30 years of Swan Theatre

Thirty years after the Swan Theatre first opened its doors, we will revive two of the plays from its opening season.

The Two Noble Kinsmen and The Rover launched the Swan theatre’s first season in 1986 (along with The Fair Maid of the West and Every Man in His Humour). This year our winter season includes two of the same shows to commorate the theatre's 30th birthday.

As a venue for the works of Shakespeare's contemporaries and many other new writers, the Swan has long been many theatre-goers' favourite. This year has seen the new face of the Swan Wing, with a refurbished bar and brand new artworks. Our Artistic Director Gregory Doran says about the Swan: 'Every play in that space becomes a conversation’.

Our first ever Swan company included Simon Russell Beale, Jeremy Irons, Hugh Quarshie, Imelda Staunton, Nathanial Parker, David Troughton, Joseph Mydell and Sinead Cusack.

Here we look at some notable productions that have been staged in the Swan, as well as the productions to come.

Poster for Singer, showing a face in the background and a hand with rings holding a cigar

Terry Hands directed Singer, a play by Peter Flannery, in 1989, with Antony Sher in the title role

© RSC – Image Licensing
Poster for All's Well That Ends Well, showing a hand holding a rose with thorns around the arm

Peter Hall directed All's Well That Ends Well in 1992, and the production was later transferred to The Pit, London

Photo by Bob Carlos Clarke © RSC – Image Licensing
Black and white Tamburlaine poster with Tamburlaine in costume, his right hand raised

Terry Hands directed Tamburlaine the Great, an earthy and physical play by Christopher Marlowe, in 1993

Photo by Ivan Kynd © RSC – Image Licensing
Bartholomew Fair's poster, showing a laughing woman twirling in a colourful dress

Ben Jonson's comedy Bartholomew Fair was directed by Laurence Boswell in 1997, featuring Zubin Varla and Poppy Miller

Photo by Paul Rider © RSC – Image Licensing
1998 poster for Romeo and Juliet, showing the lovers embracing and Romeo holding rosary beads

Michael Attenborough directed Romeo and Juliet in 1998, with Ray Fearon as Romeo and Zoe Waites as Juliet

Photo by Paul Rider © RSC – Image Licensing
A man in dark Renaissance clothing unbuttoning his vest against a bright yellow stage

The Dog in the Manger was directed by Laurence Boswell in 2004 as part of the Spanish Golden Age season

Photo by Hugo Glendinning © RSC – Image Licensing
Written on the Heart_ 2011 Poster_2011_c_ RSC_11812

Written on the Heart was a new play written by David Edgar in 2011 to mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. Gregory Doran directed the play

Illustration by Emmanuel Polanco © RSC – Image Licensing
Poster of Candide showing a person standing on a bridge above highway traffics, with his arms outstretched

Mark Ravenhill's play Candide is inspired by Voltaire's novel of the same name. The production was directed by Lyndsey Turner in 2013, telling a story about happiness

Original human figure by Blackout Concepts © RSC – Image Licensing
A Mad World My Masters retail poster, featuring a pair of feet wearing high heels

Sean Foley directed Thomas Middleton's city comedy A Mad World My Masters in 2013, with the play set in London in the 1950s

Photo by Rachel Rebibo © RSC – Image Licensing
Arden of Faversham poster showing Alice Arden in modern clothing sitting on a chair, with a man's body visible behind her

Arden of Faversham, author unknown, was first printed in 1592. Sharon Small played the cunning Alice Arden, who plotted to have her husband murdered. It was directed by Polly Findlay in 2014

Photo by Jillian Edelstein © RSC – Image Licensing
Oppenheimer poster, showing a man in a chair and two women standing behind him, all in 1940s clothing

Tom Morton-Smith's new play Oppenheimer was a critically acclaimed production about J Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project. Directed by Angus Jackson in 2014

Photo by Hugo Glendinning © RSC – Image Licensing
Programme cover for Wolf Hall, showing a close-up of a Tudor Rose with a bright red background

Hilary Mantel's novel Wolf Hall was adapted for the stage by Michael Poulton and directed by Jeremy Herrin, and was performed in the Swan Theatre in 2014

© RSC – Image Licensing
The Two Noble Kinsmen poster featuring a girl facing away and a tree in the background

Shakespeare and Fletcher’s rarely performed tragicomedy will be revived at the Swan this year from 17 August, directed by Blanche McIntyre

© RSC – Image Licensing
The Rover marketing image showing a couple in brightly coloured clothing and decorations, the woman pulling the man to her by his tie

Aphra Behn’s anarchic restoration comedy will be directed by Loveday Ingram, playing at the Swan from 8 September 

© RSC – Image Licensing
The Seven Acts of Mercy marketing image 2016_2016_c_ RSC_181767

Anders Lustgarten's new play is based on Caravaggio’s painting, The Seven Acts of Mercy. It will play at the Swan from 24 November, directed by RSC Deputy Artistic Director Erica Whyman

© RSC – Image Licensing
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Video

Our directors and actors talk about why we love the Swan Theatre. 

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