Rehearsed reading of Shakespeare's Antony And Cleopatra, York Theatre Royal, February 22

He will take the roles of Enorbarbus, Gallus and second Guard in the 7pm event in aid of the appeal to complete the fund-raising for the theatre’s £4.1 million re-development programme.

In the wake of Game Of Thrones actor Owen Teale and Hugh Fraser pulling out from the originally announced cast, Leonard, Richard Howard, Will Postlethwaite and the show's director, George Costigan, have all confirmed they will be taking part.

The three actors have stepped in at the last minute to join the first rehearsal on Sunday at the Arts Theatre in London, and Costigan decided he could not resist joining them on stage to play Proculieus, Taurus and 3rd Guard.

Paterson Joseph and Niamh Cusack will lead the cast of 13 in the roles of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Joseph has starred in Channel 4’s Peep Show and Babylon and performed in Shakespeare’s plays as Oswald in King Lear and Dumaine in Love’s Labour’s Lost. Cusack, fondly remembered in Yorkshire for playing Dr Kate Rowan in Heartbeat, is no stranger to Shakespeare parts, having performed with Sean Bean in Romeo And Juliet and as Desdemona, alongside Ben Kingsley, in Othello, both for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 2012, Cusack starred in the National Theatre premiere of Simon Stephens’ stage adaptation of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, a production that received the most nominations in the Olivier Awards the following year.

Director George Costigan is best known for his 1986 film role as adulterous Yorkshire businessman Bob in Rita, Sue And Bob Too and also starred in the 2003 film Calendar Girls. At the Theatre Royal, he has appeared in the main house as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman in 2008, while in The Studio he has performed in two two-handers, David Harrower’s Blackbird, with Charlie Covell in 2011, and Caryl Churchill’s A Number, with his son, Niall Costigan, in 2014.

“After directing a reading of King Lear at York Theatre Royal in 2010, I thought Paterson and Niamh would be fantastic as Antony and Cleopatra, so when Damian Cruden, artistic director at the theatre, suggested another rehearsed reading to raise money for the re-development, I instantly suggested it,” says George.

The aforementioned Charlie Covell will take the part of Charmian on her return to the Theatre Royal. She is at present playing Amy in E4’s ground-breaking television series Banana and its Channel 4 companion piece, Cucumber, and she has appeared in Channel 4’s Peep Show, ITV’s Whitechapel, E4’s The Inbetweeners and ITV’s Law And Order. Charlie also was a finalist in the National Funny Woman competition and she has been named, in her capacity as a writer, as one of Broadcast magazine’s HotShots.

“I’ve been dying to work with George again ever since we did Blackbird together back in 2011,” she says. “It’s a huge privilege to be involved in this and to be back at York Theatre Royal.”

Further roles will go to Richard Howard as Lepidus and Dolabella; Kieran Hill as Alexas and Ventidius; former Holby City regular Adam Best asScarus and Agrippa; sitcom actress Sally Bretton as Iras and Octavia and Emmerdale soap star Danny Miller as Demetriusand Eros. Will Postlethwaite, son of the late actor Pete Postlethwaite, will play a multitude of messengers and guards.

The cast will be completed by two actors familiar to Theatre Royal audiences: Matthew Rixon and Niall Costigan, who both appeared in Mike Kenny’s The Legend Of King Arthur in July 2013. Rixon will read no fewer than five parts: Mecaenus, Soothsayer, Euphronius, Soldier of Caesar and Clown; Costigan will play Octavius Caesar.

This fund-raising gala performance of Shakespeare’s play of power, politics and passion will take place on a main-house stage that will be bare but for 13 chairs. Tickets are on sale on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk