All the world's a stage

the history of the Royal Shakespeare Company's performance space in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England is, well, Shakespearean.

Throughout its existence, the historic performance center has seen as much drama as one of the Bard's famed tragedies. In the 1900s, a devastating fire laid waste to much of the structure. Three decades later, it was subject to an ambitious but flawed reconstruction attempt.

It was time for a second act.

In March 2005, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) began the planning phase of a £112.8 million, government-funded project to reconstruct its main theater. Spanning six years, the project aims to modernize the facility while restoring the original Shakespearean theater experience.

Despite good intentions, the project came up against high expectations from stakeholders and complex environmental issues when Peter Wilson—fresh from running the Tate Modern museum transformation project in London, England—took the lead as project director.

During Mr. Shakespeare's lifetime, his work was considered entertainment for the masses and was often performed to an audience packed into a standing-room-only section right in front of the stage. In fact, the author created his plays with that intimate environment in mind.

Alas, the 1930s revamp had dramatically altered the playgoer's experience, says Mr. Wilson.

“The design featured fan-shaped seating a long way from the stage—not great for Shakespeare and not the tradition in which he wrote,” he explains.

The design's impact was noticeable. In the aftermath of the reconstruction, the theater company started having trouble recruiting directors and actors to perform in the space.

Complicating matters was the fact that RSC had constructed a second, smaller performance space in 1986 designed to recreate the courtyard theaters of Shakespeare's day. Actors, directors and audiences infinitely preferred that space, and by the mid-1990s, the RSC decided to overhaul its main auditorium.

The heart of the mission was to create a stage that extends into the audience on three sides—immersing more than 1,000 playgoers in performances in the same way they would have experienced them during Shakespeare's lifetime. The project also included other modern enhancements, including accessibility improvements, restoration of the building's heritage elements and new educational spaces.

THE PLAY WITHIN THE PLAY

About 300 meters (984 feet) down the Avon from the site of the new Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) main auditorium sits the Courtyard Theatre.

Constructed on the site of the company's old car park, the 1,048-seat Courtyard let the shows go on—and provided guidance for the main event, the revamp of the main RSC theater.

In use since 2006, the £6.5 million Courtyard took only 10 months to complete—a record time for Andy Hayles, managing director at Charcoalblue, the London, England-based theater consulting company that led the auditorium's design.

“The company needed a building to work out of while the new theater was being built,” says Mr. Hayles. “The RSC employs more than 600 people in Stratford alone, so the idea that they would close for three or four years was unthinkable.”

Instead, the team used the Courtyard as a laboratory to test out everything from the wiring to the seats.

“We were able to try things out practically in terms of the artistic vision,” Mr. Hayles says. “There were many who said [the idea] was not possible or sensible. I think the Courtyard has proved that the vision works.”

Mr. Hayles and his team were also able to get direct feedback from audiences about elements such as sightlines, acoustics and temperature in real-time surveys. The theater manager also passed along compliments and complaints.

Along with providing valuable audience feedback, the project directly benefited how the team interacted on the construction of the main theater.

“Working on this project helped the RSC, project management and theater consultant teams learn to make decisions together,” Mr. Hayles says. “The same people working on the Courtyard also worked on the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the company's temporary theater at the Roundhouse in London. The team built trust, a body of work and a shorthand, which enabled speedy and effective collaboration.”

Once the main Royal Shakespeare Theatre opens, the Courtyard will close, and the company will bring back The Other Place, its studio theater that formerly occupied the space.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FLICKR/DEARBARBIE

Time it took to
complete the
£6.5 million
Courtyard Theater
project

Although the plan seemed simple, the plot thickened as the project team sought stakeholder approval.

“When I started, I was told that the most difficult aspect would be to marry the ambitions for the project from all the diverse interest groups at the RSC,” Mr. Wilson says.

That may have been a bit of an understatement.

THE CAST AND CREW

Upon arrival, Mr. Wilson and his team found they had an assorted cast of characters to please. That list included RSC executives, the local community, and high-profile celebrities such as Dame Judi Dench and Patrick Stewart.

“The problem with any project of this type is that the new building is everyone's chance to have everything they ever wanted—but the budget never goes that far,” says Mr. Wilson. “You have to teach perfectionists how to live with the 80 percent rule and help them decide what things are most important. You have to help them feel proud of what they got and okay with what they gave up.”

Rather than drown in a cacophony of demands, Mr. Wilson and his team drew on their listening skills to determine what each group really cared about—and what was open to negotiation. The team also took care to address concerns from non-executives and give the project an open, inclusive feel.

“We found ways for everyone to contribute to the process without holding up the project with more proposals and details,” he says.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

STAGING AREA

The project had one thing in its favor: Everyone agreed on the need to restore the original stage design.

“Our commitment to bringing an immediacy and clarity to Shakespeare means we need to bring the audience to a more engaged relationship with our actors,” says Michael Boyd, the RSC artistic director. “The best way we can achieve this is [with] a modern take on the theaters of Shakespeare's day.”

To realize the desired effect, Mr. Wilson knew the stage had to be both stable and easily adaptable. The resulting plan allows for the stage to be set up in the round, accommodate a musician's gallery, or be shortened or widened depending on a production's needs.

“The RSC has an enormously competent technical team that has to be able to make changes for each season, and we worked with them to make it easier in the future,” says Mr. Wilson.

Finally, to address the most pressing issue with the existing design, the team cut the greatest distance from seat to stage from 27 meters to 15 meters (89 feet to 49 feet).

PHOTO BY SIMON WINNALL

OUT, OUT DAMN WATER

Stratford-upon-Avon earned its name from its proximity to the River Avon. It's a lovely location—but it made it difficult to build the new 7-meter (23-foot) deep basement needed to construct the new stage.

Despite some exploration work, “we found that the ground conditions weren't exactly as expected,” Mr. Wilson says. “It seems that the 1930s approach to keep out water was to dig an enormous hole and fill it with concrete—we'd expected ground and found mass concrete.”

In addition to breaking up the concrete, the project team had to contend with very wet conditions that required a special rig to inject sealing materials into the ground surrounding the piling around the new basement's outer wall.

Then along came another other little wrinkle. The sub-stage basement existed below the water table, so water had to be constantly pumped away from the site as work continued.

It was just one more surprise that Mr. Wilson took in stride.

“It's not a great feat to be on time and on budget if you make realistic plans. We tried to build in time and contingency to deal with the unexpected,” he says. “The trick is to know there will be challenges and anticipate in what areas they will come and have the capability to deal with them.”

TO RESTORE OR NOT TO RESTORE

The stage wasn't the only element that had to be recast. The team also drew on the idea of a water tower from the original 1800s Memorial Theatre that burned down in 1926.

“In my view, one reason for the original tower is that, in Stratford, the church was a major tourist destination,” Mr. Wilson says. “There was a friendly rivalry between the church, which had a large spire, and the theater, which was further from the old railway station.”

The original tower served as a visual cue to pull in visitors, but it wasn't included when the theater was rebuilt in 1932. After studying the history, though, the team came up with a modern reinterpretation to reconnect the RSC with Stratford.

“The RSC understands that one of the challenges is to get people to come to the theater and knows that a way to get them there is to create good and welcoming public spaces,” Mr. Wilson says.

In the new building, visitors will travel through the tower, which will house exhibitions from the RSC‘s collection. That way, they end up engaging with the theater even if a production isn't on their itineraries.

The RSC‘s plans were also developed in tandem with proposals from the Stratford-on-Avon District Council and Warwickshire County Council to develop the town's waterfront area. The goal is to ensure both projects work hand in hand to make the theater part of the community.

“We want to open up the theater and improve its relationship with the town. We had a building that felt like a fortress with its gates shut to visitors,” says Sir Christopher Bland, RSC chairman. “I‘m confident that we've got a scheme that reflects the RSC‘s ambition to reach out and make Shakespeare fresh and relevant to a new generation.”

THE LAST ACT

Mr. Wilson's outline for the rest of 2009 includes finishing off the roof, dressing rooms and front façade. The team will also work on final touches such as the louvered glass lantern that will top the tower.

Construction of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre will be completed by 2010, though that's only part of the project.

“We have the public building and other facilities, and so there won't be one big bang moment,” Mr. Wilson says. “But we will be in full operation by 2011.”

And as the man himself once said, all's well that ends well. PM