VENUE 069


THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE HAS A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE HEARTS OF MANY PEOPLE, FROM THE LOCAL COMMUNITY TO THE INTERNATIONAL THEATRE WORLD. WHEN THE RSC DECIDED TO OVERHAUL THE ENTIRE BUILDING, IT DIDN’T TAKE ANY DECISIONS LIGHTLY...


unsellable seats - were as far as 27 metres from the stage. They could be forgiven for not getting too excited about the works of Shakespeare, or indeed, those barely audible stickmen in the distance. It was decided a 1,040 seat main auditorium with a thrust stage was the answer. “We wanted to move away from the 19th Century proscenium ‘picture frame’ to a theatre which celebrates interaction,” explained RSC Artistic Director, Michael Boyd. “Our transformed Royal Shakespeare Theatre auditorium offers the promise of a changed relationship between actor and audiences as its thrust stage plunges out from the old proscenium arch and brings the furthest seats almost twice as close to the action.” The realisation of such an ambitious project required the guidance of an esteemed directorship, and the subsequent appointment of a


skilled creative team. RSC Executive Director Vikki Heywood teamed up with Artistic Director Michael Boyd, RSC Chairman Christopher Bland, Chair of the Project Committee Lady Sainsbury of Turville CBE, Project Director Peter Wilson OBE and RSC Associate Designer Tom Piper. The team worked with architects Bennetts Associates, builders and project managers Mace, theatre designers Charcoalblue, engineers Buro Happold, acousticians Acoustic Dimensions and technical installers Stage Electrics. Before Charcoalblue or Stage Electrics could get their hands dirty, Bennetts Associates, Buro Happold and Mace had some structural tasks to attend to. The main achievements of which were the sensitive demolition of the old cinema-style auditorium, the construction of a drum-shaped structure within the space it left and the creation of an eight metre deep basement (referred to by most


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