At its AGM on Friday 14 September, the Royal Shakespeare Company announced record results for its 50th anniversary year.
It declared box office earnings of more than double last year's at £18.1m with commercial income from trading at £4.4m, nearly treble the previous year, and income from donations and sponsorship up from £2.3m to £5.1m. Total turnover has come to more than £50m for the first time ever, an increase of 54%.
This increase was certainly helped by the major critical and commercial success of Matilda the Musical, which transferred to the West End in October 2011, but the period included 1,082 performances of 26 productions and a short residency in New York with seven Shakespeare productions on a thrust stage shipped out specially to emulate the Stratford stages.
RSC chairman Nigel Hugill said, "As Michael and Vikki prepare to hand over to Greg Doran and Catherine Mallyon in this Olympic year, there’s a real sense of the baton being passed on. It marks the end of the most tremendous stint and I would like to thank them both, publicly and wholeheartedly, for all they have achieved together."
Outgoing artistic director Michael Boyd remarked on his difficult decision to leave at this time, adding, "This last year has certainly scuppered the hopes I might have had of having a gentle wind down, but I am glad to be leaving before I really want to and at a time when the company is prolific and successful.
"I owe all my colleagues and all the brilliant artists who have given us their best work, a huge debt. Together they make a great team for Greg Doran and Catherine Mallyon to lead onto the next stage of the Company’s journey."
Boyd has programmed the season up to the end of 2013, but new artistic director Gregory Doran will be announcing his plans for after that in the new year.