Arthur Hughes to star in Richard III at Royal Shakespeare Theatre this summer

Arthur Hughes will play the title role in a new production of Richard III from the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Gregory Doran directs Shakespeare’s final instalment of the vivid and enthralling story of the brutal struggle for the English crown, running in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from Thursday 23 June to Saturday 8 October 2022.

This premiere features Arthur Hughes in the title role of Richard following his RSC debut in Wars of the Roses on the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage in Spring 2022.

Arthur is best known for his roles as Ryan McDaniel in supernatural Netflix series The Innocents, Ruairi Donovan in BBC Radio 4 series The Archers, and was most recently seen in Jack Thorne’s Channel 4 care-home drama Help with Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham.

Arthur said: “It’s no exaggeration to say that playing Richard at the RSC is a dream come true. Richard is the most murderous and charismatic character in Shakespeare’s plays, and… he’s disabled!

“I’m thrilled not only to be playing this title role at the RSC, but also that a major production of this play is putting disability centre stage. It’s sadly rare in many plays to find a leading disabled character, and with this production I hope we prove that disabled talent deserves to be in the spotlight.”

The production will play in repertoire with Blanche McIntyre’s production of All’s Well That Ends Well.