Royal Shakespeare And Swan Theatres
- Theatre ID879
- Built / Converted1932
- Dates of use
- 1932: continuing
- 1932: continuing Swan Theatre 1986 continuing
- Current stateExtant
- Current useTheatre (theatre on site since 1879)
- AddressWaterside, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 6BB, England
Details
The building of a Shakespeare Memorial Theatre was a delayed consequence of the Tercentenary Festival which took place in Stratford in 1864. The original Garrick Jubilee in 1769, marking the bicentenary (five years late) of Shakespeare’s birth produced no permanent memorial. A Stratford theatre was built in 1824 and was used for a Shakespeare festival in 1830, but it was demolished in 1872. For the 1864 celebration a huge wooden pavilion, like a temporary circus, but lavishly furnished and decorated, was erected to the designs of local architects Thompson & Colbourne. The stage had a 9.4m (31ft) proscenium and a depth of 17m (56ft). Opposite the stage was a second platform or ‘orchestra’ for up to 530 musicians and singers. The architects had never designed a theatre before and the whole thing, from design to completion, was executed in five months but it was, by common consent, a functionally effective and acoustically excellent design. It was, nevertheless, dismantled and the parts sold at near-scrap prices when the Festival ended in debt. In 1875, a Shakespeare Memorial Association was founded to raise money for a new, permanent theatre, library and art gallery to be built on a riverside site donated by Charles Edward Flower. Following a competition, Dodgshun & Unsworth were commissioned. Unsworth was probably the principal author. The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opened on 23 April 1879. The original idea of the building being a recreation of a Shakespearean playhouse (or what such a playhouse was then thought to have been like) was clearly modified as soon as lines were put on paper, but what emerged was quite unlike any other contemporary theatre in Britain, a delightful and fantastic blend of Mediaevalism, somewhat in the manner of William Burgess, combined with Elizabethan or ‘Old English’ elements. The auditorium sightlines were imperfect, but Unsworth’s theatre, taken as whole, was certainly an interesting (and perhaps always underrated) invention of its time. The associated museum wing was completed in 1881 and the scene dock in 1887. This building was destroyed by fire in 1926, leaving only a shell. The museum wing, which was linked to the theatre by a galleried bridge, was undamaged. Once again, an architectural competition was held, which was won by Elisabeth Scott, in consultation with Alison Sleigh. The new theatre opened in 1932. The results have generated argument ever since. The RIBA-approved judges were determined to have an innovative design and ignored (the case is not unique) the views of those whose expertise was in making theatres work. Writing long after the event, the architect and historian Goodhart-Rendel said (1953) that the theatre was a ‘monument of some importance... a notable work of architecture, well befitting its purpose... a people’s theatre in which the play is the thing’. Iain Mackintosh, by contrast, says (in 1995) that the ‘farce’ of the competition ‘set back the cause of Shakespeare and the creation of a national theatre for a generation’, producing a design which ‘was almost universally praised by architects and almost universally condemned by the theatre’. Following the normal pattern of appreciation of twentieth century buildings, the design which excited the architectural world in 1932, became a serious embarrassment to the modern movers by the 1950s, but a precious and rare object to architectural historians of the 1970s. In the context of this study we should judge Scott's design without paying too much attention to opposing theological arguments, but it is impossible to ignore the extraordinary sequence of modifications (and modifications of modifications) the place went through in successive, varyingly successful, attempts to remedy its inbuilt theatrical defects. Unlike some contemporary and later buildings, the exterior has improved with age and the modifications made on the river front by Scott herself have been to its advantage. It is a striking work of its time, its plain forms, originally conceived in concrete or ashlar stone, later in Cotswold stone, were finally executed in brick, relieved by a minimum of geometric ornament. The entrance front is curved with cut brick sculptural reliefs by Eric Kennington. Most of the public interiors are delightful, until one reaches the auditorium, which is and always was a grave disappointment. By the 1930s, those parts of the 1879 building which survived could be dismissed by architectural critics as ‘excrescences’ and it is remarkable that they were incorporated by Scott rather than demolished. She failed, regrettably, to recreate Unsworth’s highly picturesque jettied storey over the Memorial Theatre, but her work may be seen as sensitive for its time. The shell of the old theatre was first converted by Scott into a conference centre and later became a rehearsal room. In 1986 it was splendidly restored to full theatrical life as the Swan Theatre by Michael Reardon. This has an interior, admired alike by architects, performers and audiences. It has embracing wood balustraded galleries and a narrow thrust stage. The audience is on three levels. Major refurbishment of the complex, including partial rebuilding, currently (2007) underway - update to follow.
- Other namesShakespeare Memorial Theatre
-
Events
- 1932 Use: continuing
- 1932 Use: continuing Swan Theatre 1986 continuing
- 1879 Design/Construction: Shakespeare Memorial Theatre
- Dodgshun & Unsworth (William Frederick Unsworth) - Architect
- 1885 Alteration: porter’s lodge added
- Unsworth (?) - Architect
- 1889 Alteration: scene dock added
- A S Flower - Architect
- 1898 - 1899 Alteration: Array dress circle escape staircase added (also groove system removed)
- Unknown - Architect
- 1904 - 1905 Alteration: Array gallery fire escape
- Ball & Horton - Architect
- 1907 Alteration: stage improved
- Unknown - Architect
- 1913 Alteration: proscenium arch altered; orchestra pit lowered
- Unknown - Architect
- 1932 Alteration: Chesterton & Shepherd), Royal Shakespeare Theatre built, after fire destroyed Memorial Theatre
- Elisabeth Scott (Scott - Architect
- 1933 Alteration: Chesterton & Shepherd, old Memorial Theatre converted to conference and rehearsal room
- Scott - Architect
- 1936 Alteration: Shepherd & Breakwell, gallery seating of new theatre extended and refreshment room created on river front
- Scott - Architect
- 1938 Alteration: Shepherd & Breakwell, tearoom built on ground floor with restaurant above
- Scott - Architect
- 1940 - 1949 Alteration: Array rolling stages dismantled; orchestra pit covered; forestage extended; stage machinery overhauled; musicians’ balconies built either side of proscenium
- Unknown - Architect
- 1951 Alteration: auditorium altered; dress circle extended forward; stalls re-raked and polished wood wall linings removed; forestage widened
- Brian O’Rorke - Architect
- 1958 - 1959 Alteration: Array Harper & Harvey), glazed outer foyer built; box office enlarged
- Robert Harvey (Yorke - Architect
- 1960 - 1991 Alteration: Array a continuous series of alterations to Scott building, including building of hexagonal forestage and false proscenium; installation of revolving stage; hydraulic lifts installed (and later removed); side balconies created on flank walls at gallery le
- Various - Architect
- 1986 Alteration: Swan Theatre and Ashcroft Room created within the shell of the old Memorial Theatre; new tower built on site of former (Unsworth) tower
- Michael Reardon Assoc - Architect
- 1879 Design/Construction:
- Mr Owen of London - Consultant: Stage Construction
- Strode & Co - Consultant: Sunburner
- W R Beverley - Consultant: Drop Cloth
- 1903 Design/Construction:
- S Lawson Booth - Consultant: Part Re Painting Of Act Drop
- 1932 Design/Construction:
- William Bridges-Adams - Consultant: Theatre Consultant
- Gordon Russell - Consultant: Furniture
- B L Hurst - Consultant: Consulting Engineer
- James Gibbon - Consultant: Metal Box Office Design
- Walpole Champneys - Consultant: Interior Design
- Vladimir Polunin - Consultant: Safety Curtain Decoration
- Gertrude Hermes - Consultant: Fountain Design
- 1973 Design/Construction:
- Ove Arup - Consultant: Gallery Extension
- 1986 Design/Construction:
- James Sargent & RSC Staff - Consultant: Theatre Consultants
- 1879 Owner/Management: Shakespeare Memorial Association
- 1961 Owner/Management: Royal Shakespeare Company
- Capacities
- Original: 900 (Memorial Theatre)
- Later: 1908: 850 (Memorial Theatre) 1932: 910 (present theatre) 1946: 984 1951: 1377 1970: 1353
- Current: RST 1412; Swan 464
- Listings
- Grade II*
- Stage type
- (i) pros with forestage, flat, rake available (main house)
- (ii) thrust, flat (Swan)
-
Dimensions
- Stage dimensions: Depth: 13.7m (c.45ft) (main house)
- Proscenium width: 9.1m (c.30ft) (main house)
- Height to grid: 19.6m (c.65ft)
- Orchestra pit: enlarged for 25-40
