A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE RSC
The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opened on our site next to the River Avon in 1879, after local brewer, Charles Flower donated the land and launched a campaign to build a theatre in the town of Shakespeare's birth.
After the original theatre was destroyed by fire, the New Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opened its doors on an adjacent site in 1932, designed by Elisabeth Scott.
The Royal Shakespeare Company was founded in 1961 by Peter Hall, based in Stratford-upon-Avon and the theatre was renamed the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
In 1974 a former store/rehearsal room in Stratford became The Other Place, the RSC's first studio theatre, with Buzz Goodbody becoming the first Artistic Director. In 1986, the Swan Theatre was created from the shell of the original 1879 Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.
SEE A TIMELINE OF OUR HISTORY
