Jamie Campbell Bower Young Earl of Oxford Rhys Ifans Edward de Vere David Thewlis William Cecil Joely Richardson Princess Elizabeth Tudor Vanessa Redgrave Queen Elizabeth I Sebastian Armesto Ben Jonson Rafe Spall William Shakespeare Edward Hogg Robert Cecil Xavier Samuel Earl of Southampton Sam Reid Earl of Essex Paolo De Vita Francesco Trystan Gravelle Christopher Marlowe Robert Emms Thomas Dekker Tony Way Thomas Nashe Julian Bleach Captain Richard Pole Derek Jacobi Prologue Alex Hassell Spencer James Garnon John Heminge Mark Rylance Condell Ned Dennehy Interrogator John Keogh Philip Henslowe Vicky Krieps Bessie Vavasour Helen Baxendale Anne De Vere Paula Schramm Bridget De Vere Richard Durden Archbishop Shaun Lawton Footman Detlef Bothe John De Vere James Clyde King James I Christian Sengewald Cecil's Spy Servant Axel Sichrovsky Essex General Katrin Pollitt Lady-in-Waiting Laura Lo Zito Selling Maid Gode Benedix Groundling Nic Romm Usher Henry Lloyd-Hughes Bear Baiter Patrick Diemling Oxford's Servant Patrick Heyn Oxford's Doctor Trystan Pütter Bottom André Kaczmarczyk Titania Jonas Hämmerle Child Oberon Mike Maas Pole's Commander Alfred Hartung Stage Player: Shakespeare Company Oliver Rickenbacher Stage Player: Shakespeare Company