'Humbling' support powers RSC plans to keep powering the local economy
The Royal Shakespeare Company, a longstanding pillar of the Warwickshire cultural and tourist sector, has faced significant challenges like every other business during the last year. But with amazing support from many sources, it has pivoted to deal with the pandemic and is well-placed to retain its place at the heart of the local economy. RSC executive director Catherine Mallyon explains.
It is of enormous concern that the Stratford-on-Avon district was the fourth hardest-hit economy in the UK during Covid, especially as we know the pandemic will have an impact for some time to come. At the Royal Shakespeare Company, we are proud to have long been a pillar of what has always been a vibrant local economy...and we will be playing our part in the county’s road to recovery.
There have been some exciting developments. Our temporary outdoor theatre, The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Garden Theatre, opened earlier this month and Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors will be a hugely enjoyable experience for audiences, alongside our Rooftop Restaurant and ongoing takeaway catering service.
This is such a welcome return to on-site activity for the town as the summer months deepen. UK theatre attracts audiences of over 34 million people annually which, pre-pandemic, meant that nearly 94,000 people went to see a show each day. We have long shared the desire to welcome audiences back in person when it became safe to do so. Our garden theatre situated in the Swan gardens, will offer us a home until we re-open the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) ready for our family show, The Magician’s Elephant, in the Autumn.
For us, as for most businesses, it has been a real juggling act for decision-making. As with many theatres, the planning and preparation required to stage live performances is roughly 16 weeks, especially with the scale of our productions.
Although our live productions had to cease, behind the scenes the planning, organisation and hard work towards the wonderful day when we could receive live audiences again never stopped. It was in February that we needed to decide how we should welcome audiences back to live performances in the summer so, as cases of Covid were rising in their thousands and medical experts were advising people that it is safer to be outdoors, we made the decision to create an arena style auditorium, curved with a thrust stage which mirrors the Swan Theatre. The theatre is made of a recycled galvanised steel frame and when operating at full capacity allows just over 500 people to enjoy the show.
It was fantastic to receive positive feedback from Stratford District Council as we faced the many challenges of planning and building the new theatre in the space of a few months. Our technical team removed over 700 cubic metres of soil, lay down a 900 tonne base for the new theatre as well as 100m of new paths – you can view our special time lapse video showing how the Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Garden Theatre was created.
As part of the build, we improved 100 metres of pathways, including the uneven paths of the Riverside Walkway. Our focus has always been the safety of our teams and visitors, whilst acknowledging the important role we are proud to play, and are determined to continue to play, in the economy of the town, district and region.
Throughout the last year we have continued our many other commitments to the communities we work with, including online teaching via our free Shakespeare Learning Zone, as well as working with the BBC Bitesize team providing a daily programme of free online lessons.
We collaborated with the BBC on Culture in Quarantine, to help bring the arts into the living rooms of thousands of people. Seven of our productions, including the brand-new live production of The Winter’s Tale, have been broadcast over the past 16 months (also available on iPlayer). We were also delighted to plan community-based activities including our free events, Art Warming in April and a festive advent trail, sponsored by Bell Court, and kindly supported by a grant from Stratford Town Trust. Our pop-up outdoor performances last summer and our Riverside Café take-a-way service were welcomed in the town.
We are enormously grateful for the support we continue to receive from so many directions: From our local audiences though our 'Keep Your RSC' campaign, Arts Council England and the Culture Recovery Fund, the business community and the Stratford Town Trust. Alongside those are major donors such as Lydia and Manfred Gorvy, who have made the creation of the Garden Theatre possible, as well as Charles Holloway, Season Supporter.
We also appreciate support from Darwin Escapes for our Royal Shakespeare Theatre productions. So much support has come our way, it is truly humbling - a microcosm, perhaps of the amazing collective effort that has pulled our country through the pandemic.
As we see visitors and audiences returning and enjoying all that Stratford and the region has to offer, we hope our plans will join those of so many across the county and play a strong part in putting Warwickshire on the road to a strong and robust recovery.