ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY ANNOUNCES SOCIALLY-DISTANCED SEATING AT SELECTED PERFORMANCES IN 2022
- Socially-distanced seating available for performances of Richard III on Wed 27 July at 7:15pm, All’s Well That Ends Well on Wed 21 September at 7:15pm and A Christmas Carol on Tuesday 22 November at 7:15pm in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
The Royal Shakespeare Company has today announced socially-distanced seating for its upcoming productions of Richard III, All’s Well That Ends Well and A Christmas Carol running in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2022.
The news arrives ahead of the opening of the Company’s new production of Richard III, directed by Gregory Doran and featuring Arthur Hughes in the title role; the first disabled actor to take up the role in the RSC’s history.
Catherine Mallyon, RSC Executive Director said; “For some audience members, particularly those with underlying health conditions and those who may consider themselves vulnerable, we understand that attending a theatre performance may feel difficult. To address these concerns, we will provide socially-distanced seating at selected performances in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre throughout 2022. We hope that this offer – alongside our regular programme of Assisted performances, - including our hugely popular Relaxed Performances of Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge Theatre - will mean that those who might otherwise feel unable to attend live theatre have the opportunity to do so confidently.”
The venue will operate at a reduced capacity, with a proportion of auditorium seats held off for social-distancing throughout. Audiences who opt for socially-distanced seats will be positioned with an empty row in front of and behind them and with one empty seat between parties.
Audiences sat in the socially-distanced seating will be asked to wear a face covering, unless exempt. Adjoining bars and toilets will be socially-distanced and reserved exclusively for those who have requested a socially-distanced seat or seats. To ensure socially-distanced access, these facilities will only open when the auditorium opens.
The decision follows the success of the RSC’s previous socially-distanced stagings of The Comedy of Errors and The Magician’s Elephant in 2021 and Much Ado About Nothing in the Spring of 2022, which were developed in line with the Seven Inclusive
Principles produced by #WeShallNotBeRemoved and its partners. The principles have shaped the cultural sector's pandemic recovery through the lens of disability and relevant equality legislation.
Andrew Miller, RSC Trustee, Cultural Consultant and Broadcaster, added; "Covid remains a risk to many disabled and clinically vulnerable people and presents an ongoing barrier to engagement with theatre and other life enhancing events. The RSC's previous socially-distanced performances provided me with an important bridge from total shielding to becoming comfortable in a full auditorium once again. Whilst many cultural organisations have returned to business-as-usual without mitigations, I warmly welcome the RSC's commitment to providing much needed access for people to enjoy live theatre in an actively managed environment, and in so doing offering leadership to the wider sector."
Tickets for all performances with socially-distanced seating are available to book via the RSC Box Office on 01789 331111 from midday to 6pm, Monday to Friday.
Tickets for all three productions, including TikTok £10 Tickets for 14-25s, can be booked at www.rsc.org.uk
Matilda The Musical Relaxed Performance
Also taking place this month and following the sold-out success of six previous relaxed performances, the RSC’s next Relaxed Performance of Matilda The Musical will take place at The Cambridge Theatre, London on Sunday 19 June at 3pm.
The relaxed performance provides a comfortable environment for everyone, with
elements of the production adapted to reduce anxiety and stress, including adjustments to lighting and sound levels to soften their impact. The ambience of the auditorium and theatre ‘rules’ will be relaxed, with everyone free to make noise and move around without restriction. Designated ‘chill-out’ areas outside the auditorium will provide soft seating and activities for those who need to take a break. The production will also be captioned and audio-described with an accompanying touch tour.
All theatre staff, crew and company members also receive specialist training to anticipate a wider range of different audience needs.
Tickets for the relaxed performance are at the reduced rate of £15.00, £25.00, £35.00 and £45.00, bookable online at http://uk.matildathemusical.com/tickets/accessibility/ or via telephone (020 3925 2998) with LW Theatres where trained staff are available to speak to bookers to ensure their specific needs are considered when allocating seats. TikTok £10 Tickets are available on the day of performance in person from 10am at the Cambridge Theatre Box Office.
All bookers will be sent a visual story to help familiarise themselves with the plot, characters and setting before arrival. Detailed event and transport information is available from http://uk.matildathemusical.com/tickets/accessibility/
A full list of RSC accessible performances are available at https://www.rsc.org.uk/your-visit/access/assisted-performances
- Ends –
For further information, please contact Kate Evans kate.evans@rsc.org.uk 01789 412622 or 07920244434
For press images, please register free of charge at https://images.rsc.org.uk/
LISTINGS INFORMATION
ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE
Richard III*
Wed 27 July at 7:15pm
All’s Well That Ends Well*
Wed 21 September at 7:15pm
A Christmas Carol*
Tuesday 22 November at 7:15pm
Socially-distanced seating available*
For the full performance schedule visit https://www.rsc.org.uk/
Visitors who wish to book a socially-distanced seat/s at the performances listed above are advised to call the Box Office on 01789 331111
Matilda The Musical
Cambridge Theatre
Earlham Street
London WC2H 9HU
For the full performance schedule and to book tickets visit www.matildathemusical.com
Relaxed performance – 3pm on Sunday 19 June 2022.
www.matildathemusical.com
Twitter: @MatildaMusical
Facebook: @MatildaTheMusical
Instagram: @MatildaTheMusical
WITH THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS
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
Richard III and All’s Well That Ends Well are supported by Season Supporter Charles Holloway
All’s Well That Ends Well is kindly supported by ICBC (London)
Headline Sponsor of A Christmas Carol – Pragnell
TikTok £10 Tickets sponsored by TikTok
The RSC Acting Companies are generously supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation and The Kovner Foundation
The work of the RSC Literary Department is generously supported by The Drue and H.J. Heinz II Charitable Trust
Edwardian Hotels London - Preferred Hotel Partner for Matilda The Musical in London
NOTES TO EDITORS
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)
The Royal Shakespeare Company creates world class theatre, made in Stratford-upon-Avon and shared around the world, performing plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as commissioning an exceptionally wide range of original work from contemporary writers. Our purpose is to ensure that Shakespeare is for everyone, and we do that by unlocking the power of his plays and of live performance, throughout the UK and across the world.
We believe everybody’s life is enriched by culture and creativity. We have trained generations of the very best theatre makers and we continue to nurture the talent of the future. Our transformative Learning Programmes reach over half a million young people and adults each year, and through our Placemaking and Public Programme we create projects with and for communities who have not historically engaged with our work. We are a leader in creative immersive technologies and digital development.
We have a proud record of innovation, diversity and excellence on stage and are determined to grasp the opportunity to become an even more inclusive, progressive, relevant and ambitious organisation.
We are committed to being a teaching and learning theatre – in which we create world class theatre for, with and by audiences and theatre makers of all ages. We provide training for emerging and established theatre makers and arts professionals, for teachers and for young people. We share learning formally and informally. We embed training and research across our company, work and processes.
We recognise the climate emergency and work hard to embed environmental sustainability into our operations, creative work and business practice, making a commitment to continually reduce our carbon footprint.
Keep Your RSC supports our mission to create theatre at its best, unlocking Shakespeare and transforming lives. Thousands of generous audience members, trusts and foundations and partners supported Keep Your RSC in 2020 and, alongside a £19.4 million loan from the Culture Recovery Fund, we are thrilled to be welcoming audiences back. It will take time to recover, to reopen all our theatres, and many years to repay the loan and the support and generosity of our audiences is more important than ever. Please donate at rsc.org.uk/donate
Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk
ICBC (London)
Established in 2003 in the City of London, ICBC (London) plc has provided professional solutions to various clients’ needs. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited London Branch was authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority in 2014, and together with its 100% wholly-owned subsidiary, ICBC (London) plc (collectively referred to as the “Bank”), provides a range of regulated financial products and banking services to its UK, Chinese and international clients, including corporate customers, individual customers and financial institutions. The Bank has specialized teams focusing on Commercial Real Estate, Commodities and Structured Finance, Global Loan Syndications, Trade Finance, Project and Infrastructure Finance and Treasury solutions by way of offering hedging solutions for currency and interest rate exposure via Foreign Exchange products and Interest Rate Derivatives.
‘Integrity Leads to Prosperity’ is the core value behind ICBC’s long-term development, including: acting with integrity; embracing cultural diversity; caring for clients, staff and the local community.
To learn more about ICBC, please visit our website www.icbclondon.com
Pragnell
Pragnell offers the widest and most beautiful selection of fine jewellery, watches and silver, both antique and modern, in the UK. As a sixth-generation, family-owned company, the Pragnell name symbolises its innate commitment to quality.
TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Matilda The Musical
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda The Musical premiered at the RSC’s Stratford-upon-Avon home in 2010, before transferring to the West End in October 2011, where it opened to rave reviews and awards.
Matilda The Musical swept the board at the 2012 Olivier Awards, with a record-breaking seven awards, and won four Tony Awards and a Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theater for the four girls sharing the title role on Broadway. It has since toured North America, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland, South Africa and China and played its first non-English language production in Seoul, South Korea in 2018/19.
Matilda The Musical is produced by Executive Producers Denise Wood and Griselda Yorke for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The production was developed with the support of Jeanie O’Hare and the RSC Literary Department.
André Ptaszynski had worked as one of the Executive Producers of the production from 2011 until his untimely death in 2020. He is much missed by all of his colleagues.