RSC Theatre Reopens

The Royal Shakespeare Company reopens the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres today on time and on budget, following a four year redevelopment as part of the £112.8 million Transformation project designed to bring actors and audiences closer together.

24 November 2010 - Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres reopen with preview events and activities
February 2011 - First plays on new Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage are King Lear and Romeo and Juliet performed by current long ensemble
April 2011 - London – RSC Ensemble premieres three new plays at Hampstead Theatre
April 2011 – Stratford-upon-Avon – Formal reopening of Royal Shakespeare Theatre with 50th Birthday Season of Shakespeare, classics and new plays.

The Company will reopen its doors to the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres from 24 November 2010, inviting people in to rediscover and explore the building, which will have a brand new 1,000 seat thrust stage auditorium, 36 metre high Tower, new exhibition spaces, new places to eat and drink, including Rooftop Restaurant and Riverside Café and terrace, restored 1930s features and improved public areas including the new Weston Square. Visitors will be able to take part in a series of preview events and activities which will help test the spaces, while throughout the opening period Matilda, A Musical plays at The Courtyard Theatre.

In February 2011, the current RSC ensemble will perform the first productions on the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage when they return from London's Roundhouse to revive King Lear and Romeo and Juliet, directed by RSC Associate Directors, David Farr and Rupert Goold. The company will also perform Artistic Director Michael Boyd's production of Antony and Cleopatra in the Swan Theatre and both Young People's Shakespeare productions of Hamlet and The Comedy of Errors, before going back to London to premiere three new plays at Hampstead Theatre which run from April to June 2011.

The RSC will celebrate its 50th birthday and formally reopen the theatres with new companies and a new season from April 2011.