Eight of Shakespeare’s most popular plays across the RSC’s four stages – including Othello, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It, King Lear, Love’s Labour’s Lost and Pericles – three world premières, a European première, a UK première, a ballet – Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet – plus Sheridan’s School for Scandal (apologies for the headline… we can resist everything except temptation) and Marlowe’s Edward II mean that this year’s RSC season is one of the most anticipated for years.

Newly appointed Co-Artistic Directors of the RSC, Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey really have hit the ground running with a full year of programming in all four theatres in the Company’s Stratford-upon-Avon home – the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the Swan Theatre, the newly invigorated The Other Place, as well as the popular outdoor performance space, The Holloway Garden Theatre.

To find out a little more and choose which of the wonderful productions you will put on your ‘must see’ list, click here:

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE 2024/25

• Luke Thompson leads the company of Love’s Labour’s Lost directed by Emily Burns
• Rumour, gossip and scandal take centre stage in a comedy double-bill of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor directed by Blanche McIntyre, led by Samantha Spiro as Mistress Page; and Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The School for Scandal directed by Tinuke Craig
• Tim Carroll directs John Douglas Thompson as Othello with Will Keen as Iago and Juliet Rylance as Desdemona
  Twelfth Night directed by Prasanna Puwanarajah
• Adapted by Christopher Gable and Massimo Moricone with music by Sergei Prokofiev, Northern Ballet visits the RSC for the first time with their much-loved staging of Romeo & Juliet
• Luke Thallon reunites with Olivier Award-winning Director Rupert Goold to make his RSC debut in the title role of Hamlet

SWAN THEATRE 2024/25

• Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia makes its global stage première in a major new co-production with Wise Children directed and adapted by Emma Rice with Hanif Kureishi, with a cast including Dee Ahluwalia and Ankur Bahl
• From the creators of The Jungle, Good Chance and the RSC present Kyoto, a new play by Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson directed by Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin
• RSC Co-Artistic Director Tamara Harvey directs Alfred Enoch in a major new production of Shakespeare’s late romance Pericles
• Associate Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival Theatre, Kimberley Rampersad directs a magical new staging of The Red Shoes, adapted by Nancy Harris
• Double Olivier Award-winning actor and RSC Co-Artistic Director Daniel Evans returns to the RSC stage in a new production of Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II directed by Daniel Raggett

THE OTHER PLACE 2024/25

• Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, English, receives its European première in association with Kiln Theatre, directed by Diyan Zora (2021 Genesis Future Directors award-winner) with actors Nadia Albina, Sara Hazemi, Lanna Joffrey and Serena Manteghi
• First performed early in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Uzhhorod Theatre Company present King Lear, adapted and directed by Vyacheslav Yehorov
• Presented in association with Headlong, David Edgar’s The New Real receives its world premiere, directed by Holly Race Roughan

THE HOLLOWAY GARDEN THEATRE 2024/25

The Holloway Garden Theatre will make its return to Stratford-upon-Avon with a new staging of Shakespeare’s As You Like It directed by Brendan O’Hea. This will be accompanied by a series of family-friendly workshops and events as well as a new interpretation of The Two Gentlemen of Verona by young people aged 13-18 from the RSC’s talent development programme Next Generation Act

At Avonlea we are proud to say that many guests return time and time again. As a result, they discover ‘hidden gems’ that are off the well-trodden tourist beat.

Two of our regular guests, Kate and Bob, have discovered that jumping on a train from Stratford-upon-Avon to Leamington Spa provides the perfect opportunity for a stunning 10 mile walk back to Avonlea….

Bob & Kate’s Leamington Spa to Hatton Locks Walk

One of our very favourite places to visit – and we try to visit two or three times a year – is Stratford-upon-Avon. And we always stay at Avonlea. We also love walking and this is one of our favourites to do.

So, first things first. A delicious breakfast – normally made by Rob and served with a smile by Clare who always keeps our coffee very well topped up. While everything offered is delicious, Rob takes great pride in his scrambled eggs. Top tip for you.

But I mentioned walking, didn’t I? As for kit, a waterproof coat never goes amiss and we’d certainly recommend walking boots as the towpath often has puddles along the way. We walk across town to Stratford-upon-Avon Railway Station and buy our return tickets to Leamington Spa for the journey which takes around 35 minutes. The trains are relatively regular but do check Trainline or National Rail Enquiries first.

I won’t describe the full walk as you all have Google Maps, I’m sure. Walk along the river (westbound) through Victoria Park – which is a good place to see local fun runs and charity events. At the end of the park, there is a main road. Cross at the crossing and take a narrow pathway just to the righthand side. A few hundred yards along and you arrive at the canal. Turn right and this takes you towards Warwick and then to Hatton.

Then all you have to do is stay on the canal towpath enjoying the scenery. You skim the edge of Warwick and then head onwards towards the famous Hatton Locks – a series of 21 locks known as ‘The Stairway to Heaven’ and which rise over a steady mile. It’s a rather nice feeling – as a walker – being able to easily overtake motorised vehicles as they patiently wait for the locks to fill or empty. We always think to ourselves “We’ll be in the pub before you are” as we pass.

At the very top, there is an excellent dragonfly sculpture created by Gideon Petersen in 1971. There’s also a large pub – The Hatton Arms. We’ve never called in but it looks nice. Our destination is always the nearby café – appropriately called Hatton Locks Café – which is just a short walk further up the canal. After 5.8 miles (which takes us around 1 hour 50 minutes), we need a rest and a cuppa. And, although we had our yummy breakfast, a freshly made cheese and ham toastie is just the treat. (There’s plenty of other things available on the menu, by the way, including sweet treats).

There’s seating outside and some seating inside which fills up when the weather is a bit British. They also have toilets. I know that bit of information is an important one.

Replenished, it’s just a case of getting our legs working again and retracing our steps back along the canal. The last few times we’ve done this walk, the return train time has been a bit too snug for us to get all the way back to Leamington. Hatton Station is only about a mile or so away so you can take a stroll to there. We prefer to walk back to Warwick. Once in Warwick, just after the hospital, we leave the canal and turn right along Coventry Road and then to the Station. This stretch is four miles and takes us around 1 hour 20 minutes.

It is a very picturesque walk and we have countless photos of narrowboats, heron and general seasonal prettiness. It also gives us the opportunity for a bit of exercise and to feel a little bit saintly before spending our evening enjoying a rewarding pint – or two – in The Stratford Ale House and eating in one of our favourite restaurants back in Stratford.

The RSC has plenty of treats in store in early 2024. Whether you prefer traditional Will, a new take on Shakespeare – or something a little more left field. From February to April, you can choose from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice 1936, First Encounters: Romeo and Juliet or Ben and Imo.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal Shakespeare Theatre)

Let Shakespeare’s captivating comedy transport you from deepest midwinter to the most magical of midsummer nights.

On Midsummer’s Night, the real and fairy worlds collide.

Four young lovers, faced with the prospect of unhappy marriage or worse, flee the court of Athens and stumble into an enchanted forest. Nearby, a group of amateur actors rehearse a play to celebrate an upcoming royal wedding.

As these mere mortals cross paths with a warring fairy King and Queen, chaos reigns in the natural world. The lines between reality and illusion start to blur and no-one but mischievous Puck knows what is true and what is magic.

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The Merchant of Venice 1936 (Swan Theatre)

London, 1936 the threat of fascism grows day by day.

Shylock (Tracy-Ann Oberman – Eastenders, Doctor Who, Friday Night Dinner) a widow, single mother and survivor of attacks on Jewish people in Russia, runs a small business from her home in Cable Street.

Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists plan a march through the Jewish East End and a fragile peace is shattered.

Into Shylock’s world enters antisemitic Antonio in need of a loan, a dangerous deal is made. Will Shylock take her revenge?

A powerful reminder of a key moment in British history.

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First Encounters: Romeo and Juliet (Swan Theatre)

When Romeo meets Juliet, the worlds around them melts away. But then reality kicks in; their families are enemies, and they will never be allowed to stay together.

With the world against them, they hatch a plan to escape the lives they were born into. But fate has other ideas.

Following the success of last year’s sell out Twelfth Night, the latest in the RSC’s series of “First Encounters” productions makes Shakespeare’s star cross’d lovers relevant for a new generation of theatregoers.

This 90-minute version of Romeo and Juliet, edited by Robin Belfield and directed by Philip J Morris, uses original language to create the perfect introduction for young people aged 7-13 and their families.

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Ben and Imo (Swan Theatre)

The 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is fast approaching.

To mark the occasion, Benjamin Britten has just nine months to write a new opera about her predecessor Elizabeth I.

Into the world of the disheartened composer enters the exuberant and passionate Imogen Holst, daughter of Gustav and an accomplished musician in her own right. Her candid and can-do attitude proves to be the perfect foil for the capricious and often maddening Britten, and what begins as an arrangement of practical support turns into a bond that not only sees Gloriana to its premiere but endures throughout the rest of their lives.

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