Middlemarch: Why the RSC Is Splitting George Eliot's Epic Into Two Parts
The RSC brings George Eliot's Middlemarch to the stage in an ambitious two-part adaptation exploring love, ambition, money and social change.
George Eliot's enormous novel Middlemarch has been transformed into an ambitious two-part Royal Shakespeare Company production, bringing its sprawling story of love, ambition, money and social change to the stage.
Set in a fictional Midlands town in 1832, the story follows a community standing on the edge of political and social change. New ideas are beginning to challenge established expectations, but the people of Middlemarch remain tied to family responsibilities, financial pressures and the opinions of those around them.
Among the central characters is Dorothea Brooke, an idealistic young woman searching for a meaningful life, and Tertius Lydgate, an ambitious young doctor determined to advance medicine. Their hopes and ambitions become increasingly complicated as they encounter money, relationships, social expectations and the consequences of other people's choices.
How do you stage a novel this big?
The challenge of adapting Middlemarch is its sheer scale. George Eliot's novel follows a large community rather than one central hero, with different lives repeatedly crossing and influencing one another.
Nina Raine has condensed the novel into a single stage adaptation presented in two parts, directed by Jeremy Herrin. The RSC's version also brings George Eliot herself into the characters' world as narrator, confidante and counsellor.
The result is a production that can move between the private decisions of individual characters and the wider changes taking place across the community. Dorothea's idealism, Lydgate's professional ambition and the financial and romantic problems of the other residents all become part of the same interconnected story.
When is Middlemarch on at the RSC?
Middlemarch Part One runs at the Swan Theatre until 16 January 2027, while Part Two runs from 10 October 2026 to 16 January 2027.
The RSC recommends seeing both parts in order, either on the same day or separately.
Book Middlemarch tickets through the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Rather than trying to reduce Eliot's novel to one central storyline, the production embraces its biggest challenge: the fact that Middlemarch is really a story about an entire community. Its characters want love, success, independence and purpose, but each discovers that personal ideals can be difficult to protect when they collide with real life.
Image credits: RCS/Johan Persson
