NUFFIELD director Sam Hodges has announced the cast for his world première production of Nick Dear’s new play Dedication – Shakespeare and Southampton, which investigates the relationship between William Shakespeare and the 3rd Earl of Southampton .

Tom McKay plays Shakespeare and Tom Rhys-Harries will appear as Henry Wriothesley, the 3rd Earl of Southampton.

Patron? Collaborator? Employer? Voyeur? Lover?

William Shakespeare is on trial. Questioned about his relationship with the 3rd Earl of Southampton.What exactly did happen between them?

The evidence: Tender poems. Financial dependency. Attempted revolution. A charge of treason.

The compelling new romantic drama set in the powder keg of sex, politics and power in Elizabethan England was written by Hampshire playwright Nick Dear, who received a BAFTA for his first screenwriting credit, a TV adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion. His plays include Power and The Villains’ Opera at the National Theatre; The Art of Success, Zenobia and Pure Science for the RSC; In the Ruins at Bristol Old Vic and Royal Court, London (1990); and Food of Love at the Almeida.

Tom McKay's theatre credits include Julius Caesar (Shakespeare’s Globe), for the Tricycle, Greta Garbo Came To Donegal and The Great Game (also US tour, Public Theatre New York), Frost Nixon (Donmar West End), Romeo & Juliet (Theatre Royal Bath tour), for National Theatre, Macbeth and Lord Of The Flies (RSC).

Tom Rhys-Harries plays Henry Wriothesley. His theatre credits include Creditors (Young Vic), Four (The Old Vic), Hotel (National Theatre), Mojo (Harold Pinter Theatre), The History Boys (Sheffield Crucible) and Torch Song Trilogy (Menier Chocolate Factory).

Sam Hodges is Director and CEO OF Nuffield Theatre. Dedication - Shakespeare and Southampton is the second Nuffield production Hodges has directed, following The Glass Menagerie in 2015. Previously he founded the HighTide Festival Theatre in 2007 and was the Artistic Director for five years, during which time he produced over 25 new plays, co-producing with the National Theatre, the The Old Vic and the Bush Theatre, amongst others. Between 2012 and 2014, he ran the Criterion Theatre in London’s West End, for whom he curated a late-night programme and a one-off summer season of new work to celebrate the London Olympics.

The production opens on September 20, with previews from September 9, and runs until October 8.

Tickets from nuffieldtheatre.co.uk or 023 8067 1771