PROJECTS - RSC TRANSFORMATION

The RSC is a complex and pressurising client and Charcoalblue are genuine, robust collaborators. They have a strong sense of the rhythm of when to be open and when it's time to start closing.

Michael Boyd, RSC Artistic Director

Links
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Bennetts Associates

PROJECTS - RSC TRANSFORMATION

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ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

PROJECT BUDGET: £112.8 million
ANTICIPATED COMPLETION: 2010
PROJECT ARCHITECT: Bennetts Associates

…a radical new theatre between a listed façade and the existing Swan Theatre

Project summary

The Royal Shakespeare Company appointed Charcoalblue to assist them in the remodelling of their 1932 Grade II* listed theatre. Following the recent opening of the temporary Courtyard Theatre, the existing theatre is now being reworked to accommodate a thrust stage auditorium seating around 1,000 people. The new theatre will improve the relationship between audiences and actors by bringing them closer together, reducing the distance from the furthest seat from 27 metres to around 15 metres.

Charcoalblue has provided complete design and planning consultancy services for the auditorium, foyers and backstage areas, as well as design and integration of technical systems, and are now working closely with the architects and the RSC during the transformation of the theatre.

"As someone who has played all the RSC's theatres, it seems to me that what the Company has found is a brilliant way of retaining the best of the original building while constructing a new theatre which will work wonderfully for actors and audiences alike. We are creating a theatre in Stratford that Shakespeare could walk into and recognize as a playhouse for his work. It's a spectacular idea."

Dame Judi Dench