the mighty thrust stage of the RSC's main house in Stratford, the productions have an admirably assured grasp of the plays' panoramic sweep, moving with fluency and a fine feel for thematic counterpoint between care-racked court and lax, frowsty Eastcheap, boozer and battlefield, urban and pastoral. Sher is surrounded by a crack company – amongst whom I particularly enjoyed Paola Dionisotti's Dot Cotton-like take on Mistress Quickly and the Shallow and Silence combo of Oliver Ford Davies and Jim Hooper who sublimely blend fathomless gloom and mad merriment. Strongly recommended." (The Independent ★★★★)

"What a walloping spectacle the Royal Shakespeare Company gives us with its two Henry IV plays. They are staged in the expansive manner, the acting fruity, the lighting full of oranges and blues.Director Gregory Doran presents the panorama of Harry Bolingbroke’s England and the maturing of his heir Hal from wastrel to monarch. Here is Shakespeare perfect for both teenagers and old romantics. We have a pulsatingly deranged Hotspur, Sir Antony Sher’s typically mannered Falstaff, some memorable cameos — and hairdos worthy of a bonkers Hollywood B film. " (The Daily Mail ★★★★)

"He has played Richard III, Shylock, Leontes, Macbeth and Prospero to huge acclaim. But can Sir Antony Sher, one of our most Shakespeare-steeped theatrical knights, give us a Falstaff to remember? .... The answer is yes. A benign grin plastered on his rubicund face, this big-bearded, pot-bellied knave is first seen emerging from the bedclothes under which Alex Hassell’s lusty Harry has been romping with two maids....Jasper Britton’s anguished Henry, Trevor White’s mad-eyed (if weirdly modern-haired) Hotspur and Sam Marks’s Poins, in full bromance mode with Hal, while Paola Dionisotti’s Mistress Quickly is a touching, busybody delight. " (The Daily Telegraph ★★★★)

"Visually Greg Doran's new production is a treat. There are elements that recur from the recent successful Richard II but there is an earthiness and robustness to the design that counterparts well with the more ethereal quality of the first part of the tetralogy.At the centre of it all is the engaging and playful Hal of Alex Hassell. He wins the audience over from his first moments and he lights up the stage with all his interactions. I particularly enjoyed the close bond with Poins - played strongly by Sam Marks. Hassell is also well contrasted with Trevor White's almost manically impetuous Hotspur. Paola Dionisotti (Mistress Quickly) gives a masterclass in how to imbue a relatively minor role with richness and detail. Although she has all too little to say, she is always the most watchable person on stage. A great interpretation." (What's On Stage ★★★★)

"Antony Sher is an insatiable and ebullient Falstaff. It's a performance that combines clarity and complexity — fruity, throaty, here and there a little overripe but always generous and detailed. He captures the warmth of Shakespeare's famously flawed knight — his delight in excess, blustering vitality and sparks of youthful exuberance. And even when he's at his most outrageous, Sher's Falstaff wears the expression of an affronted storyteller who can't quite believe that we don't find him winningly modest." (The Evening Standard ★★★★)

Jasper Britton, 1962- Alex Hassell, 1980- Sir Antony Sher, 1949- Show more Show less