Over the next few days, we’ll be announcing the 2017 Bard in the Botanics company and up first is a returning actor and a new face.

Playing the quarrelsome couple Kate and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew? will be Stephanie McGregor and James Boal. Stephanie will be well-known to Bard audience for her many roles including Juliet (Romeo and Juliet), the Princess of France (Love’s Labour’s Lost), Jessica (The Merchant of Venice), Feste (Twelfth Night) and especially last year’s unforgettable performance as Mephistopheles in Doctor Faustus (pictured). As well as the eponymous “Shrew”, Stephanie will also be playing Regan in Queen Lear.

James Boal meanwhile is a fresh face and an exciting new talent for Bard audiences this year who will be making his debut with Petruchio before tackling the dangerous Angelo in Measure for Measure.