The Chandos portrait of William Shakespeare will be on display for a limited time when the RSC opens its first permanent exhibition devoted to the staging of Shakespeare’s plays.
The picture has left the National Portrait Gallery on only a few occasions since it opened in 1856. It will be loaned to the RSC and will sit alongside a first folio of Shakespeare’s plays dating from 1623.
The Play’s The Thing will be in the Swan Wing at the RSC in Stratford. The exhibition will allow visitors to explore the imaginative ways that Shakespeare’s stories, settings and characters have been brought to life on stage.
Rarely-seen props, original set designs and costumes worn by David Tennant, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Helen Mirren, Sir Laurence Olivier, Paul Robeson and Vivien Leigh will be on view.
The exhibition will also reveal some of the RSC’s more gory theatrical secrets including how a snapping carrot can replicate the noise of a bone breaking.
Geraldine Collinge, director of events and exhibitions at the RSC, said, “people love to find out how we make our productions and discover the many brilliant skills that go into bringing Shakespeare’s work alive.
“Visitors will be able to experience theatre making for themselves with interactive digital experiences, hear from the actors who’ve performed on our stages and find out more about how we create our productions.”
The Play’s The Thing is the culmination of a major project to restore the oldest part of the RSC's theatres in Stratford. The exhibition opens on Saturday 22 October. Admission is £8.50 for adults and £5 for students.