. This was gutted by a fire in 1926, and rebuilt and incorporated into the new theatre in 1932. The building has been used by the
Swan Theatre since 1986 across the River Avon The tricentenary of Shakespeare's birth in 1864 gave impetus for a permanent memorial to him in his hometown. The original Shakespeare Memorial Theatre came about through the campaigning efforts and donations of
Edward Fordham Flower and his son
Charles Edward Flower, owners of a local brewery business in Stratford, and important figures in local political affairs, due to their efforts, the first theatre was opened on the banks of the Avon on 19 April 1879. It was a
Victorian Gothic structure, designed by
William Unsworth and
Edward Dodgshun. The original theatre was gutted by fire on 6 March 1926. The new Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opened in 1932 on a site adjacent to the original. The architect was
Elisabeth Scott, so the theatre became the first important building erected in Britain from the designs of a woman architect. It was renamed the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 1961, following the establishment of the
Royal Shakespeare Company the previous year. Plans to redevelop the theatre were finalised and work commenced in 2007, with a scheduled completion date of 2010. The RSC had its own project team, led by Project Director, Peter Wilson OBE. Other members of the project team included:
Bennetts Associates (architects),
Buro Happold (engineers and transport consultants), Charcoalblue (theatre consultants),
Mace (construction managers), Acoustic Dimensions (acoustic consultants), Drivers Jonas Deloitte (project management and strategic planning advisors) and Gardiner and Theobald (quantity surveyors and planning supervisors). An urn containing the ashes of Actor
Ian Richardson who had died on 9 February 2007 was placed into the foundations of the auditorium of the building during its renovation in 2008 by his widow Maroussia Frank and his son
Miles Richardson. Meanwhile, performances were transferred to the temporary
Courtyard Theatre, which was a full-sized working prototype for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, built on the site of the RSC's studio theatre,
The Other Place. The new theatre opened in November 2010, with preview events and activities, in advance of the first full Shakespeare performances from the RSC's existing repertoire from February 2011. The first new productions designed specifically for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre's stage began from April 2011, with Michael Boyd's Macbeth, part of the RSC's 50th Birthday Season celebrations, which ran from April to December 2011.
Queen Elizabeth II and
Prince Philip officially opened the Royal Shakespeare Theatre on 4 March 2011. Ceremonies included a performance of the balcony scene from
Romeo and Juliet. ==Facilities==