Royal Shakespeare Company - Definition and Overview

The Royal Shakespeare Company is a theatre company located in Stratford-upon-Avon, London, and Newcastle. It was founded by Peter Hall in 1960.

Key productions

• The Wars of the Roses, adaptation of the Henry VI plays, directed by Sir Peter Hall (1963-64)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Peter Brook (1970)
• Macbeth, starring Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen (1977)
• The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1980)
• Richard III, starring Sir Antony Sher (1984)
• Les Misérables (1985)
• Les Liaisons Dangereuses, starring Lindsay Duncan, Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman (1985)
• The Plantagenets, directed by Adrian Noble (1988)
• The Gift of the Gorgon, starring Dame Judi Dench (1992)
• Hamlet, starring Kenneth Branagh, directed by Adrian Noble (1992)
• This England: The Histories (2000), a season of all Shakespeare's sequential history plays

Artistic directors

• Peter Hall (1960-1968)
• Trevor Nunn (1968-1978)
• Trevor Nunn and Terry Hands (1978-1986)
• Terry Hands (1986-1991)
• Adrian Noble (1991-2003)
• Michael Boyd (2003- )

Notable actors

The following notable actors have appeared in RSC productions.

• Samantha Bond
• Kenneth Branagh
• Judi Dench
• Ralph Fiennes
• Jeremy Irons
• Derek Jacobi
• Alex Jennings
• Jane Lapotaire
• Ian McKellen
• Diana Rigg
• Fiona Shaw
• Antony Sher
• Juliet Stevenson
• Patrick Stewart
• Imogen Stubbs
• David Suchet
• Harriet Walter
• John Wood

External links

• Official homepage (http://www.rsc.org.uk/home/index.asp)