Friday 25 to Sunday 27 April

Join us and fellow close supporters in our home of Stratford-upon-Avon for the highlight of the RSC year: our annual Shakespeare's Birthday celebration, where you can enjoy spending spent with and hearing from artists, actors, and creatives. 

On Friday evening, Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey warmly invite you to join them for their Co-Artistic Directors celebration, to thank you for your support, celebrate the past year and toast the season ahead.

Over the weekend, you will have the opportunity to see two Shakespeare productions: Michael Longhurst’s Much Ado About Nothing in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Max Webster’s Titus Andronicus in the Swan Theatre.

Friday 25 April 

2-4pm Afternoon tea and insight talks from RSC creative teams
PACCAR Room, Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Much Ado About Nothing talk with the show creatives. Ahead of seeing the Saturday matinee, meet the Much Ado creative team and hear stories from ‘off the pitch’. Afternoon tea will be served in the PACCAR Room. 
Hear about the world of digital innovation at the RSC. The RSC’s Head of Digital and Broadcast, Julia Walter, will join us and share details of the RSC’s digital innovation work, with a focus on the “Virtual Model Box" changing the way we work with theatre designers and creative games technologists.
 
7pm-11pm
Co-Artistic Directors’ Celebration Dinner
The Other Place
Join Tamara Harvey, Daniel Evans and guest artists from their first seasons at the RSC, for a special evening at The Other Place. The Co-Artistic Directors’ Dinner is the highlight of the Shakespeare Birthday Weekend each year. It brings together everyone at the RSC who makes our work possible - from staff, to artists, to you as our closest supporters - and toasts the achievements of the last year as well as the plans for what lies ahead. A drinks reception starts the celebrations followed by a three-course sit down dinner, with performances taking place throughout the evening. Dress code: cocktail attire.
The evening is sponsored by Pragnell, who will present the Pragnell Shakespeare Prize on the evening.

Saturday 26 April

From 9.30am Join our Friends’ volunteers for Bucks Fizz, birthday cake and readings to remember Shakespeare, before heading into town to watch the annual town parade to Shakespeare’s resting place, featuring community performances. You are also welcome to join our leadership team to represent the RSC in the parade and lay flowers for Shakespeare. 

12noon-1pm 
Sandwich Lunch at Arden Hotel and View The Play’s The Thing 
Arden Hotel and Swan Wing
Join fellow Artists Circle supporters for a light lunch at the Arden Hotel, before heading over to our free exhibition The Play’s The Thing, which reopens that day. Containing items from the RSC Collection, one of the most significant Shakespeare and theatre collections in the world, it offers unique insights into the history of theatre-making in Stratford-upon-Avon. This year’s exhibition of The Play’s The Thing is co-curated by Theatre Studio of IDP’s Uzhik, ESOL students from Bradford College, and Ukrainian refugees from the Welcome Here refugee network who have settled in Warwickshire. 

1.30pm
Titus Andronicus Matinee 
Swan Theatre

5-7pm
Artists Circle Dinner with Titus Andronicus Director Max Webster and Designer Joanna Scotcher 
Ashcroft Room, above the Swan Theatre
Pause for a bite to eat between the shows with fellow Artists Circle members ahead of the evening show of Much Ado About Nothing. We will be joined by Director Max Webster and Designer Joanna Scotcher to tell us more about bringing Titus Andronicus to the stage. (We promise not to serve any pie!).

7.15pm 
Much Ado About Nothing Evening - Shakespeare’s Birthday Performance
Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Sunday 27 April

11.15am-12.45pm 
Holy Trinity Church Service, 1 Old Town, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6BG
You are welcome to attend the Holy Trinity Church Service. This is a public service of remembrance at Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare was baptised and buried. At this celebration of Shakespeare’s life, the annual Shakespeare Sermon will be preached by Peter Graystone (author of “All's Well That Ends Well: From Dust to Resurrection: 40 days with Shakespeare”). During the service Holy Trinity Church Choir will perform a newly-commissioned anthem by Jack Oades. Members of the RSC will perform other music and readings as part of the church service that is open to all visitors to the town.

12.45-3.30pm
Benefactors' Circle Lunch with RSC Acting Companies hosted by Charles Holloway OBE 
The Other Place
Hosted by Benefactors' Circle member and RSC Honorary Governor, Charles Holloway OBE, invites you to join him and the acting companies from Much Ado About Nothing and Titus Andronicus for an informal Sunday Lunch in The Other Place. Our Benefactors’ Circle members are those who have generously decided to leave a gift to the RSC in their wills.   

Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 July

Enjoy three productions across two days! Begin your weekend with visionary director Yaël Farber’s The Winter’s Tale. You will then enjoy a dinner with fellow supporters and creatives before seeing our Co-Artistic Director Tamara Harvey’s take on W. Somerset Maugham’s The Constant Wife in the evening.

Early on Sunday morning, participate in a theatrical experience by watching Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis at 4.48am in The Other Place. Following this performance the cast will join you for breakfast. This special weekend is curated around this crucial moment which grounds Kane’s last play, and is not to be missed.

PAST EVENT: NICHOLAS HYTNER'S RICHARD II

The RSC is a crucible for the world's most exceptional artists and theatre-makers. To celebrate the enduring legacy of our alumni and their profound impact on theatre as a whole, we are delighted to host our London Theatre Club. We will be regularly visiting productions in theatres across the city and each evening will include an opportunity to meet an alumni, current or future RSC artist.

The first outing was on Wednesday 26 March to see RSC alumnus and Board Member Nicholas Hytner’s production of Richard II at the Bridge Theatre, with Jonathan Bailey in the title role. Nicholas welcomed us over a drink ahead of the show. We hope to welcome you to the next one and will update this page with details soon.