60 years of memories

60 years of memories

Last year we celebrated 60 years since the granting of our royal charter, and as we continue to celebrate this milestone, we want to hear from you. You, along with the millions of others who have enjoyed performances in Stratford-upon-Avon, London, across the country and around the world, are at the heart of our Royal Shakespeare Community.

Our audiences are part of our history, and we want to hear your voice and your experiences. From your first time visit to your favourite Shakespeare or family production, how the RSC has inspired you, or even bumping into your favourite actor, we would love to hear your most cherished memory of the RSC.

Below you can read the memories that have already been submitted. You can submit your own memory online or if you have any questions please email memories@rsc.org.uk.

Richard II_ 1987_ Jeremy Irons as Richard II_1987_Photo by Reg Wilson _c_ RSC_301868 — Jeremy Irons in Richard II, the Barbican Theatre, 1987. Directed by Barry Kyle.
Photo by Reg Wilson © RSC Browse and license our images

The Tempest_ 2016_ Ariel and Prospero_2016_Photo by Topher McGrillis _c_ RSC_207549 — Simon Russell Beale and Mark Quartley in The Tempest, 2016.
Photo by Topher McGrillis © RSC Browse and license our images

Romeo and Juliet_ 1961_ Juliet cradles the dead Romeo_1961_Photo by Angus McBean _c_ RSC_40708 — Dorothy Tutin and Brian Murray in Romeo and Juliet, 1961. Directed by Peter Hall.
Photo by Angus McBean © RSC Browse and license our images

Henry VI_ Part 1 _2006_Ellie Kurttz_93018 — Chuk Iwuji in Henry VI, Part 1, Courtyard Theatre, 2006. Directed by Michael Boyd.
Photo by Ellie Kurttz © RSC Browse and license our images

Shakespeare memories

As you reflect on your memories, we ask you to consider making a donation to help Keep Your RSC and guarantee transformative experiences of theatre for future generations. You will be creating memories that last a lifetime.

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You can use the search bar to find your own memory, or search for specific actors or plays.

I can still remember being there, and see the gauze as the lighting on and behind it changed. And above all I remember it was quite simply magic - Alison Sandford, subscriber

he acting was fantastic as always and the costumes were absolutely brilliant bright Colours Elizabethan fused with Afro futurism - Alexander Wrightson, Member

But the main inspiration for my love of Shakespeare and especially the RSC has to lie with John Turner’s appearance in Troilus - Richard Inverne, subscriber

My memory is being taken by my parents to see Lawrence Olivier and Vivian Leigh in 'Macbeth' at the RSC in 1955 - Rosemary Athay, Member

I believe that there were nights when he was forcibly removed by audience members, some of whom were off-duty police officers! - Regina Kilburn, Bronze Patron

It confirmed my view that great productions of Shakespeare are not the preserve of the expert, the specialist. They are for everyone, and they can mesmerise anyone - Stephen Wilson, Silver Patron

My wife and I have seen a multitude of great productions and performances, many of which live long in the memory - Graham and Nohline Ruff, Members

hose long days in the theatre where actors and audiences join together on a journey always filled me with joy and left me buzzing - Member

I'm sure that first beautiful experience on one of the world's most famous stages was what gave her the confidence to step onto others - Maggie Stansfield, Member

Seeing Susan Fleetwood's costume from Cymbeline lay drying on the lawn outside the theatre before she made it real with her magic on stage - Jane Henderson, Subscriber

She still talks about this amazing experience at the theatre and it’s absolutely my favourite RSC memory too - Liz Redmayne, Member

I was hooked, dozens and dozens of performances over the years, but nothing quite like that first soliloquy - : Karen Morris, Subscriber

How amazing that a man from Stratford could entrance a group of youths four-hundred years before their time - Anthony Stellman, Member

One magical night, time seemed to stop as we walked through the countryside and we had the strangest feeling we had gone back 400 years. - Val Straw, Subscriber

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Shakespeare memories

I was around 14 and my Dad had persuaded me to join him in a rare trip to a theatre - Natasha

I first came to the RSC on a school English Literature activities week - Veronica Brown

I couldn't imagine I could ever see a better production, and I never have - Janis Roberts

I can still remember being there, and see the gauze as the lighting on and behind it changed. And above all I remember it was quite simply magic - Alison Sandford, subscriber

I remember it as intense, visceral, claustrophobic.

The sight of Kenneth Branagh and company sliding under the ‘walls’ of Harfleur - John Laidlaw

My big awakening to Shakespeare was watching Peter Brook's production of Lear - Patrick Gibbins

wrote out a brief synopsis of Othello for a friend - Gillian Mullins, Bronze Patron

My first visit was in the mid eighties with my grammar school I was about 23 years old - Katherine Robinson

My first real memory is of 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' with Sheila Steafel

the performance which absolutely hooked me was 'Much Ado About Nothing' starring Donald Sinden and Judi Dench - Rita Harmer

The Peter Brook A Midsummer Night’s Dream came to San Francisco when I was an undergraduate - gregory boyd, Member

this is the start of a lifetime's devotion to the RSC with many subsequent highlights - Martin WALSH, subscriber

We could not find our B&B so we slept in the Shakespeare Memorial Gardens, or tried to - Suzanne Cross

Seeing Paapa Essiedu in Hamlet is one of my most vivid childhood memories

But most of all and forever and ever Nicholas Nickleby - TOM RAND

Thus prompting my boyfriend to declare his love for me, fall on his knees and ask me to marry him - Marcela Miranda, Subscriber

I met Wayne Sleep in The Dirty Duck with Royal Ballet colleagues

The opportunity to perform on the Swan stage while I was in primary school has stuck with me many many years later - Rebecca

Titus Andronicus with Vivien Leigh and Lawrence Olivier

Othello with Paul Robeson and Sam Wanamaker - Linda, Subscriber

finding that I was sitting next to Stephen Sondheim in the Barbican Theatre - Lee Marshall

A wonderful detail and typical of the quality of RSC products - Mark Gunning

My most cherished memory is that of being an extra in the productions of The Dillen - karen rowe

In the 1960s I and a group of schoolfriends attended the RSC regularly - Gill Bennett

Mesmerising theatre at its very best - Sheila Jones

Nicholas Nickleby all 6 hours of it over in a flash the very best of theatre - Peter E Morris

my husband booked out the RSC tower for a magical proposal that the RSC happily helped with - Holli, subscriber

With so many wonderful memories, it's impossible to pick just one - Edward Barrett

I became known as the Nick Nick Groupie

Antony Sher as Richard III atop the tomb like a spider - Adrian Welyczko

Dame Judi's sleepwalking scene was simply the greatest piece of tragic acting I ever expect to see - Alan Kershaw, Subscriber

Hecuba in 2015 was the most wonderful production ever - Sarah Peck

looking back I feel proud of having begun a theatre-going habit for life among many young people - Neil King

Bloody, shocking, fast and provocative, it left me pale and shaken! - Liz Jones, Subscriber

I was completely blown away and have returned frequently though I always feel that it has never been often enough - Member

I was blown away by the the acting, singing, music, choreography, fabulous costumes and story - Alice Luikinga

It is still the greatest Shakespeare performance I have ever seen - David Harwin

The RSC production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2001

Seeing Henry IV parts one and two and Henry V in one day was pretty special

I remember as a young person the thrill of attending the RSC with my parents - Leonie swaden

The magnificent David Tennant did not miss a beat

Getting a magical house seat for Nicholas Nickleby - Rachel A E Feldberg, subscriber

I felt that I would always remember that moment and I have - Kate Coley

I live in Spain and every time I come home try to fit in a play at Stratford - DELYTH Sutton

Donald Sinden wagging his finger at the audience - Subscriber

As a thirteen-year-old I was totally captivated by his magnificent performance - Professor Maureen Meikle

Robert Stevenson as Lear. The most touching interpretation I have ever seen.

I was taken backstage at the RSC and saw the rehearsal room for Peter Brooks’ Midsummer Nights Dream - Linda Terry

There was a standing ovation of about ten minutes - TIM LOVEGROVE

Thank you for so many special memories - Brenda

I have kept EVERY programme right back to the first and probably have around 50 - Christine Knibb-Scarff, Member Friend

I married my darling Lisa at the top of the tower on the 25th August 2013 - Jack carter, subscriber

It feels as though every trip to the RSC is a cherished memory - Karl Falconer

he acting was fantastic as always and the costumes were absolutely brilliant bright Colours Elizabethan fused with Afro futurism - Alexander Wrightson, Member

But that experience kindled my interest in the theatre - Member

I ask my mother 'it is tomato ketchup isn't it' - Subscriber

here have been so many memorable and revealing productions in the past - John Bramley, Subscriber

I became a keen and frequent attendee when the Barbican Centre opened in the early 1980s - Anne Holland, Subscriber

But the main inspiration for my love of Shakespeare and especially the RSC has to lie with John Turner’s appearance in Troilus - Richard Inverne, subscriber

Shakespeare productions are always excellent- Trevor Battersby

I will never forget the outright joy on the faces of the children on stage

My memory is being taken by my parents to see Lawrence Olivier and Vivian Leigh in 'Macbeth' at the RSC in 1955 - Rosemary Athay, Member

I was so excited by the story that I refused to leave my seat in the interval - Roger Brockway

What could be better? - Gillian Russell, Member

We've come every year since 2000, so where to stop? -Jane Arthur, Bronze Patron

In one scene he threw a map across the stage a little too hard and it finished up in my wife’s lap. - Richard Bridgford, Subscriber

any memories still stick in my mind from these performances - Geoffrey Brown, Subscriber

As a teenager, I used to hitch hike to Stratford with some friends to buy 5 shilling standing tickets - Jane Kennedy, Member

That night I feel in love twice, with Shakespeare and Judi Dench - Anna Lawrence, Member Friend

My earliest memory is of a production of Toad of Toad Hall - Susan Price, subscriber

I have rarely spent such an enjoyable time in any theatre - Susan Atkin, Bronze Patron

I believe that there were nights when he was forcibly removed by audience members, some of whom were off-duty police officers! - Regina Kilburn, Bronze Patron

Having the opportunity to watch both Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies over consecutive days with my Mum - Nicola Whaley, Member

Only in 2014 did my wish come true, when my husband booked to see Love's Labours Lost - Subscriber

We have seen so many tremendous productions that it is difficult to know where to start - Deidre & Andrew Moquet, Subscriber

It confirmed my view that great productions of Shakespeare are not the preserve of the expert, the specialist. They are for everyone, and they can mesmerise anyone - Stephen Wilson, Silver Patron

My wife and I have seen a multitude of great productions and performances, many of which live long in the memory - Graham and Nohline Ruff, Members