Explore some of our past productions of plays by Shakespeare's contemporaries.

This section includes photos, videos, interviews and more about our past productions of plays written by playwrights who lived and wrote at the same time as Shakespeare.

Annette McLaughlin as Lady Politic Would-Be posing for a selfie with Henry Goodman as Volpone.
Volpone (2015).
Photo by Manuel Harlan © RSC Browse and license our images

The Alchemist

Polly Findlay directed Ben Jonson’s hilarious satire that revels in just how vain we humans can be.

Arden of Faversham

Arden of Faversham played in the Swan Theatre from April to October 2014, part of our Roaring Girls season.

Dido Queen of Carthage

Doctor Faustus

Maria Aberg directed Christopher Marlowe’s notorious tale of vanity, greed and damnation.

Don Quixote

The Duchess of Malfi

Love's Sacrifice

Love's Sacrifice was Matthew Dunster's directorial debut with us at the RSC - a tragedy written by John Ford, probably first published in 1633.

A Mad World My Masters

Thomas Middleton's Jacobean 'city comedy', A Mad World My Masters, was Sean Foley's debut for us in 2013.

The Roaring Girl

The Roaring Girl played in the Swan Theatre from April to September 2014, part of our Roaring Girl season.

Sapho and Phao

The Shoemaker's Holiday

Phillip Breen directed Thomas Dekker's city comedy of class, conflict and cobblers in love, which was first performed in 1599

Tamburlaine

Volpone

Trevor Nunn returned to the Swan Theatre to direct Ben Jonson's comic, satiric, angry, timeless play

The White Devil

The White Devil - Webster's violent tragedy - played in the Swan Theatre from July to November 2014, directed by Maria Aberg

The Witch of Edmonton

See production photos, a plot synopsis and cast list for The Witch of Edmonton, which played in the Swan Theatre in 2014.

Don Quixote

Plays by Shakespeare's fellow writers