Andre Holland, Mark Rylance & More Join New Season at Shakespeare's Globe

Shakespeare's Globe just announced Michelle Terry's first season as Artistic Director. 2018's Shakespeare productions include Hamlet, As You Like It, The Two Noble Kinsmen, The Winter's Tale, Othello and Love's Labour's Lost. A premiere of three new plays, a national and international tour of Shakespeare and other performances on and off site are announced together with a year-long programme of events exploring the history and future of theatre censorship, as well as a series of events looking at race, refuge and refugees in relation to Shakespeare.

Opening the season on 25 April will be Hamlet, which will play alongside As You Like It from 2 May. Both written around 1599, the year the original Globe was built, these plays will be presented by The Globe Ensemble, which includes, amongst others, the following artists: Federay Holmes, Bettrys Jones, Jack Laskey, Nadia Nadarajah, Pearce Quigley, Shubham Saraf, Elle While, Tanika Yearwood and Michelle Terry. This group of artists will explore these well-thumbed and popular plays as if for the first time, with the unique opportunity of being able to play them in the theatre for which they were written.

Brendan O'Hea will direct a tour of eight actors with The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night. The three plays will open at the Globe before setting out on a national and international tour where they will offer the audience the chance to pick their choice from the three plays, mimicking a tradition from Shakespeare's day. A director, actor, and education practitioner, Brendan has previously performed in a number of productions at Shakespeare's Globe including Cymbeline (2015), Measure for Measure (2015), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2014), and Henry V (2012).

From 25 May, The Two Noble Kinsmen by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare will be directed by Barrie Rutter. Barrie is soon to be directing and appearing in his forthcoming production of The Captive Queen in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse as part of the 2017/18 winter season, coproduced by Northern Broadsides. The Two Noble Kinsmen will be Barrie's first play since stepping down as Artistic Director of Northern Broadsides. From 22 June, The Winter's Tale will be directed by Blanche McIntyre. Blanche returns to the Globe, having previously directed The Comedy of Errors (2014) and As You Like It (2015). Winner of the 2011 Critics' Circle Most Promising Newcomer Award for Accolade and Foxfinder (Finborough Theatre), she has most recently directed The Norman Conquests, a trilogy of plays by Alan Ayckbourn at Chichester Festival Theatre. She has also recently worked at The Donmar Warehouse, Nottingham Playhouse and the RSC.

In response to Refugee Week (18 - 24 June), the Globe will present a festival of events exploring Shakespeare's response to refuge and refugees. The week will include the premiere of Nanjing, a piece about identity, dispossession, and the consequences of war. Written and performed by Jude Christian, it tells the story of the Nanjing Massacre of 1937, frequently referred to as the Rape of Nanking. Jude's credits include directing at the Royal Court (Bodies, Lela & Co.) and she is Associate Artist at The Gate Theatre, the Yard Theatre and the Lyric, Hammersmith.

From 20 July, Othello will be directed by Claire van Kampen, starring André Holland as Othello and Mark Rylance as Iago. André Holland is best known for his roles in Academy Award-winning films Moonlight and Selma. The multi-award-winning actor's other screen credits include 42 and The Knick. Theatre credits include Jitney (Broadway), Blue Door (Playwrights Horizons), Wig Out (Vineyard Theatre), The Brother/Sister Plays (Public Theater) and All's Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare in the Park).

Mark Rylance is currently starring in the Globe's production of Farinelli and the King on Broadway (originally produced under Dominic Dromgoole's tenure as Artistic Director). He was the founding Artistic Director of the Globe, acting for ten years between 1996?-?2005, playing a multitude of roles including the Countess Olivia in Twelfth Night and Richard in Richard III (Shakespeare's Globe, West End, Broadway). Further stage credits include Jerusalem (Royal Court, West End) and Boeing-Boeing (West End, Broadway). His screen credits include Wolf Hall, Dunkirk, The BFG and Bridge of Spies. Claire van Kampen most recently directed Nice Fish in 2016 (St Ann's Warehouse, New York & West End), and wrote Farinelli and the King. From 1997, she was the Globe's founding Director of Theatre Music, creating both period and contemporary music for approximately 50 of the Globe's productions. She is Creative Associate of The Old Vic and has continued to be the Globe Associate for Early Modern Theatre Music since 2007.

Throughout February to September, a series of events will focus on Shakespeare and Censorship. Censorship of British theatre started in 1737 and officially ended 50 years ago on 26 September 1968. This bold series of events explores censorship from historical, national and international viewpoints, and explores what the future may hold. From 12 August, Shakespeare and Race will be a festival of events which will include performances, workshops, public lectures, panels and an international conference. Curated to draw attention to and provide a platform for scholars, practitioners and educators of colour in the teaching, study and performance of Shakespeare, this festival will highlight the importance of race to the consideration of Shakespeare not only in his time, but more urgently, in our own.

From 23 August, Love's Labour's Lost will be directed by Nick Bagnall in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Nick is Associate Director of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse. His previous Globe directing credits include The Two Gentlemen of Verona (co-production with Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, 2016), The Odyssey: Missing, Presumed Dead (2015), The Last Days of Troy (2014), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (2014) and Henry VI: Parts I, II and III (2013). Other credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream (Liverpool Everyman) and Entertaining Mr Sloane (Trafalgar Studios).

Two new plays will premiere on The Globe stage this summer. Morgan Lloyd Malcolm's Emilia (10 August - 1 September), directed by Nicole Charles, will explore the life of Emilia Bassano, whom many consider to be the Dark Lady of the Sonnets, but was also a writer, poet, mother, feminist and woman in her own right. This summer will be an opportunity to follow the elusive 'Emilia' as she threads her way through the canon from the 'Dark Lady of the Sonnets', to Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Othello and The Winter's Tale - every play in which Emilia appears, apart from Emilia the Abbess in The Comedy of Errors. Playwright and screenwriter Morgan Lloyd Malcolm's play Belongings (Hampstead Theatre, Trafalgar Studios) was shortlisted for The Charles Wintour Most Promising Playwright Award, followed by The Wasp (Hampstead Theatre, Trafalgar Studios). In 2016, she was selected for the BBC TV Drama Writers Programme and commissioned to write a 60-minute original television drama. Nicole Charles most recently assistant directed at the Globe for The Taming of the Shrew (2016). Other assistant directing credits include The Jungle (Young Vic) and The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? (Theatre Royal Haymarket).

Emilia will be followed by Matt Hartley's Eyam (15 September - 13 October), directed by Adele Thomas. When the plague arrives surprisingly in the Derbyshire village of Eyam in 1665, the community face the moral dilemma of having to decide whether to flee and risk spreading the vicious disease or stay, protect others from the risk, but face the potential of their own slow and painful death. Adele Thomas's previous Globe credits include Thomas Tallis (2014 & 2015), The Oresteia (2015) and The Knight of the Burning Pestle (2014 & 2015). Other credits include Cosi Fan Tutte (Northern Ireland Opera), The Weir (ETT), Macbeth (Tobacco Factory), The Bloody Ballad (Gagglebabble and Tour), The Passion and The Passion: One Year On (as Project Associate for National Theatre Wales), Under Milk Wood (Royal & Derngate), No Vacancies and Delugue (Sherman Cymru). Matt Hartley's recent work includes Myth (RSC), Here I Belong (Pentabus), Deposit (Hampstead), winning the Bruntwood Award with Sixty Five Miles (Paines Plough?/?Hull Truck Theatre).

As part of a series of scenes, sonnets and songs, a unique event at Westminster Abbey, All Places that the Eye of Heaven Visits returns. In celebration of Shakespeare's birthday, Mark Rylance will join a company of 23 actors, as Shakespeare's plays, poetry and song are brought to life in fleeting and intimate encounters throughout the Abbey. Shakespeare's birthday weekend will also include the Globe and Mark's annual Sonnet Walks: Sweet Love Remember'd, a walk through Shakespeare's London brought alive by actors. Conceived by Mark Rylance, Sonnet Walks: Sweet Love Remember'd will take place Saturday 28 April - Sunday 29 April, tracing routes through Westminster and the City and finishing at the Globe. This sonnet journey will culminate in Sonnet Sunday: Ten Times Happy Me (2 September). This site specific venture will give audiences the rare opportunity to experience all of the sonnets from 1 - 154 over the course of one day as we celebrate Shakespeare with our local, national and international community.

This month the Globe is starting to roll out a new visual identity. The Globe's current identity has evolved significantly since the inception of the Globe project with a major refresh undertaken in 2010. Over the past year, the Globe has been working closely with a number of specialist agencies to develop a vibrant new proposition and identity that embodies the Globe experience and the ongoing radical theatrical experiment that makes the organisation so unique. The new identity combines a wide range of design techniques and will continue to evolve over the coming years to ensure it accurately reflects the current and planned scope of the Globe's diverse programme of work. Read our blog for more information on the brand update.

The Globe season runs from April to October. The 2018 season opens on 25 April with Hamlet and As You Like It presented by the Globe Ensemble. It continues with Barrie Rutter's The Two Noble Kinsmen and Blanche McIntyre's The Winter's Tale. Next to open is Othello, directed by Claire van Kampen. Two new plays will also premiere at the Globe this season: Emilia by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and Eyam by Matt Hartley.

The candlelit Jacobean theatre at Shakespeare's Globe opened in January 2014. Emma Rice's winter season continues until 21 April 2017. The season includes Romantics Anonymous, The Secret Theatre, Apocalypse Meow: Crisis Is Born, All's Well That Ends Well, The Captive Queen, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons - a reimagining, and the return of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Matchgirl and Other Happier Tales. From 23 August, Love's Labour's Lost will be directed by Nick Bagnall, the final week of which will consist entirely of assisted performances. The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse's main indoor theatre season runs from October to April.

One of the largest arts education programmes in the UK; each year, over 100,000 people of all ages and nationalities participate in public events, workshops and courses. The department also runs extensive outreach programmes for students and teachers in the Southwark community, nationally and internationally.

Open to the public all year round, the Exhibition and Tour explores the life of Shakespeare, the London where he lived, and the theatre for which he wrote.

The Globe's productions tour extensively in the UK and internationally. In 2018, a touring company of Globe actors will offer audiences a choice of The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew or Twelfth Night, with each performance decided by audience vote.