Kenneth Branagh returns to Royal Shakespeare Company

Sir Kenneth Branagh is returning to the Royal Shakespeare Company for the first time in more than three decades, in what the RSC's artistic directors are calling a "once-in-a-generation theatrical event".

In a series of firsts for two of the great titans of British theatre, the Oscar-winning actor and director will play Prospero in The Tempest for the first time, at Stratford-upon-Avon's Royal Shakespeare Theatre in the Spring of 2026, directed for the first time by Sir Richard Eyre.

Sir Kenneth told the BBC: "When they asked me to come back to the company, my response was a swift and enthusiastic yes."

The actor added he's "been aware of a new creative energy spilling out of those theatres" under the new regime of Harvey and her fellow artistic director Daniel Evans.

He will also perform in Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard opposite Academy-award winner Helen Hunt, directed by RSC co-Artistic Director Tamara Harvey.

Sir Kenneth last appeared at the RSC more than three decades ago, in 1994, as Hamlet.

But he told me his first interaction with the Stratford-upon-Avon theatres was as an audience member in 1978 when he was 17.

He said he "hitchhiked to get there, and had a tent, a dream, and three cans of Heinz sausages and beans".

The first play he saw was The Tempest, with Prospero played by Michael Hordern.

He said he watched it "for 90p from the back of the Gods".

"I was enthused and excited by the whole experience and I feel the same way nearly 50 years later as I return, only this time I don't think I'll hitchhike, and I may avoid the sausages and beans," he added.

In the years since that memorable trip to the RSC, Sir Kenneth has attained theatrical and cinematic heights most actors can only dream of.

As one of Britain's most garlanded actors and directors, his screen credits are extraordinary; Peter's Friends, Shackleton, Wallender and Hercule Poirot.

He is also recognisable to legions of younger fans as Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Sir Kenneth won an Oscar in 2022 for best original screenplay for his autobiographical film, Belfast which also won the Bafta for outstanding British film.

He is also set to star in the upcoming film The Devil Wears Prada 2 opposite Meryl Streep.

For many years Sir Kenneth was also internationally associated with Shakespeare on film.

He shot his Henry V, with no experience of directing movies, when he was only 28 and was nominated for a best director Oscar for it at 29.

I can remember being stunned by his depiction of the muddy Agincourt battlefield and the piles of the dead.

His next project was Much Ado About Nothing, a masterpiece, set in an Italian villa with his then partner Emma Thomson playing Beatrice joyfully to his Benedick.

Then came Othello, Hamlet and more - which can be described as a golden era of Shakespeare on film.

Sir Kenneth's worked on 35 productions of Shakespeare across his career - I wondered how he might now reimagine Shakespeare for a generation glued to their phones?

He talked of earning the audiences' attention and said: "We needn't overthink the so-called battle with technology or be militant about making people 'like' Shakespeare.

"The desire is to divert, not convert. That can be a lot of fun!"

Performing Shakespeare can be very physical and Sir Kenneth started training for his new role of Prospero in March.

He said he needs "at least a year of many types of exercise - mental and physical" to be ready.

For director Sir Richard, whose multi award-winning career also saw him lead the National Theatre throughout the 1990s, this will be his first time directing Shakespeare for the RSC.

He told the BBC that The Tempest "resonates for me because it's a play about freedom and power as well as colonialism and art".

Sir Richard says Sir Kenneth is playing Prospero because he's a "brilliant actor, who brings extensive experience of Shakespeare and of creating theatre and film. He'll bring great authority and gravitas to the part".

Eyre also wants his Tempest to capture imaginations: "I hope there'll be some magic about the production which should appeal to every generation".

At a time when arts funding is being squeezed, Sir Kenneth enthusiastically makes the case for state subsidy in the arts as an investment for the future.

"For the 90p ticket price with which government subsidy allowed me to make my first visit to Stratford nearly 50 years ago, they changed my life and helped steer me and many others into careers, projects and work that have ultimately brought hundreds of millions of pounds back into the economy.

"Cultural power may be considered soft power, but I would call it a super-power - a particularly British super-power to be proud of," he added.

Sir Richard too had a message for ministers: "I would like the Government to recognise that the arts are weapons of happiness and understanding and are as important to the health of the nation as weapons of war."

The RSC's 2026 season will also see Hunt and writer-performer Mark Gatiss make their RSC debuts, with Gatiss in Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.

Harvey and Evans said Sir Kenneth's return will be a "celebration of theatre-making on an epic scale".

For Sir Kenneth, the pull of Stratford never quite left him and stepping on to the stage is "never less than thrilling... The legacy of all those who've gone before - actors and audiences - is an inspiration rather than a weight."

More than 30 years on from his acclaimed Hamlet, Sir Kenneth's return promises to be one of the most talked-about cultural events of 2026.

The Tempest runs at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon from 13 May to 20 June, with press night on 26 May.

The Cherry Orchard opens at the Swan Theatre on 10 July.