Geraldine James cast as Rosalind in RSC production of As You Like It

The 72-year-old actor will play a young woman in the latest example of age-blind casting in a Shakespeare production

Geraldine James is to play Rosalind this summer in a “playful and provocative” production of As You Like It by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

James, 72, will make her RSC debut in the role of the young woman exiled in the Forest of Arden. She is to join other veteran actors in Omar Elerian’s production of the play at the Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, from 17 June. The stage will be transformed into a rehearsal room where the actors gather to remember a past show and share out the roles between them.