Cymbeline has everything you’d want from a classic Shakespearean romance: a secret wedding, an angry monarch, a plotting vengeful queen, confused identities, potions, plots and a happy ending.
At Shakespeare’s Globe’s Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, where it is being directed by rising star Sam Yates, it also boasts two regulars at the iconic London theatre who are best known for their work on classic sitcoms.
Joseph Marcell, who plays the eponymous overprotective king, is best known as The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’s butler with a wit as dry as the Globe’s thatch on a rainless summer, Geoffrey. Pauline McLynn, who plays his manipulative wife with a hidden agenda, is most recognisable as the tea-proffering Mrs Doyle from Father Ted.
Do not expect them to pass round the drinks at the Globe, though. That would not be a very regal pastime.
And a word of advice; if McLynn’s Queen were to offer you a drink, turn it down! Don’t ask why, just do it. ‘Nuff said.
There are no such dubious refreshments in rehearsals, just a few very serious stares, some brimming grins and a little counterbalancing, as you do.
If you’re intrigued by Marc Brenner’s rehearsal shots, you can catch Cymbeline at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse from 2 December until 21 April.