The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a Grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located beside the River Avon in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace - in the English Midlands.
- Venue
- Royal Shakespeare Theatre
- Address
- 19 September 2026 BOOK TICKETS CLOSE
- Town
- Stratford-upon-Avon, GB
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a Grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located beside the River Avon in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace - in the English Midlands. The building incorporates the smaller Swan Theatre. The Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres re-opened in November 2010 after undergoing a major renovation known as the Transformation Project. 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. In the building designed by Scott, the theatre had a proscenium-arch stage, and a seating capacity of about 1,400 people, on three tiers (stalls, circle and balcony). Two tiers of seating were later added to the side walls of the theatre and the stage extended beyond the proscenium, by means of an 'apron'. Balcony seats could only be accessed by means of a staircase to the side of the building, separate from the main foyer and bar. The theatre has several no