RSC postpones Othello while leading actor Sharon D Clarke has cancer treatment

Radical reimagining of Shakespeare play was due to run at Swan theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon from 13 February to 3 April 2027

The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced that it will postpone its radical production of Othello starring Sharon D Clarke, while the Olivier-winning actor undergoes treatment for cancer.

The production, directed by Monique Touko, was scheduled to run from 13 February to 3 April 2027 at the Swan theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Clarke, 60, is best known for her role as Lola Griffin in the BBC medical drama Holby City, as well as for her theatrical performances in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Caroline, or Change.

In a statement on Thursday, Clarke said: “I would like to thank all the beautiful people at the RSC for their understanding, love, support and healing energy. Othello will be my north star as I undergo treatment.”

She added that she, her family and wife – the writer and director Susie McKenna – had been “overwhelmed, humbled and buoyed by the tidal wave of love that we have received and are so blessed to have an army of strength and support to hold us up. Love and thanks to my beautiful people.”

The RSC said anyone with tickets to see Clarke in Othello would be automatically refunded and a replacement production period would be announced at a later date.

Touko, whose recent work has included Marie & Rosetta at @sohoplace and Jaja’s African Hair Braiding at the Lyric Hammersmith, said: “On behalf of the entire creative team, we send Sharon all the love for her ongoing treatment and recovery.

“As a director, I have been incredibly blessed to collaborate with Sharon on this major reframing of Shakespeare’s tragedy, which reimagines Shakespeare’s Othello through the lens of misogynoir. Sharon is the ultimate collaborator. Her generosity and passion for this project continues to astound me and I look forward to us coming back together when the time is right to share this production with the world.”

The RSC described the show as “set in a climate-threatened future in which a Black lesbian holds a seat of power”.

It said it “re-imagines Shakespeare’s 400-year-old story through the lens of misogynoir, as an unsanctioned marriage perilously crosses boundaries of race, sex and status, allowing jealousy, suspicion and malign intent to close in.”

The RSC’s co-artistic directors, Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey, said Clarke’s casting as Othello was integral to Touko’s adaptation, “which is why we have taken the difficult decision to postpone, to give Sharon the time and space she needs to undertake treatment”.

They added: “Sharon is, in every sense of the word, a warrior, and we know she will meet this challenge with the unwavering strength and indomitable spirit that she brings to so many aspects of her life and work. We look forward to revisiting this thrilling collaboration in the future and, on behalf of everyone at the RSC, we send Sharon our love and strength for a full recovery.”

A three-time Olivier winner, Clarke has worked consistently on stage and screen since her first TV role in 1986’s The Singing Detective. Most recently, she starred as Lady Bracknell opposite Ncuti Gatwa in the National Theatre’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest.