Volunteers required to join RSC's Julius Caesar cast

Julius Caesar is set for a run at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon

Volunteers from the West Midlands are being sought for crowd scenes for a new production by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

Julius Caesar will form part of the 2012 World Shakespeare Festival and will feature an all-black British cast.

Three information sessions will take place in Birmingham over seven days.

An RSC spokesperson said volunteers would find themselves "walking the stage" alongside actors including Adjoa Andoh and Paterson Joseph.

A representative from the RSC's casting department as well as the production's assistant director, Gbolahan Obisesan, will be present at the Afro Caribbean Millennium Centre in Winson Green to talk to those interested.

'Arab Spring'

Subsequent sessions will be held at Millennium Point on 4 April and The Drum in Aston on 10 April with all of them running between 17:30 and 19:30 BST.

Mr Obisesan confirmed the play would be "set in Africa with the backdrop of the Arab Spring" with up to 25 people making up the crowd for each performance.

He said: "For this production we'd like volunteers from the black community and surrounding areas of Stratford. Black men and women over the over the ages of 18.

"You would be citizens of the city for the big party scenes, for the big crowd scenes, getting involved and being a part of the action as much as possible."

The production is set to run at Stratford-upon-Avon's Royal Shakespeare Theatre from 28 May until 7 July.

The World Shakespeare Festival begins on 12 April and continues until November.