Ralph Fiennes to play Richard III at the Almeida

Ralph Fiennes will play Richard III at the Almeida Theatre as part of its forthcoming season, which also sees Andrew Scott take on the role of Hamlet.

New work by Ella Hickson and Adam Brace also features on the bill for the north London venue’s 2016/17 programme.

Fiennes will be joined by Vanessa Redgrave, who will play Queen Margaret in Richard III, directed by Almeida artistic director Rupert Goold.

It runs from June 7 to August 6, with press night on June 14. The cast also includes Mark Hadfield and Joanna Vanderham.

Almeida associate director Robert Icke will direct Hamlet, which will see Scott perform alongside Juliet Stevenson as Gertrude. The production will run in February 2017.

Elsewhere, Michael Longhurst will direct the world premiere of Brace’s They Drink It in the Congo, which opens in August.

The production runs from August 12 to October 1, with press night on August 19.

Hickson’s new play, Oil, which examines the world’s relationship with fossil fuels, will be directed by Carrie Cracknell. It runs from October 7 to Saturday November 26, with press night on October 14.

The Almeida has also announced that Icke and Duncan Macmillan’s 1984 will return to the West End in June, however the theatre is yet to be confirmed. The show is a co-production with Headlong and Nottingham Playhouse.