Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (Est. 1986)

Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

44 Waterside, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire CV37 7LS, England

Date Opened: 8 May 1986

The Swan theatre opened opened in 1986 and seats 426 people on three sides of a deep thrust stage. Housed in the shell of the 1879 building, The Swan replaced the old Conference Hall, which was used by the company primarily as a rehearsal space, and rather than attempting to reconstruct an Elizabethan amphitheatre, it represented ‘a new performance space to embody some of the qualities those early buildings possessed, and which we believe to have enduring theatrical value’ (J. R. Mulryne and Margaret Shewring, p. x), specifically the relationship between the actor and the spectator.

The Swan was initially designed specifically with the intention of staging the work of Shakespeare’s contemporaries. It's first season featured work by playwrights such as Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and Thomas Heywood as well as Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus and The Two Noble Kinsmen with John Fletcher. Today, this practice continues alongside plays by later writers, such as Restoration playwrights, and new work by contemporary playwrights.

Linked Organisations

Royal Shakespeare Company (Production Company | Est. 1961)

Waterside, Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 6BA, UK

Linked People

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Resources

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Sources

J. R. Mulryne and Margaret Shewring, This Golden Round: The Royal Shakespeare Company at the Swan

J. R. Mulryne and Margaret Shewring, This Golden Round: The Royal Shakespeare Company at the Swan (Stratford-on-Avon: Mulryne and Shewring in association with A.H Jolly, 1989)

Academic book

Swan Theatre, RSC Website

https://www.rsc.org.uk/your-visit/swan-theatre

URL

Includes links to a seating plan and virtual tour of the Swan Theatre.

Colin Chambers, Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company: Creativity and the Institution

Colin Chambers, Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company: Creativity and the Institution (London: Routledge, 2004)

Academic book

Production

Landscape / RSC50 (Swan Theatre) (2011)

Part of a series of events to mark Harold Pinter's Birthday during the RSC at 50 programme of events and play readings.

The Collection / RSC50 (Swan Theatre) (2011)

Part of a series of events to mark Harold Pinter's Birthday during the RSC at 50 programme of events and play readings.

The Homecoming (Swan Theatre) (2011)

28-Jul-2011 to 15-Oct-2011

Ashes to Ashes / RSC50 (Swan Theatre) (2011)

15-Oct-2011 to 15-Oct-2011