Royal Shakespeare Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a Grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon – Shakespeare's birthplace – in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon. The building incorporates the smaller Swan Theatre. The Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres re-opened in November 2010 after undergoing a major renovation known as the Transformation Project.[1]
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Shakespeare Memorial Theatre
1879
1932
2007-10
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
13 May 1971
William Unsworth (1879)
Edward Dodgshun (1879)
Elisabeth Scott (1932)
Bennetts Associates (2005-2010)
Facilities[edit]
The theatre has a new Rooftop Restaurant and Bar with views over the River Avon, a Riverside Cafe and Terrace, a Colonnade linking the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres together for the first time, the PACCAR Room exhibition space, and a 36-metre-high (118 ft) tower which provides circulation and views across Stratford-upon-Avon and the surrounding area from its 32-metre-high (105 ft) viewing platform. There is also a riverside walk which stretches from the Bancroft Gardens, past the theatre, towards Holy Trinity Church.
The whole building is now accessible for the first time for visitors, performers and staff with disabilities. The renovations tripled the number of dedicated wheelchair spaces in the new auditorium from those in the previous auditorium, added lifts (there were no public lifts in the previous building), accessible toilets on all levels and removed steps on the riverside walk, which previously had many stepped levels.
