Geraldine James makes her RSC debut to play Rosalind in director Omar Elerian’s new production of As You Like It which runs in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon between 17 June – 5 August.

In Elerian’s playful and provocative new take on the play, a company of veteran actors - many of whom are likely to have a long and close association with the RSC - will come together to perform one of Shakespeare’s most joyous tales. On a stage transformed into a simple rehearsal room, the actors will gather to conjure the memory of a long gone show, celebrating the magic of theatre and its unique power to make our imagination soar. The extraordinary cast will play every role in this ode to young love, old age, and theatre itself.

Geraldine’s most recent credits include The Beast Must Die (Britbox), Back to Life (BBC1/Showtime) and Anne with an E (Netflix), for which she won the 2019 Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series. Geraldine will next be seen in the television series Silo (Apple TV) and Steven Knight’s This Town (BBC).

Geraldine’s extensive film credits include 45 Years, Benediction, Beast, Daphne (for which she was nominated for an Evening Standard British Film Award), Downton Abbey, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Made in Dagenham, Calendar Girls, Gandhi and Sir Peter Hall’s She’s Been Away, for which she won the Coppa Volpi Award for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival.

She has been BAFTA-nominated four times for her television performances, in Dummy (for which she also won a Critics’ Association Award for Best Actress), The Jewel in The Crown, Band of Gold and Sins.  Other TV credits include Utopia, The Five, Black Work, Legacy, 13 Steps Down, Little Britain and Blott on the Landscape.

You Like It runs in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon between 17 June – 5 August. Tickets are available at: rsc.org.uk