RSC announces 5 Year Partnership with the Roundhouse

In the week The Royal Shakespeare Company opens its eight-play Shakespeare repertoire at the Roundhouse, the Company has announced a five year plan to present an annual season of work at this iconic London venue, beginning in 2012.

The press release continues:

The RSC has twice now constructed the 'Roundyard', a replica of its Courtyard Theatre auditorium in Stratford-upon-Avon which wraps the audience round the action, within the central columns of the Roundhouse. The award-winning Histories season at the Roundhouse in spring 2008 was one of the company's most successful in London with 99% attendance across the run. The current RSC season has the highest Box Office advance ever taken at the Roundhouse. The eight-play Shakespeare season also includes an extensive programme of education projects and work with young people, much of which has been developed in partnership with the Roundhouse.

The RSC will also continue its successful relationship with Delfont Mackintosh Theatres (which began in 2005 with seasons of work at the Novello Theatre) and is in discussions about presenting RSC productions in London in 2011 and onwards. In addition the RSC has been pleased to work closely with other West End producers in recent years such as the Ambassador Theatre Group, Thelma Holt Ltd, Nimax Theatres, the Really Useful Group and Bill Kenwright Ltd and with theatres such as Hampstead Theatre, Soho Theatre, the Tricycle Theatre and Wilton's Music Hall.

Michael Boyd, RSC Artistic Director, said:
"We have loved being at the Roundhouse. It is an extraordinary space, with an aesthetic and ethos that matches our own. We are especially pleased that this new partnership means we can continue to offer London audiences an opportunity to experience our work as it's seen in our Stratford home: on a thrust stage, bringing them so much closer to the action, and in a building which echoes our desire to bring together the intimate and epic."