Swan Theatre

About

The Swan Theatre is a theatre belonging to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is built on to the side of the larger Royal Shakespeare Theatre, occupying the Victorian Gothic structure that formerly housed the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre that preceded the RST but was destroyed by fire in 1926. Trevor Nunn and Terry Hands were joint artistic directors of the RSC when the company opened The Swan.

Designed by Michael Reardon, it has a deep thrust stage, and is a galleried, intimate auditorium holding around 450 people. The space was to be dedicated to playing the works of William Shakespeare's contemporaries, the works of European writers and the occasional work of Shakespeare. The Swan Theatre's opening season was in 1986.

The theatre was launched on 8 May 1986 with a production of The Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher (not published until 1634 and thought to be Shakespeare's last work for the stage). It was directed by Barry Kyle. On 13 November 1986 The Queen visited Stratford-upon-Avon to open the Swan Theatre.

The official opening ceremony was held during the day and in the evening The Fair Maid of the West, directed by Trevor...