The Royal Shakespeare Company: Still Playing The Part
By Jennifer Dorn

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Boyd displayed the Company’s commitment to turning things around with the recent production and performance at Stratford-upon-Avon of all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays over the course of a yearlong festival that began on April 23, 2006. Some of England’s major actors stepped into the ensemble for this project and switched from one role to another in the Company’s repertoire. Patrick Stewart appeared as Antony in Antony and Cleopatra as well as Prospero in The Tempest. Ian McKellan had the title role in King Lear and a smaller part in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. Judi Dench returned to the Company after an absence of many years to play Mistress Quickly in a new musical version of The Merry Wives of Windsor. A number of these productions will transfer to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s London home, and to the United States during the 2007-08 season.

One of the most exciting and controversial ventures for the RSC is its plan to replace the 1932 theater on the banks of the River Avon in Stratford. On April 19, 2007, the Company announced that it had secured approximately $200 million for the redevelopment of its theaters in Stratford-upon-Avon. Although there are some in the theater world who do not want to see the 1932 venue demolished, others have stressed that the new theater will be more in keeping with the type of auditorium where Shakespeare’s plays were originally performed.

The new main theater will be a modern version of a courtyard theater from Shakespeare’s time. It will have a thrust main stage with seating for 1,000 on three sides; the relationship between the audience and the actor will be a more intimate one than in the theater it replaces. Unlike the present Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which has a large proscenium arch stage and rather poor sightlines from a number of seats, the new theater will have seating that brings every member of the audience closer to the stage.

While the construction is in progress, the smaller Swan Theatre—an indoor version of an Elizabethan theater that is built into the side of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre—will be temporarily closed. For the next few years, audiences in Stratford-upon-Avon will view plays in the temporary Courtyard Theatre, created especially for this interim period. Among the many rave reviews of the Courtyard Theatre, the Financial Times said that the theater is “at once more loved than most theatres are after decades.” The RSC’s executive director, though, seems definite that the Courtyard Theatre will have to be dismantled when the new theaters are ready. “Stratford would not be able to accommodate, keep up, two large theaters of the size of the new one being built and the Courtyard,” said Heywood.

Alas, without a car, travel to Stratford-upon-Avon for an evening performance is almost impossible without an overnight stay there, as train and bus service shut down late at night. While it is a pleasant overnight in Stratford, a charming town with lots of restaurants, pubs and shops as well as pretty villages nearby, the RSC recognizes the need for better late-night transportation. It is talking with Stratford’s city council about improving transportation between the town and other cities in England. Apart from London, tourists flock to Stratford-upon-Avon more than any other destination in England.

Stratford-upon-Avon flourishes and thrives on Shakespeare’s birth there in 1564. After making a reputation for himself in Queen Elizabeth I’s London, the playwright returned to his hometown in 1610 and died in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616. A number of sites associated with his life are open to the public and draw huge crowds each year, especially the half-timbered residence on Henley Street, where he was born and where his descendants lived until the 19th century.

Other places of interest in and around the town with connections to Shakespeare include the impressive Hall’s Croft where Shakespeare’s oldest daughter, Susanna, lived with her husband; Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, where she lived before marrying Shakespeare in 1582; and Mary Arden’s house, 31⁄2 miles from town in the village of Wilmcote, where Shakespeare’s mother lived before marrying John Shakespeare. In the center of Stratford-upon-Avon is Holy Trinity Church, where the playwright was both baptized and buried.

Tags: 20th - 21st Century, British Heritage, Culture, Historical Figures

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