RSC Secures Over £100m For Theatre Transformation

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) announced today that it has secured over £100 million in its international campaign to transform the Royal Shakespeare Theatre into “the best theatre in the world for Shakespeare.” Major national and international donors have been encouraged to contribute after seeing the proposals for the new theatre.

Building on partnership funding from Arts Council England and Advantage West Midlands to redevelop the RSC’s theatres in Stratford-upon-Avon, a further five lead gifts - totalling over £22 million - have been secured from private philanthropists in the United Kingdom and United States. These take the confirmed funding for the project to just over £100 million.

These early pledges of support from the RSC’s most significant donors have given the Company the confidence to grow its initial plans. The proposals’ costs have now grown to support these ambitions: from £100 million to £112.8 million. As the Company has already raised the full original cost of the scheme (£100 million), the final £12.8 million will be raised through an extended fundraising campaign which will include a public appeal.

The further improvements include a double-height rooftop restaurant with dual views across the River Avon and Bancroft lawns as well as increased space and facilities for artists and staff. Perhaps most significantly, these considerable improvements will be made while restoring the original riverside façade, the foyer and circle bar of the 1932 building.

This critical funding milestone was reached as the RSC received planning consent for the major element of the transformation project. Stratford District Council this afternoon passed a “resolution to grant planning permission” to the project, following two years of public consultation by the RSC. The project is now referred to the Government Office for the West Midlands and if formal consent is given in the coming weeks, the project will move into the construction phase.

Michael Boyd and Vikki Heywood (RSC Artistic and Executive Directors) said, “We are extremely grateful to everyone who has come together, to bring us to this moment where we have a project that the Council approves. It has required the time, wisdom and patience of the Community Forum and many local consultees, the generosity and vision of our donors at home and overseas, and the creative energy of the architects and the home team. We very much look forward to continuing this work with partners old and new, to build the best theatre in the world for Shakespeare.”

The international campaign, chaired by Dame Judi Dench and Lady Susie Sainsbury, has secured lead support of over £50 million in three years, fully matching the original £50 million grant from Arts Council England.

Susie Sainsbury commented: “I’ve been an audience member at the RSC for five decades. I’m thrilled to be helping realise a long-term ambition – the creation of the ideal thrust-stage theatre, in Shakespeare’s own birthplace. This is a truly historic project, and one that deserves widespread support from theatre-goers the world over.”

The Transforming our Theatres Project

The project centres on a new 1000-seat thrust stage auditorium in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the largest thrust stage with a tiered auditorium in the world. The new performance space brings actors and audience closer together, with the distance of the seat furthest from the stage being reduced from 29 metres to 15 metres. The new tower will give visitors a platform from which to view Shakespeare’s town – his birthplace, his school and the church in which he is buried.

The work is scheduled to be complete in 2010. Until then The Courtyard Theatre will be the RSC’s main home and the Company will make good use of venues across Stratford-upon-Avon, such as the Civic Hall. The Swan Theatre will stay open with a full programme until 18th August 2007. The RSC will continue to perform in London during its annual season and there will be a full national and international touring programme.

Work on site is scheduled to begin on Monday 30 April, when the Royal Shakespeare Theatre will be decommissioned and the removal of technical equipment and heritage items will commence.

To find out more visit RSC.org.uk.