11 – 20 October 2018
A major new revival of Schiller’s Don Carlos with Tom Burke leading the company as Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa, is coming to the Northcott.
Gadi Roll’s production, presented in a co-production with Nuffield Southampton Theatres and Rose Theatre Kingston, is the centrepiece of the Exeter Northcott’s 50th anniversary celebrations and opens in Exeter on 16 October, with previews from 11 October. The production reunites Burke and Roll following their previous collaboration on Don Juan Comes Back From the War at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry.
Don Carlos, son and heir to the tyrannical Philip II, is desperately in love with his stepmother, Elizabeth, to whom he was once betrothed. To resolve his all-consuming passion, Carlos enlists the help of his closest friend. Enter Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa, who dreams of freedom for his people and becomes an unlikely power broker in the King’s duplicitous court.
Written just two years before the French Revolution, Schiller’s Don Carlos engages with themes of justice, equality, freedom of expression and conscience, religious bigotry and state persecution and is as relevant today as ever.
Paul Jepson said: “I first met Tom when I directed him at RADA, and it’s wonderful to reunite for our major new revival of Schiller’s masterpiece Don Carlos in a co-production with Nuffield Theatres Southampton and Rose Theatre Kingston.
“It is an incredibly resonant play given the intolerance in the contemporary world. Gadi’s production is at the heart of our 50th anniversary season, and forms a major part of our produced programme.”
Tom Burke added: “Don Carlos is a play that speaks for today – it’s themes as relevant now as when Schiller wrote it. Gadi Roll and I are thrilled to open the production with Paul and the team at the Northcott ahead of performances in Southampton and Kingston.”
Friedrich Schiller’s (1759 – 1805) principal works for the stage include The Robbers, Intrigue and Love, The Wallenstein Trilogy, Mary Stuart and William Tell.