Macbeth, 2011

The first new production in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which also launched the 50th anniversary season, was Michael Boyd's Macbeth, with Jonathan Slinger and Aislín McGuckin as Lord and Lady Macbeth.

Set during the Protestant Reformation period, one of the most striking aspects of the show was having the witches' prophecies spoken by children, who later appeared as the ghosts of Macduff's murdered offspring.

Also in the theatre this year were: The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Heart of Robin Hood.

Julius Caesar, 2012

With a leading all-black British cast, Julius Caesar played as part of the World Shakespeare Festival, during the 2012 Cultural Olympiad and London Olympic games. Set in contemporary Africa, this was a political thriller resonating with themes on what a country wants to be and how it wants to be governed.

And 2012 brought the appointment of our current Artistic Director, Gregory Doran, and Executive Director, Catherine Mallyon, pledging to stage all 36 plays in the First Folio.

Also in the theatre this year were: The Comedy of Errors, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, and The Mouse and his Child.

Richard II, 2013

Gregory Doran’s residency as Artistic Director began with David Tennant in the title role of Richard II. It was the first production to be broadcast live from Stratford-upon-Avon to a UK and worldwide audience, screened in 600 cinemas with over 125,000 viewers. 

Richard II later returned, playing at London's Barbican Theatre in 2016, alongside Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 and Henry V, as ‘King and Country: Shakespeare’s Great Cycle of Kings’, marking the 400^th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

Also in the theatre this year were: All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, Hamlet, The Winter’s Tale, and Wendy and Peter Pan.

Love's Labour's Lost, 2014

We marked the centenary of the First World War with several productions on the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage, with Love’s Labour’s Lost, Love’s Labour’s Won (Much Ado About Nothing) and our Christmas production The Christmas Truce. Love’s Labour’s Lost and Love’s Labour’s Won were performed as a pair set either side of the war, with design inspiration taken from the nearby country house, Charlecote Park.

In 2014, we also held a 40^th anniversary celebration of the opening of The Other Place.

Also in the theatre this year were: Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Christmas Truce.

Othello, 2015

Iqbal Khan’s production of Othello welcomed the return of Associate Artist Hugh Quarshie in the title role. It was also the first time we cast a black actor as Iago, played by Lucian Msamati, changing the traditional dynamic between the characters where Iago’s hatred couldn’t be so easily attributed to race.

This year brought the launch of our Shakespeare Folio Project to produce new Chinese translations of Shakespeare's plays. Associate Director Owen Horsley would direct a Mandarin version of Henry V in Shanghai in 2016.

Also in the theatre this year were: Henry V, The Merchant of Venice, Cymbeline, and Wendy and Peter Pan.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2016

Performed as never before, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play for the Nation was a co-production between the RSC and 14 local amateur companies across the UK. Directed by Erica Whyman, it united 18 professional actors with 84 amateur performers, who took their turns playing the Mechanicals, and 580 schoolchildren.

2016 also marked the 400^th year of Shakespeare’s death, the reopening of The Other Place and the launch of our family-friendly exhibition The Play’s The Thing. And we put the first live digital avatar on stage with The Tempest.

Also in the theatre this year were: Hamlet, The Tempest, and King Lear.

Twelfth Night, 2017

Following their success with Love’s Labour’s Lost and Love’s Labour’s Won in 2014, Director Christopher Luscombe and Designer Simon Higlett returned with Twelfth Night, featuring the RSC debut of Adrian Edmondson as the yellow-stocking mandolin-playing Malvolio.

The lavish late-Victorian designs included railway stations, opulent hothouses, wood-panelled halls and gardens, with period British and Indian costumes. Taking inspiration from Queen Victoria’s friendship with her Indian attendant, Abdul Karim, Feste was played as an Indian retainer in Olivia's court, and Viola and Sebastian were Indian twins marooned in 1890s England.

Also in the theatre this year were: Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, Titus Andronicus, and A Christmas Carol.

Romeo and Juliet, 2018

Bally Gill and Karen Fishwick played the title roles in Erica Whyman’s Romeo and Juliet. Following the successful collaboration with young and amateur performers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2016, young people from our associate schools across the country performed as the Chorus alongside the professional cast.

Also in the theatre this year were: Troilus and Cressida, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Macbeth and A Christmas Carol.

The Boy in the Dress, 2019

The world stage premiere of this new musical adaption of David Walliams’ much-loved book was directed by Gregory Doran, adapted by Mark Ravenhill, and with new songs by Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers. The Boy in the Dress premiered in November 2019, with a roster of multi-talented young and adult actors, glittering musical numbers and one memorable puppet dog.

The production ended its run in March 2020, days before the Covid-19 pandemic closed UK theatres.

Also in the theatre this year were: Measure for Measure, The Taming of the Shrew, and As You Like It.

Troy Story, 2020

To continue bringing our work to audiences during the pandemic, our online winter season of stripped-back performances were filmed and streamed live from the RST stage. Troy Story was a dramatic five-part event across one day telling the story of the Trojan War. Each part was read by a small cast of actors, with two musicians playing traditional folk songs on a range of instruments.

Also streamed live from the stage as part of winter 2020-21 were: The Boy in the Dress – A Celebration, Festive Tales, Young Bloods, Swingin’ the Dream, and Michael Morpurgo’s Tales from Shakespeare.