WELL-KNOWN Irish film actress, Derbhle Crotty, returns to the Royal Shakespeare Company to play the title role in Hecuba when it opens next month in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Known for her film roles in Notes on a Scandal (2006), Rory O’Shea Was Here (2004) and Noble (2014), Derbhle is back at the RSC’s Swan Theatre having previously played Lady Macbeth and Lady Duncan in the 2007 repertory season of Macbeth and Ionesco’s Macbett.

Derbhle is currently playing Bolingbroke/Henry IV in DruidShakespeare, which has played various venues in Ireland, New York and at the Kilkenny Festival.

Also included in the full casting announced for this production of Marina Carr’s new play is Ray Fearon, who is another actor returning to the Stratford fold.

An RSC associate artist, Ray Fearon will play Agamemnon. He has worked extensively with the RSC, most recently as Mark Antony in Julius Caesar and as the title role in Othello (1999).

His recent theatre credits include playing Macduff in Macbeth at the Manchester International Festiva and he also appeared in the 2006 series of Strictly Come Dancing.

joining him is Edmund Kingsley who plays Polymestor. Edmund can currently be seen in the BBC 2 mini-series Life in Squares as John Maynard Keynes. His RSC credits include Antony and Cleopatra, Julius Caesar and The Tempest, as part of the Complete Works Festival, Richard III, King John and Lord of the Flies. His film credits include Hugo (2011) and Stonehearst Asylum (2014).

The story is based on the epic tale of Hecuba and will be directed by RSC deputy artistic director Erica Whyman and is scheduled to run from September 17 to October 17, 2015.

A few days before Henry V opens for just over a month’s run at the RST as Gregory Doran, the RSC’s artistic director, continues his exploration through Shakespeare’s History plays.

The play is going to be broadcast to cinemas and will then transfer to the Barbican in London after its run from September 12 to October 25.

Alex Hassell, who played Prince Hal in both productions of Henry IV and recently played Biff Loman in Doran’s production of Death of a Salesman, plays the title role of King Henry.

Doran’s History tetralogy culminates in January 2016 at the Barbican in London, with a major theatrical event marking the start of the 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare’s death, King & Country, a complete 4-play season cycle of Richard II, Henry IV Parts I and II and Henry V playing in repertoire.

Following the Barbican season, Henry IV Parts I and II and Henry V tour to China and are then re-joined by Richard II in Spring 2016 for an exclusive season in America, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with David Tennant in the title role.

October 2015, also marks the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt whilst Henry V performs in Stratford-upon-Avon, bringing added resonance to the play which uses the battle as the famous centrepiece of Henry V’s reign.