| Royal Shakespeare Company |
Article Index for Royal |
Website Links For Royal |
Information AboutRoyal Shakespeare Company |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY | |
| 1879 establishments | |
| shakespearean theatre companies | |
| theatres in warwickshire | |
| theatre companies in england | |
| theatre companies in london | |
| theatre companies in newcastle upon tyne | |
|
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a British Theatre company. It is located primarily at Stratford-upon-Avon , with bases also in London , and Newcastle and is one of the two most prominent publicly-subsidised funded theatre companies in the United Kingdom, alongside London's Royal National Theatre . COMPANY HISTORY The early years The RSC's history dates back to Wednesday, 23 April1879 when the newly completed Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford On Avon staged its first production, '' Much Ado About Nothing '', whose title gave ammunition to several critics. The Memorial, a red brick Gothic cathedral, designed by Dodgshun And Unsworth of Westminster, was unkindly described by Bernard Shaw as “an admirable building, adaptable to every purpose except that of a theatre.” But under the direction of William Bridges-Adams and after a slow start its resident New Shakespeare Company became one of the most prestigious in Britain. The theatre received a Royal Charter of Incorporation in 1925, which gave it a certain status. But this was short-lived because on the afternoon of 6 March 1926, when a new season was about to commence rehearsals, smoke was seen, then fire broke out and the mass of half-timbering chosen to ornament the interior provided good dry tinder. By the following morning the theatre was a blackened shell. The company transferred its Shakespeare festivals to a converted local cinemea, but fund-raising began for the rebuilding of the theatre, with generous donations arriving from philanthropists in America. In January 1928, following an open competition, the 29 year old Elisabeth Scott was appointed architect for the new theatre. So the theatre became ''the first important work erected in this country from the designs of a woman architect'' Pringle,p.29. Her modernist plans for an Art Deco structure came under fire from many directions, but the new building was opened triumphantly on Shakespeare’s birthday, 23 April 1932. Later it was to come under the direction of Barry Jackson , Anthony Quayle and Glen Byam Shaw , with an impressive roll call of actors. Indeed Scott’s building, with some minor adjustments to the stage, remained in constant use until 2007 when it was finally closed for a major refit of the interior. The RSC In 1959, while still the Director-designate of the Memorial Theatre, Peter Hall announced that the formation of a permanent company would be a primary objective. As David Addenbrooke records in his study of ''The Hall Years'', Hall believed that Shakespeare, more than any other dramatist, needed a 'style', a tradition and unity of direction and acting. On 14 January 1960, Hall's first policy statement as Director also proposed the acquisition of a second theatre, in London, to be used as a city outlet for selected Stratford productions. The RSC was formally established on 20 March 1961 with the Royal announcement that the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre would henceforth be known as the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the company as the Royal Shakespeare Company. John Barton had been appointed Associate Director in January 1960, and was followed in 1962 by Michel Saint-Denis , Peter Brook and Clifford Williams who joined the company as resident directors. John Bury was appointed Head of Design in 1964. The repertoire was also widened to take in modern work and classics other than Shakespeare. In 1962 strong opposition to the establishment of a London base for the RSC came from the National Theatre which — led by Viscount Chandos and Laurence Olivier — wished to be the sole subsidized company operating in London. But following a deal with Prince Littler , managing director of Associated Theatre Properties, the RSC successfully established the Aldwych Theatre as its London base for productions transferred from Stratford to London, its stage redesigned to match the RST's apron stage. Twenty years later, in the summer of 1982, the company took up London residence in both the Barbican Theatre and The Pit studio space, part of the Barbican Arts Centre under the auspices of the City of London. But while the RSC had been closely involved in the design of these two venues, in 2002 it left the Barbican after a series of allegedly poor seasons, also because the then artistic director, Adrian Noble, wanted to develop the company's touring performances. His decision has left the company without a regular London home. The RSC first tackled its need for a small auditorium in 1971. At Trevor Nunn 's insistence, the company hired The Place off the Euston Road in London and constructed its own theatre space for an audience of 330, seated on raked wooden benches. Two seasons of plays were staged in 1972 and 1973, none suitable for the Aldwych. But in December 1973 Buzz Goodbody , a promising young director, drew up a plan for what would become The Other Place studio theatre in Stratford, designed by Michael Reardon to seat 140 people, which opened to a first and highly successful season in 1974. The name chosen for the new studio space was favoured within the company because it implied an alternative theatre, but also because it was a quotation from ''Hamlet''. Trevor Nunn and Terry Hands were joint artistic directors of the RSC when the company opened The Swan , its third theatre in Stratford. The Swan Theatre, designed by Michael Reardon , has a deep thrust-stage and a galleried, intimate 430-seat auditorium. The space was to be dedicated to playing the works of Shakespeare's contemporaries, the works of European writers and the occasional work of Shakespeare. The theatre was launched on 8 May 1986 with a production of '' The Two Noble Kinsmen '' by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher (not published until 1634 and thought to be Shakespeare's last work for the stage). It was directed by Barry Kyle {Link without Title} . After a 2005-06 winter season with no Shakespeare (but with productions/adaptations of '' The Canterbury Tales '', '' Great Expectations '', '' Women Beware Women '' and '' The Crucible ''), and as their main theatres in Stratford began re-building work, in April 2006 the RSC began the Complete Works Festival , a year-long project to stage the Complete Works of William Shakespeare . ( project link ) The RSC is the sole British member theatre of the Union Of The Theatres Of Europe . The RSC also acquired the rights to the Shakespeare Schools Festival , which tries to get young actors into Shakespeare as early as possible. THEATRES In Stratford, the RSC runs four theatres:
The company's London presence has included tenancies of the Aldwych Theatre , The Place in Duke's Road, Euston, the Barbican Theatre and The Pit in the City of London, The Mermaid Theatre . the Roundhouse in Camden, the Novello Theatre and the Gielgud Theatre . In Stratford the RSC currently performs in the Courtyard Theatre, opened in July 2006, designed by Ian Ritchie Architects and designers Charcoal Blue . {Link without Title} . As a working prototype for the new auditorium of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre it has a thrust stage and stacked tiered seating on three sides for 1,000 people. During the winter months, Stratford-upon-Avon’s Civic Hall on Rother Street will provide the RSC with a temporary second theatre {Link without Title} . The Courtyard will be the Company’s main performance space whilst the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is closed for transformation. But when the development is complete in 2010 the Courtyard will be dismantled and The Other Place will then re-open as the RSC's studio theatre. As part of this project the 432-seat Swan Theatre is also closed temporarily from mid-August 2007, and will eventually share the foyer space with the re-vamped RST. For more information visit the RSC website {Link without Title} . KEY PRODUCTIONS
ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
NOTABLE ACTORS PAST AND PRESENT The following notable actors have appeared in RSC productions and at Stratford.
REFERENCES SOURCES
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|