Editing Royal Shakespeare Company (section)

==Company history==
[[File:Royalshakespearetheatre-080911.jpg|thumb|Renovated Royal Shakespeare Theatre in [[Stratford-upon-Avon]] in 2011]]
[[File:Stratford RST.jpg|thumb|Royal Shakespeare Theatre in [[Stratford-upon-Avon]] in 2003]]

===The early years===

There have been theatrical performances in Stratford-upon-Avon since at least Shakespeare's day, though the first recorded performance of a play written by Shakespeare himself was in 1746 when Parson Joseph Greene, master of Stratford Grammar School, organised a charitable production to fund the restoration of [[Shakespeare's funerary monument]].<ref>Allardyce Nicoll, Kenneth Muir, ''Shakespeare Survey 19'', Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 145.</ref> [[John Ward (actor)|John Ward]]'s [[Birmingham]]-based company, the [[Warwickshire Company of Comedians]], agreed to perform it. A surviving copy of the playbill records that the company performed ''[[Othello]]''.<ref name = "wind">Stanley Wells. Shakespeare for all Time. London, Macmillan, 2002, p. 220.</ref> The first building erected to commemorate Shakespeare was [[David Garrick]]'s [[Jubilee Pavilion]] in 1769, and there have been at least 17 buildings used to perform Shakespeare's plays since.

The first permanent commemorative building to Shakespeare's works in the town was a theatre built in 1827, in the gardens of New Place, but has long since been demolished. The RSC's history began with the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, which was the brainchild of a local brewer, Charles Edward Flower. He donated a {{convert|2|acre|adj=on}} site by the River Avon and in 1875 launched an international campaign to build a theatre in the town of Shakespeare's birth. The theatre, a Victorian-Gothic building seating just over 700 people, opened on 23 April 1879, with a performance of ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'', a title which gave ammunition to several critics.

The Memorial, a red brick Gothic cathedral, designed by ''Dodgshun and Unsworth'' of [[Westminster]], was unkindly described by [[George Bernard Shaw|Bernard Shaw]] as "an admirable building, adaptable to every purpose except that of a theatre." From 1919, under the direction of [[William Bridges-Adams (Theatre director)|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 status.

On the afternoon of 6 March 1926, when a new season was about to commence rehearsals, smoke was seen.  Fire broke out, and the mass of [[half-timbered|half-timbering]] chosen to ornament the interior provided dry tinder. By the following morning the theatre was a blackened shell. The company transferred its Shakespeare festivals to a converted local cinema.  Fund-raising began for the rebuilding of the theatre, with generous donations arriving from philanthropists in [[United States|America]].

In January 1928, following an open competition, 29-year-old [[Elisabeth Scott]] was unanimously appointed architect for the new theatre which became the first important work erected in the United Kingdom from the designs of a female architect.<ref>Pringle, p. 29</ref> George Bernard Shaw commented that her design was the only one that showed any theatre sense. Her modernist plans for an [[art deco]] structure came under fire from many directions but the new building was opened triumphantly on [[Shakespeare|William Shakespeare]]'s birthday, 23 April 1932. Later it came under the direction of Sir [[Barry Vincent Jackson|Barry Jackson]] in 1945,<ref name="Billington">''State of the Nation: British Theatre Since 1945'' by [[Michael Billington (critic)|Michael Billington]], Faber (2007) {{ISBN|978-0-571-21034-3}}</ref> [[Anthony Quayle]] from 1948 to 1956 and [[Glen Byam Shaw]] 1957–1959, with an impressive roll-call of actors.  Scott's building, with some minor adjustments to the stage, remained in constant use until 2007 when it was closed for a major refit of the interior.

Timeline:

1932 – New Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opens, abutting the remains of the old.

1961 – Chartered name of the corporation and the Stratford theatre becomes 'Royal Shakespeare.'

1974 – The Other Place opened, created from a prefabricated former store/rehearsal room in Stratford.

1986 – The Swan Theatre opened, created from the shell of the 1879 Memorial Theatre.

1991 – Purpose-built new Other Place, designed by Michael Reardon, opens.

September 2004 – The vision for the renewal of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre transformation is announced.

July 2006 – The Courtyard Theatre opens with a staging of Michael Boyd's Histories.

November 2010 – The Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres re-open following their transformation.

March 2016 – The Other Place was reinstated as a 200-seat studio theatre.

===The RSC===

====Foundation and history====
In 1959, while still the director-designate of the Memorial Theatre, [[Peter Hall (theatre director)|Peter Hall]] announced that the formation of a permanent company would be a primary objective. David Addenbrooke wrote of Hall's belief that Shakespeare, more than any other dramatist, needed a 'style', a tradition and unity of direction and acting.<ref>Addenbrooke (1974)</ref> 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.

The critic [[Michael Billington (critic)|Michael Billington]], summarising these events, wrote: "In 1960 the twenty-nine-year-old Peter Hall formally took charge at Stratford-upon-Avon and set about turning a star-laden, six-month Shakespeare festival into a monumental, year-round operation built around a permanent company, a London base and contemporary work from home and abroad. Looking back, it is difficult to realise just how radical Hall's dream was at the time; or indeed how much opposition there was to the creation of what became officially known in March 1961 as the Royal Shakespeare Company."<ref name="Billington"/>

[[John Barton (director)|John Barton]] had been appointed associate director in January 1960,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/feb/07/theatre.rsc|title=Interview: John Barton – Stage|last=Bllington|first=Michael|date=7 February 2006|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=3 December 2015|archive-date=19 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119120046/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/feb/07/theatre.rsc|url-status=live}}</ref> and was followed in 1962 by [[Michel Saint-Denis]], [[Peter Brook]] and [[Clifford Williams (actor)|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 [[Royal National Theatre]] which – led by [[Viscount Chandos]] and [[Laurence Olivier]] – wished to be the sole subsidised company operating in London. Following a deal with [[Prince Littler]], managing director of Associated Theatre Properties, the RSC 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 in the [[Barbican Centre]] under the auspices of the City of London.  The RSC was closely involved in the design of these two venues.  In 2002 it left the Barbican after a series of allegedly poor seasons, partly because the then artistic director [[Adrian Noble]] wanted to develop the company's touring performances. His decision means the company has no regular London home.

====Innovation and growth====
The RSC had first tackled its need for a small auditorium in 1971. At the insistence of [[Sir Trevor Nunn]] (who had taken over as artistic director in 1968), the company hired [[The Place (London)|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. In December 1973 [[Buzz Goodbody]], the company's first female director,<ref>Colin Chambers [https://books.google.com/books?id=u4QNOJgj0nQC&pg=PT67 ''Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company: Creativity and the Institution''], Abingdon: Routledge, 2004, p. 67</ref> drew up a plan for what would become [[The Other Place (theatre)|The Other Place]] studio theatre in Stratford, designed by [[Michael Reardon (English architect)|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 is a quotation from ''Hamlet''.

In August 1976, Nunn staged ''[[Macbeth]]'' with a minimalist set at The Other Place, playing for 2 hours 15 minutes without an interval. The small, nearly round stage focused attention on the psychological dynamics of the characters. Both [[Ian McKellen]] in the title role and [[Judi Dench]] as Lady Macbeth received exceptionally favourable reviews. The production transferred to London, opening at the [[Donmar Warehouse]] in September 1977 before its further transfer to the larger [[Young Vic]] venue for a two-month season. It was also recorded for transmission by [[Thames Television]]. In 2004, members of the RSC voted Dench's performance the greatest by an actress in the history of the company.

Summing up this triumphant period, [[The Guardian]] critic [[Michael Billington (critic)|Michael Billington]] later wrote: "[In 1977] the RSC struck gold. This was, in fact, the perihelion of Trevor Nunn's ten-year reign as the company's sole Artistic Director and Chief Executive (in 1978 he began to share power with Terry Hands). In London, the company opened a new studio space at the [[Donmar Warehouse]] with plays by Barker, Taylor, Bond and Brecht. Its Aldwych repertory combined the usual Stratford transfers with [[Peter Nichols (playwright)|Nichol]]'s ''[[Privates on Parade]]'', Ibsen's ''Pillars of the Community'' and Brecht's ''[[The Days of the Commune]]''. At the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Terry Hands and actor Alan Howard had a marathon year working on ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'', a virtually uncut, ''[[Henry VI, part 1]]'', ''[[Henry VI, part 2]]'' and ''[[Henry VI, part 3]]'' and ''[[Coriolanus (play)|Coriolanus]]''. And the action at The Other Place included Jonson, Ford, Musset, Gems and Rudkin. No other company in the world could match that output for quantity and quality".<ref>''One Night Stands'' by Michael Billington, Nick Hern Books (1993) {{ISBN|1-85459-185-1}}</ref>

Nunn and Hands were joint artistic directors of the RSC when the company opened [[Swan Theatre (Stratford)|The Swan]], its third theatre in Stratford. The Swan Theatre, also designed by [[Michael Reardon (English architect)|Michael Reardon]], has a deep [[thrust stage]] and a galleried, intimate 450-capacity 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 (playwright)|John Fletcher]] (not published until 1634 and thought to be Shakespeare's last work for the stage). It was directed by [[Barry Kyle]].{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

==== Costumes and props ====
The RSC's costume department is 'the largest in-house costume-making workshop in British theatre' and 'world-renowned'.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|date=10 June 2021|title=RSC completes £8m project to update theatre's costume department|url=http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/jun/10/rsc-completes-8m-project-to-update-theatres-costume-department|access-date=1 July 2021|website=The Guardian|archive-date=16 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716033011/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/jun/10/rsc-completes-8m-project-to-update-theatres-costume-department|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, the RSC raised over £8&nbsp;million for a project to update the costume and prop department.<ref>{{cite news|last=Sanderson|first=David|title=RSC shines spotlight on the magicians in its costume workshop|newspaper=[[The Times]]|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/theatre-dance/article/rsc-shines-spotlight-on-the-magicians-in-its-costume-workshop-lbj8mr995|access-date=1 July 2021|issn=0140-0460|archive-date=30 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630001304/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rsc-shines-spotlight-on-the-magicians-in-its-costume-workshop-lbj8mr995|url-status=live}}</ref> Alistair McArthur, head of costume, called the old working space "Dickensian" and added, "If we knew there was rain coming we'd have to clear everything off the table the night before."<ref name=":1" />

The prop-makers design and make many of their own props for the many productions.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|date=8 January 2018|title=You want a flamingo? No problem! A rare glimpse inside the RSC's mind-boggling props HQ|url=http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/jan/08/you-want-a-flamingo-no-problem-a-rare-glimpse-inside-the-rscs-mind-boggling-props-hq|access-date=1 July 2021|website=The Guardian|archive-date=18 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618035534/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/jan/08/you-want-a-flamingo-no-problem-a-rare-glimpse-inside-the-rscs-mind-boggling-props-hq|url-status=live}}</ref> A 'Prop Shop' in Stratford-upon-Avon is the studio in which most of the props are made.<ref>{{cite web|title=Making Props|url=https://www.rsc.org.uk/about-us/how-we-make-theatre/props|access-date=1 July 2021|website=Royal Shakespeare Company|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709182320/https://www.rsc.org.uk/about-us/how-we-make-theatre/props|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Troubled times====
Nunn (who had been appointed to follow Hall's tenure at the National Theatre in 1968) ceded his RSC executive directorship in 1986 to his co-artistic director [[Terry Hands]], who bore the brunt of media hostility during a difficult few years for the company.  Hands took the decision to suspend the RSC's residency at The Barbican Theatre and The Pit during the winter season of 1990–91, thus vacating the capital for the first time in 30 years. This was seen as essential if the RSC was to secure an increase in subsidy from the Arts Council.{{citation needed|date=March 2012}}

Shortly after that decision [[Adrian Noble]] returned to the RSC to take over from Hands as artistic director and chief executive.  The company had serious funding problems.  Noble's decision to sever all RSC connections with the Barbican Centre, funded by the Corporation of the City of London, was widely condemned,<ref>{{cite book|last=Chambers|first=Colin|title=Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company: Creativity and the Institution|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-21202-1|page=108|chapter=Crisis and Modernisation}}</ref> and towards the end of his tenure things began to go terribly wrong, partly through his pursuit and support of the so-called [[Project Fleet]], a radical scheme aimed at rescuing the RSC from its financial crisis by replacing the Royal Shakespeare Theatre with a crowd-pleasing 'Shakespeare Village' and streamlining the company's performance structure and ensemble principle.<ref>{{cite news|title=Brave new world; Shakespeare|date=1 December 2001|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|page=53|location=London|quote=Adrian Noble, the Royal Shakespeare Company's artistic director, wants to demolish the main, unloved theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon and replace it with a £100m theatre village}}</ref>

====A 21st-century renaissance====
None of Noble's plans came to fruition.  He left the job an unhappy man in March 2003.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/05/11/btnoble11.xml&sSheet=/arts/2004/05/11/ixartleft.html "Vile. Hateful. A horrible time"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615011720/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2004%2F05%2F11%2Fbtnoble11.xml&sSheet=%2Farts%2F2004%2F05%2F11%2Fixartleft.html |date=15 June 2006 }}: Daily Telegraph, 2004</ref> [[Michael Boyd (director)|Michael Boyd]] then assumed control of the RSC, now burdened with a deficit of £2.8&nbsp;million. By a combination of artistic excellence and quiet husbandry, including a year-long [[Complete Works (RSC festival)|Complete Works of Shakespeare Festival]] (begun in April 2006 in collaboration with other theatre companies) plus a financially successful London season at the [[Novello Theatre]] in 2006, Boyd slowly rebuilt the company's fortunes and reputation.

In 2007 he launched the long-awaited Stratford theatre redevelopments, including construction of the temporary [[Courtyard Theatre]] while work was in progress, designed to house his RSC Histories cycle before its transfer to the [[Roundhouse (venue)|Roundhouse]] in London in 2008.<ref>[http://www.rsc.org.uk/content/5013.aspx RSC The Histories cycle] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209030442/http://www.rsc.org.uk/content/5013.aspx |date=9 December 2007 }}</ref> Talking of these achievements with typical modesty he told the ''Evening Standard'' in December 2007 ('The Man Who Remade the RSC'): "There was a bit of gardening to do, but we are now beginning to show signs of walking the walk." 'The Histories' ensemble went on to win three Olivier awards in 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-23425538-details/The+man+who+remade+the+RSC/article.do|title=The man who remade the RSC|last=Jury|first=Louise|date=4 December 2007|work=London Evening Standard|access-date=22 July 2009|archive-date=4 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204051121/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-23425538-details/The+man+who+remade+the+RSC/article.do|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, that same year the RSC commissioned a completely new edition of Shakespeare's First Folio, titled "[[William Shakespeare]] Complete Works" and published by [[Modern Library]].

To provide balance, Simon Trowbridge in ''A Royal Shakespeare Company Book'', published in 2017, is highly critical of aspects of the Boyd years, including his decision to redevelop the Royal Shakespeare Theatre as a second Swan Theatre.<ref>Trowbridge, Simon: '' A Royal Shakespeare Company Book'' (Englance Press, 2017).</ref>

The RSC is the sole British member theatre of the [[Union of the Theatres of Europe]].

In March 2008, the RSC launched a manifesto 'Stand up for Shakespeare',<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.whatsonstage.com/west-end-theatre/news/12-2008/rsc-tells-schools-to-stand-up-for-shakespeare_17838.html|title=RSC Tells Schools to Stand up for Shakespeare???|date=12 December 2008|work=[[Whatsonstage.com Awards]]|publisher=WhatsOnStage.com|access-date=3 December 2015|archive-date=22 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222051911/http://www.whatsonstage.com/west-end-theatre/news/12-2008/rsc-tells-schools-to-stand-up-for-shakespeare_17838.html|url-status=live}}</ref> a campaign to promote a positive experience of Shakespeare for children and young people. The tenets of this manifesto, ''Do It on Your Feet, See It Live, Start It Earlier'' form the basis of the work of the Education department.

In 2010, the RSC opened a new suite of education spaces on Waterside.

In 2011, BP began to subsidised the RSC's £5 ticket scheme for 16 to 25-year-olds.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49906754|title=RSC ends BP partnership after student protest|date=2 October 2019|access-date=2 October 2019|archive-date=3 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003035506/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49906754|url-status=live}}</ref>

In summer 2011 the company undertook a residency in [[Park Avenue Armory]], New York, running a series of performances and an accompanying education programme in partnership with the [[NYC Department of Education]].

In 2012, the RSC produced the World Shakespeare Festival, a celebration of 'Shakespeare as the world's playwright' working with UK and international arts organisations, and including the [[Globe to Globe Festival]] by Shakespeare's Globe. The same year, planning permission was granted by Stratford District Council to reinstate [[The Other Place (theatre)|The Other Place]]. Funding for the new theatre came from a £3&nbsp;million grant from the Arts Council England, raised through the National Lottery. Funding was also received from the [[Gatsby Charitable Foundation]], The Backstage Trust, and from public donations; this is the final phase of the Transformation project.

Live from Stratford-upon-Avon, a new project to broadcast the company's productions in cinemas around the world and stream them into schools was announced in May 2013. The project began with Shakespeare's [[Richard II (play)|''Richard II'']], starring [[David Tennant]], in November 2013, and followed up with ''Henry IV'' parts 1 and 2 and ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' in 2014.

In February 2016, Artistic Director Gregory Doran's productions of ''Henry IV Part I'' and ''Henry IV Part II'', and ''Henry V'' went on tour in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong as part of the King & Country Tour. The same year, the Royal Shakespeare Company also opened their first permanent exhibition, entitled The Play's The Thing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rsc.org.uk/the-plays-the-thing/|title=The Play's The Thing – Exhibition – Royal Shakespeare Company|website=www.rsc.org.uk|access-date=1 December 2016|archive-date=20 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320102240/https://www.rsc.org.uk/the-plays-the-thing/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 23 April 2016, the RSC performed a one night extravaganza, called 'Shakespeare Live!'. Broadcast on BBC Two from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, it marked the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's Death. It involved a collection of Shakespeare scenes and monologues with appearances from [[David Tennant]], [[Catherine Tate]], [[Judi Dench|Dame Judi Dench]], [[Benedict Cumberbatch]] and even one from [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince Charles]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0791mqd|title=Shakespeare Live! From the RSC|website=BBC Two|access-date=18 April 2019|archive-date=20 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320102223/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0791mqd|url-status=live}}</ref>

In June 2019, the actor [[Mark Rylance]] resigned from the RSC over its sponsorship deal with oil company [[BP]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-48721382|title=Rylance resigns from RSC over BP sponsors|date=21 June 2019|access-date=2 October 2019|archive-date=20 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320102226/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-48721382|url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 2019, the RSC announced that it would be ending its partnership with BP at the end of year following criticism of its association with the oil company. A week before, school students threatened to boycott the theatre company if it did not sever links with the firm. A spokesperson for the RSC explained that "Young people are now saying clearly to us that the BP sponsorship is putting a barrier between them and their wish to engage with the RSC".<ref name=":0" />

In February 2021, the RSC announced five new members to its board of trustees: Andrew Miller, Amanda Parker, [[Winsome Pinnock]], [[Justine Themen]] and [[Ayanna Thompson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rsc.org.uk/news/meet-our-new-trustees|title=Meet our new trustees|website=RSC|access-date=3 March 2021|archive-date=20 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320102250/https://www.rsc.org.uk/news/meet-our-new-trustees|url-status=live}}</ref>

It was announced that [[Daniel Evans (actor)|Daniel Evans]] and [[Tamara Harvey]] would become joint Artistic Directors from June 2023.<ref>{{cite web |date=20 September 2022 |title=Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey are an inspired duo to lead the RSC |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/sep/21/daniel-evans-and-tamara-harvey-inspired-duo-to-lead-rsc |access-date=23 September 2022 |website=The Guardian |archive-date=22 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922212255/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/sep/21/daniel-evans-and-tamara-harvey-inspired-duo-to-lead-rsc |url-status=live }}</ref> Their first season was announced on 16 January 2024 commencing from April.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Latest Press Releases {{!}} Royal Shakespeare Company |url=https://www.rsc.org.uk/press/releases/daniel-evans-and-tamara-harvey-announce-their-inaugural-season-as-co-artistic-directors-of-the-royal-shakespeare-company |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=www.rsc.org.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref>