The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced details of its Summer 2021 programme, including an artists’ impression of the newly conceived 500-seat Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Garden Theatre to be constructed in the Swan Theatre Gardens.

The new venue will host the venue’s reopening season of in-person productions, beginning with the RSC’s postponed production of The Comedy of Errors from 13 July-26 September.

The company will also be allowing audiences into its rehearsal rooms for the first time this summer for an online open rehearsal project surrounding Gregory Doran and Owen Horsley’s Henry VI Part One. Online audiences will be able to watch full days of rehearsals over three weeks in June, concluding with a streamed run of the play on 23 June.

An online playmaking festival will also feature during the season with a schools’ broadcast of Macbeth and a production by the RSC’s young company inspired by Much Ado About Nothing, which will be performed in the outdoor theatre on 23 July.

Gregory Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, said: “As nations all over the world emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, and the UK theatre industry prepares to welcome in-person audiences, the RSC is re-opening by sharing our work in new, creative and surprising ways.  We want to respond to our changing world and the needs of our audiences with performances and experiences outdoors and online – opening up our rehearsal rooms for the first time.

“By creating an outdoor theatre space for The Comedy of Errors we hope audiences will feel safe to return to the theatre with confidence. Our buildings will gradually come back to life during the summer through our café and restaurant, and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre will be ready for indoor performances in the autumn.

“The last year has taught us many things and we know that we can reach new audiences around the world through our work online. We want to build on this by inviting the public to join our rehearsal process for the first time and working in collaboration with the BBC to adapt The Winter’s Tale specifically for the screen. We know there is an appetite from those who can’t join us in Stratford, and we want to welcome them to the RSC. Throughout the pandemic we have continued to support and work alongside the thousands of young people and adults in the RSC community. Arts and culture are vital to help people to reconnect after lockdown, and our work continues across the UK with our partner theatres to support the recovery of our towns and cities. Many of those young people will join us at our Playmaking Festival, on our Garden Theatre stage and in their classrooms for the Live Schools’ Broadcast of Macbeth.

“As our thoughts turn to new beginnings, we cannot wait to work again with our freelance colleagues and to welcome audiences back to the place where, for so many, their love of live theatre first began.”

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