We passionately believe that great storytelling can change the world – and the world needs great storytelling now more than ever. Theatre makes a unique contribution to this. It is live and shared, and transforms a group of strangers into audiences who, together, experience a story come to life in front of their eyes.

But the conditions in which we operate have become ever tougher. Materials and energy and remain at an all-time high post-pandemic, the costs associated with employing staff have increased, and public investment continues to decline in real terms. And there are ever increasing demands on government spend in intensely challenging economic circumstances.

Audiences, too, have less money to spend due to the cost-of-living crisis and we can’t expect box office alone to make up the shortfall.

To thrive – and to survive – we need to be more agile, resilient and sustainable. Our structure must enable our ambition, not impede it; we must be relentless in our pursuit of working as effectively and efficiently as possible; and we need to generate additional forms of income to invest in the creation of theatre and learning through theatre, which are our founding purpose.

This means big challenges and difficult decisions.

The need to reduce our cost base is real and urgent. We have held vacancies for some months and wherever possible will continue to do so; and we are now offering as many of our staff as possible the opportunity to apply for voluntary redundancy. Alongside this, we are seeking to make operational efficiencies and to generate additional forms of income.

This is a challenging moment. But it is our duty – all of us, as custodians of the RSC for this time – to ensure that the RSC can bring people together through theatre for generations to come.

Andrew Leveson, Executive Director
Daniel Evans, Co-Artistic Director
Tamara Harvey, Co-Artistic Director