A production of Hamlet from South Africa will open as planned in Stratford-upon-Avon next week - despite the murder of a member of its cast in Cape Town.
Twenty-eight year-old Brett Goldin, who was to have played Guildenstern in the production from the Baxter Theatre Centre, was murdered on Saturday along with his friend, the fashion designer Richard Bloom, in an apparent car-jacking.
The men went missing after leaving a party and were later found lying face-down in a field, each with a single gunshot wound to the head.
Five men have been arrested in connection with the killing, and three have so far been charged with possession of stolen property.
The murder has provoked a wave of revulsion in South Africa, where Goldin was well known as an up- and-coming actor.
The company, which cancelled Monday's performance in Cape Town, has now brought in Nicholas Pauling to play the part in Stratford and will dedicate the 12 performances at the Swan Theatre to Goldin.
Hamlet 's director, the South African-born Royal Shakespeare Company associate artist Janet Suzman, said: "This is very hard for us all. Brett was an imp of nature, with such a vivid personality, and I don't think any of us will ever get over this tragic loss."
Hamlet opens at the Swan Theatre next Thursday as part of the year- long festival of Shakespeare's complete works.
