Richard, My Richard Cast Announcement

A Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds & Shakespeare North Playhouse co-production, in association with Daniel Schumann.

The full cast has today been announced for best-selling historical author Philippa Gregory’s playwright debut Richard, My Richard. This world premiere – a co-production between Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and Shakespeare North Playhouse – is an innovative new stage play. Inspired by the real life of Richard III; which challenges the reputation of one of history’s most enigmatic characters: a passionate, tender portrait of the man in his time, and the women who determine his fate.

With an explosion of tarmac, a Leicester Car park erupts and Richard III crashes from his lost tomb to meet the character who has ruined his reputation: History – the record keeper who doesn’t always have his mind on the task.

Richard believes he has risen from the grave to heaven with an unstained conscience, and History has the awkward task falls to History of telling the Undead King that he is remembered as one of the greatest villains. History admits- he has his own doubts. He is far from a reliable narrator: his perspective is skewed, he has his favourites, some people he completely ignores. History overlooks people and stories.

Funny, poignant, and underpinned by research, Richard’s secrets have not died with him, he rises up to tell us the story, his story, History.

The full cast are Kyle Rowe (The Devil’s Hour – Amazon Prime, Sexy Beast – Paramount+) as ‘Richard’, Tom Kanji (Julius Caesar – Royal Shakespeare Theatre/UK Tour, Private Peaceful – UK Tour) as ‘History’, Tyler Dobbs (A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare North Playhouse, Tom’s Midnight Garden – Theatre By The Lake) as ‘George/Buckingham’, Jennifer Matter (Arthur & Merlin: Knights of Camelot – Picture Perfect, Villain – Greenville Media) as ‘Queen’, Olivier Award nominee Tori Burgess (Tony! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera] – UK Tour, Pride & Prejudice* (*Sort Of) – Tron Theatre, West End & UK Tour) as ‘Anne’, Laura Smithers (First Encounters: Twelfth Night – RSC’s The Other Place & UK Tour, Clarion – Arcola Theatre) as ‘Margaret’, Matt Concannon (Lazarus Project– SKY, The Girl on the Train– UK Tour) as ‘Edward/ Thomas Stanley’ and Mary Savage (Who the F—k is Shakespeare – 20 Stories High, as ‘Elizabeth’. [The Tony Blair Rock Opera] – UK Tour, Pride & Prejudice* (*Sort Of) – Tron Theatre, West End & UK Tour) as ‘Anne’, Laura Smithers (First Encounters: Twelfth Night – RSC’s The Other Place & UK Tour, Clarion – Arcola Theatre) as ‘Margaret’, Matt Concannon (Lazarus Project– SKY, The Girl on the Train– UK Tour) as ‘Edward/ Thomas Stanley’ and Mary Savage (Who the F—k is Shakespeare – 20 Stories High) as ‘Elizabeth’.

Dr Philippa Gregory CBE, FRHistS, is one of the world’s foremost historical novelists. She wrote her first novel, Wideacre, while completing her PhD in eighteenth-century literature at the University of Edinburgh, and it sold worldwide, heralding a new era for historical fiction. Her flair for blending history and imagination developed into a signature style and Philippa went on to write many bestselling novels, including The Other Boleyn Girl and The White Queen. Now a recognised authority on women’s history, Philippa graduated from the University of Sussex and received a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where she is a Regent and was made Alumna of the Year in 2009. She holds honorary degrees from Teesside University and the University of Sussex. She is a fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff and an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck University of London. In 2020 she was made a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services to literature and charity. Philippa is a member of the Society of Authors and in 2016, was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Historical Fiction Award by the Historical Writers’ Association. In 2018, she was awarded an Honorary Platinum Award by Nielsen for achieving significant lifetime sales across her entire book output.

Richard, My Richard is sponsored by Chassis Cab DAF.