Swan Theatre (Stratford)

The Swan Theatre is a theatre belonging to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is built on to the side of the larger Royal Shakespeare Theatre, occupying the Victorian Gothic structure that formerly housed the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre that preceded the RST but was destroyed by fire.

Trevor Nunn and Terry Hands were joint artistic directors of the RSC when the company opened The Swan, its third theatre in Stratford. Designed by Michael Reardon, it has a deep thrust-stage, modern lighting and sound technology, and is a galleried, intimate 430-seat auditorium.

The space was to be dedicated to playing the works of William Shakespeare's contemporaries, the works of European writers and the occasional work of Shakespeare. The theatre was launched on 8 May 1986 with a production of "The Two Noble Kinsmen" by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher (not published until 1634 and thought to be Shakespeare's last work for the stage). It was directed by Barry Kyle [http://www.rsc.org.uk/picturesandexhibitions/action/viewExhibition?exhibitionid=2&sectionid=8] .

The Swan has subsequently been used for many other types of drama including the works of Chekhov, Ibsen and Tennessee Williams.

The theatre is temporarily closed during reconstruction of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

References

*Beauman, Sally: "The Royal Shakespeare Company: A History of Ten Decades", Oxford University Press (1983) ISBN 0192122096