West End's HAMLET, Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Announces Full Cast

Rehearsals begin today (15 June 2015) for Lyndsey Turner's production of William Shakespeare's Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role.

Joining Cumberbatch are Barry Aird (Soldier), Eddie Arnold (Danish Captain, Servant), Leo Bill (Horatio), Siân Brooke (Ophelia), Nigel Carrington (Servant, Cornelius), Ruairi Conaghan (Player King), Rudi Dharmalingam (Guildenstern), Colin Haigh (Priest, Messenger), Paul Ham (Official), Diveen Henry (Player Queen, Messenger), Anastasia Hille (Gertrude), Ciarán Hinds (Claudius), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Laertes), Karl Johnson (Ghost of Hamlet's father), Jim Norton (Polonius), Amaka Okafor (Official), Dan Parr (Barnardo), Jan Shepherd (Courtier), Morag Siller (Voltemand), Matthew Steer(Rosencrantz), Sergo Vares (Fortinbras) and Dwane Walcott (Marcellus).

Performances at the Barbican Theatre begin on 5 August 2015, with opening night on 25 August at 7pm. Hamlet is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions and presented by the Barbican for an exclusive 12-week run, concluding 31 October 2015. Set designs are by Es Devlin with costume designs by Katrina Lindsay, video by Luke Halls, lighting by Jane Cox, music by Jon Hopkins, sound by Christopher Shutt, movement by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and fights by Bret Yount.

As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father's death but paralysed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.

Sonia Friedman Productions, in partnership with Sky Arts, has allocated 100 £10 tickets, spread throughout the auditorium for every performance of this production, totalling over 8,500 throughout the run. Visit hamlet.barbican.org.uk for more details.

In addition to regular performances, four education matinees have been scheduled exclusively for school and university groups (aged 14+ and in full-time education only) on 10 and 30 September and 7 and 21 October 2015 with, for every performance, 100 tickets priced at £10, 300 at £25 and the remainder at £35.

As previously announced, Hamlet will be broadcast to cinemas around the world onThursday 15 October 2015 as part of National Theatre Live - the National Theatre's ground-breaking project which broadcasts plays live from the stage to over 550 cinemas in the UK and over 44 countries internationally. Details of all screenings, including Encore performances, can be found at ntlive.com