A New Theatre More Like Old...

In April 2006, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) launched the ambitious Complete Works Festival, a year-long celebration staging all of Shakespeare's works - from plays to poems.

Now the RSC has announced its plans to transform the Royal Shakespeare Theatre into a more intimate venue, a "modern take" on the stage upon which Shakespeare originally performed over 400 years ago. The current auditorium in Statford-upon-Avon was built in 1932 and is influenced by cinema design; but in its new presentation, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre will seat just over 1,000 people, feature a thrust stage, and bring the furthest seat in from 30 meters to 15.

The transformation is scheduled to begin in spring 2007, after the end of the Complete Works Festival. The project is estimated to cost £100 million (of which £85 has already been pledged) and will take three years, during which time the RSC will continue to perform in Stratford-upon-Avon at the Courtyard Theatre, a prototype of the planned Royal Shakespeare Theatre, set to open in July 2006 with Michael Boyd's Henry VI trilogy).

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* Based on official RSC press release.