Jeremy Irons to Star in The Gods Weep for the Royal Shakespeare Company

Jeremy Irons will return to the Royal Shakespeare Company for the first time in 23 years to star in the world premiere of Dennis Kelly’s The Gods Weep. The play will begin performances on March 12 at the Hampstead Theatre and will open on March 17, playing a limited engagement through April 3, directed by Maria Aberg.

Joining Irons will be Nikki Amuka-Bird (Beth), Karen Archer (Astrologer), Neal Barry (Ian), Babou Ceesay (Gavin), Sam Hazeldine (Old Soldier/Beth’s husband), Joanna Horton (Barbara), Stephen Noonan (Richard), Luke Norris (Jimmy), Sally Orrock (Nadine), Helen Schlesinger (Catherine), Laurence Spellman (Martin), John Stahl (Castile) and Matthew Wilson (Security Guard).

The Gods Weep centers on Colm (Irons), who has taken a lifetime to build his empire. When he decides to divide power between his subordinates, the world he has created rapidly begins to fracture. Having unleashed a bloody power struggle, Colm is forced to confront the very human cost of his actions. Kelly’s play explores what happens when corporate greed and state security frighteningly overlap.

A Tony Award winner for The Real Thing, Irons appeared on Broadway last season in Impressionism. He last appeared with the RSC in the 1986-87 season as Leontes in The Winter’s Tale and the title role in Richard II. Other recent theater work includes Never So Good (National Theatre, 2008) and Embers (Duke of York’s, 2006). An Oscar winner for Reversal of Fortune, Irons has starred onscreen most recently in Georgia O’Keeffe, Elizabeth I, Appaloosa, Kingdom of Heaven and The Merchant of Venice.

The RSC’s spring season at the Hampstead will also include the world premiere of David Greig’s Dunsinane, a commentary on Macbeth, which will run February 10-March 6, directed by Roxana Silbert.