£2 MILLION FUNDING BOOST TO MAKE SHAKESPEARE ACCESSIBLE TO OVER 100,000 PEOPLE ACROSS ENGLAND
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ACE investment to support two large-scale tours of Shakespeare plays, transferring directly from the Royal Shakespeare Company stages in 2028 and 2030 with further details to be announced in July, and the continuation of the RSC’s annual First Encounters with Shakespeare touring productions.
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Launching in Autumn 2026 with Phyllida Lloyd’s landmark revival of all-female, 2012 production of Julius Caesar starring Harriet Walter, touring to Associate Schools in Peterborough, Cornwall, Bradford, Nottingham and Blackpool from Monday 21 September – Friday 23 October; the first of four First Encounters with Shakespeare productions to be presented in schools and local communities across England from 2026-2030.
Audiences across England, from Cornwall to Cumbria, will have the opportunity to experience high-quality Shakespeare productions in their local community, thanks to a £2 million funding boost for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) from Arts Council England, using money from the National Lottery.
The four-year touring programme has been developed by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) as part of their ongoing collaboration with 16 Associate Regional Theatres and 280 schools across 100 towns and cities, to help tackle barriers to cultural participation and access and to develop sustainable audiences for Shakespeare, supporting the wider UK touring ecology. The RSC has worked in sustained partnership with schools and communities for over 20 years with its touring programmes — both large and small scale — aligned to these partnership areas since 2016.
The newly announced funding will underpin a major, four-year programme to pilot new models of touring to make high-quality Shakespeare productions accessible to communities, with a specific focus on areas of structural disadvantage across England. This includes a new prototype for embedded partnership work, based on a week-long residency model in which schools act as regional touring hubs, working with RSC and regional artists to deliver an integrated programme of live performances, in-school workshops, post-show Q & As and talent-development opportunities.
This four-year commitment responds directly to research published by the Arts Council England this month, showing that the number of plays touring across England has fallen 64% since 2019. As the RSC’s Executive Director Andrew Leveson observed in this year’s Future of Theatre Conference keynote speech; “Jennie Lee’s founding proposition – that everyone should have access to arts and culture where they live, not as privilege but as public good – remains unmet. As touring costs rise, fewer productions travel, runs are shorter...The communities losing out are overwhelmingly those already under served.” The RSC’s network of partners was established to address these systemic challenges.
The programme consists of two large-scale Shakespeare tours in 2028 and 2030, programmed in collaboration with the RSC’s 8 large-scale Associate Regional Theatres: Blackpool Grand Theatre, Norwich Theatre , Newcastle Theatre Royal, Bradford Theatres, Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall Nottingham, Marlowe Theatre Canterbury, Hall for Cornwall and York Theatre Royal, with an anticipated audience reach of 56,0000+, alongside four annual, twelve-week First Encounters with Shakespeare tours to schools, theatres and communities with an anticipated audience and participant reach of c50,000.
RSC Co-Artistic Directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey and Executive Director Andrew Leveson said: “Our 2026-30 touring programme builds on 20 years of working in long-term partnership with over 280 schools and 16 regional theatre partners across the country to address systemic barriers to cultural access & participation across England.
This newly announced funding will enable the RSC to increase the reach and impact of its touring work, developed through long-term, targeted partnerships between artists, regional theatres, communities and young people, which support audience development in the long-term, and create opportunities for children and young people to unlock their potential, thrive and belong.”
Hannah Lake, Director, Touring Transformation at Arts Council England said: "This programme continues the RSC’s vital work in finding new ways to share the magic of one of this country’s most iconic playwrights with people of all ages, up and down the country. It comes at a time when our research shows a decline in drama touring in recent years and we hope this significant investment will ensure a regular supply of large-scale and high-quality work with a national footprint.”
Stephen Crocker, Chief Executive & Creative Director at Norwich Theatre, said: “It is always a highlight for audiences when an RSC tour comes to the region. Whether we are introducing young people to the magic of Shakespeare for the first time or welcoming long-time fans, we are united in the belief that creativity should be experienced by all and that high-quality performances should be available in the heart of the community.”
Marianne Locatori, Chief Executive of Newcastle Theatre Royal said: “Our relationship with the RSC has created unforgettable shared experiences for generations of theatregoers, and this new commitment ensures even more people will enjoy exceptional theatre close to home in their schools, in their community and at the Theatre. Together, we believe in the power of live performance to inspire, connect communities and open up opportunities for young people, and we’re pleased to play a central role in this national initiative that places creativity, learning and inclusion at its heart.”
Adam Knight, Chief Executive of Blackpool Grand Theatre said: “Blackpool Grand Theatre warmly welcomes Arts Council England’s investment in Royal Shakespeare Company touring. The RSC plays a vital role in bringing world-class performances to communities across England, ensuring more people can experience extraordinary theatre close to home. We deeply value and cherish The Grand’s long-standing and multi-layered relationship with the RSC and are immensely proud to be opening the 2028 tour. This investment is a powerful recognition of the RSC’s long-term commitment to touring and aligns beautifully with Blackpool’s belief that “extraordinary is for everyone”, and that access to outstanding culture should never be limited by geography.”
Adam Renton, General Manager of Bradford Theatres, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s touring programme and to see this vital funding confirmed for the years ahead, continuing the Alhambra Theatre's long-standing status as a key partner venue. This investment will enable us to continue bringing world‑class Shakespeare performances to Bradford audiences, many of whom might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience work of this scale and quality.”
Deborah Shaw, Chief Executive at the Marlowe Theatre said, “Our relationship with the RSC as their Associate Theatre in the Southeast continues into its second decade, going from strength to strength. We're thrilled to be part of this new nationwide initiative to bring productions directly from Stratford to our main stage and to tour specially created productions out into schools across the region. We know from the Associate Schools project - which is an annual highlight - how empowering it is for young people to 'own' Shakespeare and his language in performance. This 4-year programme partnership will help develop audiences and provide first-time Shakespeare theatregoers with unforgettable experiences from one of our finest national companies.”
Opening in Autumn 2026 as previously announced, Harriet Walter will reprise her role as Brutus in Phyllida Lloyd’s landmark revival of all-female, 2012 production of Julius Caesar touring to Associate Schools across England; the first of four First Encounters with Shakespeare productions to be presented in schools and local communities across England from 2026-2030.
The production will tour to Associate Schools in Peterborough, Cornwall, Bradford, Nottingham and Blackpool as part of a new week-long residency model from Monday 21 September – Friday 23 October, after which, it will visit The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon from Thursday 5 – Saturday 28 November. A series of in-school workshops and post-show discussions will accompany the production. These live events, unique to each performance will see cast, creatives, young people and guest speakers from local communities and the criminal justice system discuss how this 400-year-old text connects with our lives and world today.
RSC Youth Advisory Board member, Freedom said: “Julius Caesar speaks to young people today through its exploration of self-discovery within a society that often expects individuals to fit into a rigid system. The RSC's Youth Advisory Board and young creators from across the country are excited to engage with this production and explore its themes of power and authority. Being able to bring this tour to Bradford is especially meaningful to me. The city has a vibrant artistic culture and talent, and it is wonderful that young people here will have the chance to be part of this creative experience.”
The RSC’s Associate Schools Programme works with 16 Associate Regional Theatres and 280 Associate Schools across England to embed the active teaching of Shakespeare in the curriculum. First piloted in 2006, the programme is open to primary, secondary and special state-funded schools and further education colleges in England, with a specific focus on schools serving areas of structural disadvantage and is built around the principle of schools and theatres working in local partnership clusters to develop long-term, sustainable pathways to success.
The 16 Associate Regional Theatre involved in First Encounters are: Bradford Theatres, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, The Core at Corby Cube, Embassy Theatre Skegness, Blackpool Grand Theatre, Hall for Cornwall, Hull Truck Theatre, Marlowe Theatre Canterbury, Mayflower Theatre & Mayflower Studios Southampton, Newcastle Theatre Royal, New Vic Theatre, Northern Stage, Norwich Theatre, Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall Nottingham, Silhouette Youth Theatre and York Theatre Royal.
For further information contact Kate Evans (Head of Media, RSC) on 07920 244 434 or email kate.evans@rsc.org.uk
The RSC is supported using public funding by Arts Council England
The work of the RSC is supported by the Culture Recovery Fund
The RSC is generously supported by RSC America
The work of the RSC is generously supported by Backstage Trust
With thanks to Season Supporter Charles Holloway OBE
Pragnell – Craft and Design Sponsor
As You Like It is supported by RSC Production Circle Supporters Shriti Vadera and Richard and Minette Watson
Julius Caesar is supported by Backstage Trust and RSC Production Circle Supporter Miranda Curtis CMG
The RSC Acting Companies are generously supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation
New Work at the RSC is generously supported by Hawthornden Foundation and The Drue and H.J. Heinz II Charitable Trust
RSC Learning is supported by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, GRoW @ Annenberg and other generous supporters
About Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. Between 2023 and 2026 we will have invested over £467 million of public money from Government, alongside an estimated £250 million each year from The National Lottery, to support individual practitioners, arts organisations, museums and libraries, and to help ensure that people in every part of the country have access to culture and creativity in the places where they live. Visit our website to learn more about our work.
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a leading global theatre company that sparks local, national and international conversations that build connections, create opportunities and bring joy.
We passionately believe that great storytelling can change the world, and that theatre offers its own unique form of storytelling: it’s live and shared, and transforms a group of strangers into audiences who, together, experience a story come to life in front of their eyes.
We collaborate with the most exciting artists to tell the stories of our time, and through a range of programmes we nurture the talent of the future.
We perform on three stages in our home in Stratford-upon-Avon, in London and in communities and schools across the country and around the world.
Our transformative Creative Learning and Engagement programmes reach over half a million young people each year.
