The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) today announces the full cast for Daniel Evans’ production of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, playing in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, from Saturday 26 September - Saturday 7 November 2026, with a press night on Tuesday 6 October. 

Elliot Barnes-Worrell will play Orlando, joining the previously announced Tony Award-winning Broadway actor Jonathan Groff as Rosalind and Fisayo Akinade as Celia. Gary Wilmot will play the dual roles of Duke Frederick and Duke Senior, with Richard McCabe as Jaques and Greg Haiste as Touchstone. 

The full company includes Fisayo Akinade (Celia), Elliot Barnes-Worrell (Orlando), Giles Cooper (Le Beau), Jamal Franklin (Ensemble), Jonathan Groff (Rosalind), Greg Haiste (Touchstone), Steffan Harri (Gwilym/Syr Osian), Steffan Hughes (Ensemble/Vocal Captain), Rhys Parry Jones (Corin/Hymen/a Lord at Court/a Lord in Arden), Edward Judge (Charles the Wrestler/Silvius), Gareth Kennerley (First Lord in Arden/Ensemble), Luke McCall (Amiens), Richard McCabe (Jaques), Tim Preston (Phoebe/a Lord at Court), Caleb Roberts (Oliver), Gareth Snook (Adam/Audrey) and Gary Wilmot (Duke Frederick/Duke Senior). 

Rosalind is banished from the court of Duke Frederick - but not before she and young Orlando fall for each other. Seeking out her exiled father in the Forest of Arden with her devoted cousin Celia, Rosalind disguises herself as a young man, Ganymede. 

In fear of his own life, Orlando also escapes to the forest and soon runs into Ganymede, who pledges to cure his lovesickness. But in order to do so, Orlando has to woo her… or rather, he has to woo ‘him’. Then the games commence. 

Daniel Evans directs an all-male company in Shakespeare’s most sweet-natured comedy, where love is love - no matter where it falls. 

The creative team includes Director Daniel Evans, Set Designer Anisha Fields, Costume Designer Colin Richmond, Lighting Designer Ryan Day, Composer, Arranger and Music Supervisor Theo Jamieson, Sound Designer Paul Groothuis, Movement Director Michela Meazza, Fight Director Kev McCurdy, Dramaturg Dr Will Tosh and Casting Director Charlotte Sutton CDG. 

As You Like It plays in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from Saturday 26 September - Saturday 7 November 2026, with press night on Tuesday 6 October. Find out more here.

Jonathan Groff makes his RSC debut as Rosalind. He most recently starred on Broadway as Bobby Darin in Just in Time, for which he also served as a producer and received Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Drama League Award nominations. He previously won the Tony Award for his portrayal of Franklin Shephard in the celebrated revival of Merrily We Roll Along. The production was filmed by RadicalMedia, acquired by Sony Pictures Classics and released theatrically. 

Groff’s additional Broadway credits include Hamilton, for which he received a Tony Award nomination and won a Grammy Award as part of the original cast recording, Spring Awakening, for which he also received a Tony Award nomination, and In My Life. His Off-Broadway credits include Merrily We Roll Along, Little Shop of Horrors, Hamilton, The Submission, The Bacchae, The Singing Forest, Prayer for My Enemy, Hair and Spring Awakening. His screen credits include Mindhunter, Looking, Glee, Hamilton, Frozen, Frozen II, The Matrix Resurrections and A Nice Indian Boy. 

Fisayo Akinade makes his RSC debut as Celia. On screen, he is best known for playing Dean Monroe in Russell T Davies’ Channel 4 series Cucumber and Banana and Mr Ajayi in the Netflix series Heartstopper. His theatre credits include Slave Play (Noël Coward Theatre), The Crucible (National Theatre), The Glow (Royal Court Theatre) and Shipwreck (Almeida Theatre). 

Elliot Barnes-Worrell returns to the RSC to play Orlando, having previously appeared in Richard II. His theatre credits include The Lover and The Collection (Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath), Small Island and Man and Superman (National Theatre), winning the Ian Charleson Award for his performances in Man and Superman and Richard II. His television credits include Black Mirror, The Killing Kind, Van der Valk, Jericho and Doctor Who. His film credits include VS., The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle and Ready Player One. He has also filmed a leading role in the forthcoming Channel 4 series The Academy. 

Richard McCabe returns to the RSC to play Jaques. His previous work for the Company includes A Tender Thing, King John, Othello, The Imperium Plays, The School of Night, Three Hours After Marriage, Timon of Athens, Troilus and Cressida, Twelfth Night and The White Devil. He won both Tony and Olivier Awards for his performance as Harold Wilson in The Audience and was Olivier Award-nominated for playing Autolycus in The Winter’s Tale. His further theatre credits include The Yeomen of the Guard (London Coliseum), A Little Hotel on the Side (Theatre Royal Bath), Bingo (Chichester Festival Theatre/Young Vic), Doctor Faustus (Young Vic), Fortune’s Fool (Old Vic), Scapino (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Yes, Prime Minister (West End and UK tour). His screen credits include Grantchester, Anatomy of a Scandal, A Very British Scandal, Death in Paradise, The English Game, Collateral, Harlots, Peaky Blinders, Poldark, Gladiator II, 1917, The Duke, Master and Commander, Notting Hill and The Constant Gardener. 

Greg Haiste returns to the RSC to play Touchstone, having previously appeared in The Comedy of Errors, Troy Story and Festive Tales. His theatre credits include Fawlty Towers (West End and UK tour), Guy Fawkes (York Theatre Royal), Quiz (Chichester Festival Theatre and West End), Nell Gwynn and Richard II (Shakespeare’s Globe), The 39 Steps (West End), Peter and the Starcatcher and A Christmas Carol (Royal & Derngate), Relatively Speaking and Black Comedy (Watermill Theatre), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Peter Hall Company/Rose Theatre), The Play What I Wrote (UK tour), Low Pay? Don’t Pay! (Salisbury Playhouse/Told by an Idiot), The Madness of George III (Birmingham Rep/West Yorkshire Playhouse) and The Tempest (Southwark Playhouse). His television credits include Ghosts, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, This England, Pennyworth, Timewasters, Home Fires, Emmerdale and EastEnders. His film credits include The Fantastic Four: First Steps, The Current War, The Time of Our Lives and Starfish. 

Gary Wilmot plays Duke Frederick and Duke Senior. His extensive theatre credits include Cats (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), A Man for All Seasons (UK tour and West End), The Wizard of Oz (London Palladium and UK tour), Old Friends (Gielgud Theatre), Wicked (Apollo Victoria Theatre), Anything Goes (Barbican), The Prince of Egypt (Dominion Theatre), Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear (National Theatre), Flowers for Mrs Harris (Chichester Festival Theatre), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Savoy Theatre and UK tour), The Pajama Game (Shaftesbury Theatre), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Me and My Girl (Adelphi Theatre). His screen credits include Death in Paradise, Midsomer Murders, House of Games, Would I Lie to You? and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.