Go Live!   Go Professional!

Shakespeare’s plays are so rich and unique that audiences around the world still go to the theatre to enjoy them. Time hasn't seemed to affect Shakespeare's popularity. Nowadays, people can choose between thousands of options to entertain themselves. Still, titles such as Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, and Macbeth are powerful enough to catch the attention of many. Furthermore, there are theatre companies throughout the world that are exclusively devoted to producing traditional Shakespeare plays and other classical pieces. One of the most notorious companies that undertakes this responsibility is the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Based in Stratford-upon-Avon, this major British company has been “connecting people with Shakespeare and producing bold, ambitious work with living writers, actors and artists” (RSC, 2011), since 1961.

After decades of magnificent performances, this year the RSC debuts a new venue that will allow audiences to experience an ideal setting for Shakespeare’s plays. RSC's old house was demolished with the purpose of building this new theatre that can successfully meet the modern needs of the performing arts. However, the team in charge of the project struggled to keep elements of the old theater to pay an appropriate tribute to the history of the RSC’s original home. Undoubtedly, there are many crucial facts about this project that deserve to be further discussed. However, the one that I would like to highlight is the untraditional approach that RSC took to face this intricate construction venture. In the theatre world, it is very common to choose an industry expert construction company that will carry out all the work and decide who to hire for every task involved. Alternatively, RSC chose to set up its own team, carefully selecting the best contractors for each job. As a result, the project was led by RSC Board members and executives with the collaboration of one architecture firm, one theatre consultant, one associate designer and a project director. Thus, this team was able to pay attention to every single last detail of the construction and meticulously test the disposition of the thrust stage, rigging, lighting, acoustics, and other facilities. When deciding on the relationship between all these elements, the final goal was very clear to them: to enhance the intimacy between audience and actors. They studied the specifications of the project and practiced every alternative on a 1:1 prototype for one year, before going ahead with the construction.

The New Royal Shakespeare Theatre Auditorium

The new 183.2 million-dollar theatre took three and a half years to complete and accommodates 1,000 people. The previous building could also seat the same amount of people but the last seat was 90 feet away from the stage. Now, the “the farthest seat is only 49 feet from the stage, and 85 percent of the seats are no farther away than 33” (Harryman, 2011).

Unquestionably, this project is a perfect example of how a team benefits from synergic collaboration, proper selection and integration of its members, efficient time management, appropriate definition of the scope, budget-wise functioning, and audience-satisfaction orientation.

For tour reservations and theater tickets, go to www.rsc.org.uk.