THE Royal Shakespeare Company is now gearing up for a number of its forthcoming productions and has announced who will be starring in some of the major roles.

Bally Gill and Karen Fishwick will be playing the tragic lovers when Romeo and Juliet opens at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in April.

It will be Fishwick’s RSC debut at the Stratford-upon-Avon venue while Gill, who was born and brought up not that far from the theatre in Coventry, is now almost an old hand having made his company debut in 2016 as part of The Other Place’s Mischief Festival.

This will be his first Shakespeare leading role, although last year he appeared in Vice Versa, Salome and Coriolanus.

His other credits include The Island Nation (Arcola Theatre), A Local Boy (The Arts Theatre), Dinner with Saddam (Menier Chocolate Factory), The Bureau of Lost Things (Theatre 503) and NW (BBC/Mammoth Screen).

Fishwick most recently appeared in Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (National Theatre of Scotland/Live Theatre), while her other credits include Glasgow Girls (NTS/Citizens), Hansel and Gretel (Citizens Theatre), The Caucasian Chalk Circle, A Christmas Carol (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh), Badults (BBC Three), James Kirk's Comedy Blaps, The Illuminati (The Comedy Unit) and Tides and Telegrams (for The Winter Tradition).

Romeo and Juliet will be directed by there RSC’s deputy artistic director Erica Whyman and designed by Tom Piper.

It begins previews on the April 21 and will run throughout the summer through to September 22.

It will be broadcast live to cinemas on the July 18. Meanwhile a nationwide UK tour is planned for next year.

Casting has also been announced for The Duchess of Malfi - directed by Maria Aberg - and The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich, which will be directed by Jo Davies.

Both will play in repertoire in the Swan Theatre at Stratford as part of the RSC’s Spring/Summer 2018 Season.

Playing the title role in Webster’s tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi, is Joan Iyiola who returns to the company having performed as part of ‘The Roaring Girls’ and ‘World Elsewhere’ Seasons.

Her recent theatre credits have included Boudica (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Convert (Notting Hill Gate Theatre) and They Drink it in the Congo (Almeida Theatre).

Playing her twin brother Ferdinand is Alexander Cobb whose credits include Mary Stuart (Almeida Theatre), Red Velvet (Garrick Theatre), Indian Summers (Channel 4) and Ripper Street (BBC).

Chris New also returns to the RSC to play their brother The Cardinal. His previous RSC credits include The Comedy of Errors and Twelfth Night.  Taking the lead role in The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich will be Sophie Stanton.

Sophie’s other theatre credits include Ink (Almeida and West End), The Knot of the Heart, Cloud Nine, Dying For It (Almeida), The Shakespeare Trilogy (Donmar Warehouse) and Made in Dagenham (West End), while TV credits include The Halcyon, The Job Lot, Walter, My Mad Fat Diary and New Tricks.

The play was written by the novelist and playwright Mary Pix in the late 1600s. and is described as a comedy of manners, combining mischief-making and mind-bending plot twists.

The Duchess of Malfi opens on March 1 through to August 3, while The Fantastic Follies begins on March 23 with a run through to June 14.