The Stage

RSC’s £100m Stratford refit will restore thirties features

Published Tuesday 20 June 2006 at 12:25 by Alistair Smith

Royal Shakespeare Company management unveiled £100 million plans that will see a radical transformation of the organisation’s Stratford-upon-Avon base into a “modern take of the theatres of Shakespeare’s day.”

Designs by architects Bennetts Associates show proposals to “strip back” modern additions to the building to reveal features of the thirties design by Elizabeth Scott. The adjacent Swan Theatre and the new, temporary Courtyard Theatre, have been seen as inspirations for the new auditorium which will be turned into a 1,000-seat Elizabethan-style theatre with a thrust stage. While the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre will be around 400 seats smaller than the current auditorium, RSC executive director Vicki Heywood claimed that the layout would provide more “democratic seating” with “seats at all prices throughout the house”.

Artistic director Michael Boyd added: “We want to move away from the 19th century proscenium ‘picture frame’ to a theatre which celebrates interaction. Our commitment to bring an immediacy and clarity to Shakespeare means we need to bring the audience to a more engaged relationship with our actors. The best way we can achieve this is in a bold, thrust stage, one-room auditorium - a modern take on the theatres of Shakespeare’s day.”

A central feature of the redesign will be a 33 metre-high tower at the main entrance to the building with views across the surrounding area and providing access to the three levels of the venue. The proposals will also unite the Swan and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre’s foyer and box office spaces and provide enlarged public spaces outside the building which could also be used for performance. The RSC will be submitting a planning and listed building application for the project later this year.

The scheme, which is expected to begin work on site in Spring 2007, is scheduled to be completed by 2010 and will cost £100 million, 85% of which has already been raised, principally through funding from Arts Council England and Advantage West Midlands. Judi Dench will help front a fundraising campaign to generate the remaining £15 million.