ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY UPDATED RESPONSE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Issued: Thursday 9 April 2020, 12noon

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) today (Thursday 9 April 2020) announced that all performances, events and activities will be cancelled up to and including Tuesday 30 June 2020.  This date will be under constant review following government, Public Health England and industry advice, and it may lead to the RSC extending these cancellation dates.

Due to the financial impact of the crisis the Company has made the difficult decision to close the Swan Theatre until the autumn. 

Projekt Europa, which was due to open in the Swan Theatre in April and run throughout the summer, is regrettably cancelled. This season of work included Europeana, Peer Gynt and Blindness and Seeing and a production of Decameron 2020 performed by the RSC’s Next Generation Act young company. 

If the RSC is able to re-open during the summer months, the Company will open the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) with the planned productions of The Winter’s Tale and The Comedy of Errors.  Pericles, which was due to open in the RST in August, has been postponed.

In line with the Society of London Theatre announcement on Monday, Matilda The Musical will remain closed at least until 31 May 2020.

The RSC thanks everybody who works with the Company, their audiences, supporters and the industry for their continued support during this time.  The Box Office team will contact ticket holders over the coming weeks to discuss donation, credit or refund options. Ticket buyers will be contacted on a rolling weekly basis and people are asked not to contact the Box Office directly due to the volume of activity during this time.

Gregory Doran, RSC Artistic Director and Catherine Mallyon, Executive Director, said:

“This is a situation without parallel for all, and the health of the public and our staff continues to be our number one priority. It is incredibly sad to see our stages empty, productions cancelled, and our buildings closed. In particular the remarkable Projekt Europa, involving so many creative artists from across Europe, is a huge loss. We have considered this very carefully, but it is sadly unavoidable.

“Our mission is to transform lives through amazing experiences of Shakespeare and great theatre.  For us to deliver our mission and to give us the best chance of re-opening as soon as we can, we have to make difficult decisions to ensure the survival of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

“In the face of the considerable challenges posed by COVID-19, we have also made the hard decision to furlough the majority of roles at the RSC under the UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.  We are working hard to ensure that staff feel fully supported through this process and thank them for their resilience and understanding as we continue to adapt to the rapidly changing situation.  

“We are exploring every possibility to secure income from other government schemes, our donors and audiences and we ask you all to join us in doing whatever you can to secure the future of the RSC for everyone.

“As a registered charity we rely on a mix of income to fund our activity, from the productions on stage to the important work we do with over 500,000 young people, and our partner schools and theatres around the country. We ask that anyone able to do so considers donating the value of their tickets – in full or in part – to help support the Company to continue this work.”

Audiences can continue to enjoy the Company’s productions and education resources for free including:

• a 30-day trial with Marquee TV, the on-demand streaming service for arts and culture.
• partnering with BBC Culture in Quarantine to bring six of the nation’s best-loved Shakespeare titles to audiences between now and September.
• a supporting package of free educational activities and resources produced in partnership with BBC Bitesize Online and available to schoolchildren studying Shakespeare from home across the UK.

More information can be found at https://www.rsc.org.uk/at-home-with-shakespeare

For further media information please contact
Kate Evans, RSC Media and Communications Manager
kate.evans@rsc.org.uk, 07920 244434

WITH THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS

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

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

Royal Shakespeare Theatre productions sponsored by Darwin Escapes

Charles Holloway - Season Supporter, Royal Shakespeare Theatre Summer 2020

The Winter’s Tale is supported by RSC Production Circle members Mark Thompson and Jane Blumberg-Thompson

The work of the RSC Education Department is generously supported by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Adobe, The Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust, The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, Samsung, The Schroder Foundation, The Polonsky Foundation, GRoW @ Annenberg, The Goldsmiths’ Company Charity, The Ernest Cook Trust, Teale Charitable Trust, The Grimmitt Trust, TAK Advisory Limited and Stratford Town Trust.

The RSC is supported using public funding by Arts Council England

The RSC is registered with the Fundraising Regulator

The Royal Shakespeare Company creates theatre at its best, made in Stratford-upon-Avon and shared around the world.  We produce an inspirational artistic programme each year, setting Shakespeare in context, alongside the work of his contemporaries and today’s writers.  

We have trained generations of the very best theatre makers and we continue to nurture the talent of the future. We encourage everyone to enjoy a lifelong relationship with Shakespeare and live theatre.  We reach 530,000 children and young people annually through our education work, transforming their experiences in the classroom, in performance and online.

Everyone at the RSC - from actors to armourers, musicians to technicians - plays a part in creating the world you see on stage.  All our productions begin life at our Stratford workshops and theatres, and we bring them to the widest possible audience through our touring, residencies, live broadcasts and online activity. So wherever you experience the RSC, you experience work made in Shakespeare’s home town.  

Registered charity no. 212481 rsc.org.uk