Read our 2023-24 Annual Review

• The RSC is an international theatre company based in the heart of the Midlands
• We have three permanent theatre spaces, a London base and 16 long-term regional partner theatres from Cornwall to Newcastle upon Tyne
• We sold 1,637,000 tickets (2023/24) for work in the UK, with audiences visiting us from Penzance to the Shetland Islands, and from 74 countries worldwide
• 47% of our audiences are from the West Midlands
• We are the largest ACE NPO outside London, employing 900 people and 700 freelancers (2023/24)
• We are a major commissioner of new work and adaptations, and currently have 50 writers under commission
• Regular transfers of work to London (Kyoto - @sohoplace 2025, Ben & Imo - Orange Tree 2025, A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Barbican 2024/25) and tours to US (Pericles - Chicago Shakespeare Theater 2024, Hamnet - US Tour 2026, Kyoto - Lincoln Center, New York, 2025) and Asia (Matilda The Musical - China, Japan, Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai 2023/24)
• Annual touring programme including small and large-scale touring to schools, communities and no.1 venues, (Matilda The Musical - UK & Ireland Tour 2025-27, Hamlet - UK Tour 2026, First Encounters: The Tempest and King Lear - UK Tour 2025)
• International hit Matilda The Musical resident at London’s Cambridge Theatre. Seen by 11 million people in 100 cities worldwide, winning 101 international awards
• 325,332 tickets sold to date for the multi-award-winning stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro, an international collaboration with Improbable and Nippon TV, transferred to the West End’s Gillian Lynne Theatre in March 2025
• Over 60,000 £10 TikTok tickets sold to 14-25-year-olds through a unique partnership started in June 2022 - 54% to state school students

EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY

• RSC Learning reaches 500,000 young people annually and works with more than 1,000 UK schools and 2,000 teachers each year
• Long-term partnerships with schools, communities and regional theatres in 32 areas of structural disadvantage, from Cornwall to Middlesbrough, achieving evidence-based improvement in learning outcomes
• We are working with a national network of 280 Associate Schools and 16 theatre partners across 100 towns and cities in England. Our schools network will grow to 350 by 2025/26
• Using arts and culture to develop greater connectivity within communities, raise aspirations and improve learning outcomes (e.g. partnerships in Skegness, Hull, Blackpool, Hartlepool, Birmingham)
• Innovative outcomes-based finance framework developed with Nesta using randomised control trial (RCT) validated measures - a new approach for the arts and cultural sector (2024)
• Youth Advisory Board of 25 young people aged 11-25 from partner regions
• Developing Arts & Culture strategy for Stratford with local community and other civic and arts organisations (2024/25)

RESEARCH & ARCHIVE

• We are the only performing arts organisation with Independent Research Organisation status
• Our landmark research, Time To Act (2024) generated statistically significant evidence about the RSC Learning approach and the role of the arts in improving social, emotional and academic development of young people. Verified through RCT and Oxford University academics
• Four-year interdisciplinary feasibility study (2024/25) with 7 international cultural partners including BAM, MIT, funded by AHRC. Includes 9 fellowships for artists and researchers exploring the biggest challenges faced by the creative industries and wider society and the change needed for the development and survival of the sector and future economic growth
• Feasibility study funded by Bloomberg into development of online research hub for cultural education (2024)
• Internationally significant archive and Collection of 4,000 objects including First Folio on permanent display in our free exhibition, The Play’s The Thing, in Stratford-upon-Avon.

TRAINING AND SKILLS

• Organisational focus on diversifying workforce with record number of RSC apprenticeships and traineeships
• We have 19 apprentices, of which eight have been recruited as Early Career apprentices to provide progression routes into the industry (Oct 2024)
• A further 12 of our apprentices are in-house looking to re-address the skills gaps within our industry, as well as upskilling and developing transferable skills to help build a more diverse RSC workforce
• During 2023/24 we introduced six new RSC apprenticeship roles including Costume, Learning and Wigs, Hair and Make-up
• Focus on pre-apprenticeship programmes, encouraging young people from working class backgrounds to consider a career in the arts
• Next Generation programme - a pathway for young people from low-income backgrounds to develop skills and an understanding of working in backstage roles, acting and directing. Over 500 young people have participated so far

FINANCES

• Turnover of £92 million - 83% self-generated, £15.3 million from ACE (2023/24)
• Covid Relief Fund (CRF) loan of £19.4 million plus interest, repayments start in 2025
• Use Theatre Tax Relief to maximise innovation across creative programming

OUR RESPONSES TO PUBLIC POLICY & INDUSTRY REPORTS