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Dateline: 15th December, 2004
RSC to Perform in 1,000-Seater Prefab The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced that it intends to perform its core large scale repertoire in a temporary theatre built adjacent to The Other Place during the transformation of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
The Company has this week submitted a planning application to Stratford-upon-Avon District Council for a temporary 1,000 seat theatre on the site of the car park adjoining the RSC’s studio theatre, The Other Place.
Work is scheduled to start next year so that the temporary theatre will be available for the Company’s Complete Works of Shakespeare Festival which starts in April 2006. By 2007 when work is planned to start on the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the temporary theatre will be the Stratford home for the Company’s main house ensemble until the opening of the new theatre in 2009.
Vikki Heywood, the RSC’s Executive Director said, “We wanted to build a new temporary auditorium close to our existing theatres; somewhere our audiences are already used to coming to. By building on a brownfield site and piggybacking on existing facilities, we’re planning to keep disruption to a minimum.
“We’ve always been committed to continuing to perform in Stratford throughout our redevelopment. That’s important for us, but also for visitors to the town and our audiences in Stratford and the wider region."
RSC Artistic Director, Michael Boyd added.“We don’t want our audiences stuck in a theatrical waiting room until we re-open the RST in 2009. Although temporary, we want to create an exciting theatrical space, with all the facilities our audiences expect. In many ways, the auditorium will be a prototype for the new RST, allowing us to test and experiment with our ambitions for a new one-room thrust stage. “Starting early means the temporary theatre will be on stream for the Complete Works of Shakespeare Festival, the biggest theatrical celebration in the Company’s history. It will be an exciting new space for both RSC and visiting companies to explore Shakespeare’s Complete Works – the first time that’s ever been done.”
The RSC is working with the architect Ian Ritchie on a completely sound-proof theatre complete with heating and air conditioning that can be built quickly with minimum disturbance to neighbours. An RSC spokeswoman said the building will be made from a hard-wearing and sound-proof substance called Corten A, which will be coloured "autumnal red" to blend in with surrounding buildings. Side panels are manufactured elsewhere and can be fitted on to a steel framework with spanners rather than heavy plant machinery, so minimising disruption. The spokeswoman added, "It's a bit like Meccano in a way. You bring it in and put it together. The structure is very highly sound-proofed. If you had a police car with its siren on outside, you wouldn't be able to hear it inside."
The current Other Place auditorium will house foyer and other audience facilities for the new theatre. Work on site is planned to start in summer 2005.
The RSC will perform in the temporary theatre throughout the redevelopment. However, it is also exploring other spaces in the town as venues for the Company’s small- and mid-scale repertoire. Following the transformation of the RST, The Other Place will return to its current use as the Company’s small scale, studio theatre. Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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