Art in the Building

We invite you to explore our buildings to discover the artworks and objects we have on display.

Here is some more information about some of the objects and artworks you can see around our building in Stratford-upon-Avon. There are also costumes from past productions on display at locations throughout the building, waiting to be discovered. 

Circle Bar paintings

We display paintings from the RSC Collection in the Circle Bar.

The Apotheosis of Garrick

This oil painting, also known as The Immortality of Garrick, with Portraits of the Principal Actors, was painted by English artist George Carter in 1782 and given to the RSC Collection in 1911. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1784 and again in 1951, and has been loaned out to regional museums. 

David Garrick was an actor, playwright and theatre manager. He staged a Shakespeare Jubilee in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1769, which launched Stratford as the epicentre of the Shakespeare industry.

Carter's work shows Garrick’s Drury Lane acting company, gathered to witness the lift off of their deceased master on his flight to Parnassus. Some of the most renowned actors of their day are dressed as Shakespearean characters which include Cordelia, Isabella, Beatrice, Desdemona, Hamlet, Iachimo, Touchstone, the Gravedigger, Prospero and Malvolio.

The Apotheosis of Garrick
Painting by George Carter © RSC Browse and license our images

 

Portrait of Miss Ada Rehan as "Katherine" in The Taming of the Shrew

This portrait by American painter Gregory Eliot (1854-1915) shows the actress Ada Rehan (1860-1016).

Born in Limerick, Ada emigrated to New York with her family as a small child. She made her stage debut in New Jersey in 1874 and between 1875 and 1878 played nearly 200 different characters, including Katherine, Rosalind in As You Like It and Viola in Twelfth Night.

Ada gave an acclaimed performance as Katharine in Stratford for one night only and returned to play an admired Rosalind in As You Like It in 1897.

Painting of woman in red dress
A section of the full-length portrait of Ada Rehan as Katherine
© RSC Browse and license our images
William Shakespeare by Clemence Dane
© RSC Browse and license our images

Fountain Staircase and Shakespeare bust

At the end of the building, leading up to the Circle and the Circle Bar is the original Art Deco Fountain Staircase, from the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. 

On a plinth behind the fountain you can see the bronze sculpture of Shakespeare's head by Clemence Dane (1888-1965).

Best known as a novelist, playwright and screenwriter, 'Clemence Dane' was the pseudonym of Winifred Ashton, who studied art in London and Germany. After the First World War, Dane taught at a girls' school, and began writing. By the time of her death, Dane had written more than 30 plays and 16 novels.

She also won an Academy Award with Anthony Pelissier for the screenplay of the 1945 film Perfect Strangers (released in the US as Vacation from Marriage), based on a story by Dane.

BUILDING SHAKESPEARE

A mosaic of Shakespeare's face using 65,536 LEGO bricks on the second floor of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

The model is a version of the Flower Portrait of Shakespeare, a famous painting that is based on a 1623 engraving of the playwright.

This was created in 2018 when we invited visitors to add bricks and help us build the model.

A LEGO block mosaic, based on the Flower Portrait of Shakespeare
© RSC Browse and license our images

Swan Bar in the walls

Look around the walls of the Swan Bar and there are displays inset into the walls, with historic stories and anecdotes. From a glittering crown to a toilet flush, there are some incredible stories of animals in the auditorium and ghostly goings on.

Around the building

The Foundation Stone in the Colonnade was laid on 23 April 1877, for the building of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. It was taken up when we rebuilt the theatre in 2010, and we found a time capsule behind the stone. The stone was replaced with a new time capsule which is there still. 

The Rialto Bridge is the curved brickwork above the entrance to the Swan Theatre, which you cross when you walk from the Circle to the top of the staircase. Before the 2010 redevelopment, the colonnade was outdoors and the bridge was built to be used as an underpass for horses and carriages.

Reading Room fireplace - go through the Swan Bar to the Reading Room where you can find the original fireplace from the 1881 gallery. There are spaces on the fireplace for index cards, pens and pencils so people who came in to read could help themselves. 

Outside the building

At the front of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre are a series of stone carvings, each depicting a different emotion inspired by Shakespeare's plays: jollity, life triumphing over death, love, martial ardour and treachery. These carvings, or bas reliefs, were created in the 1930s for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre by Eric Kennington, English sculptor, artist and illustrator, and an official war artist in both World Wars. 

At the other end of the building, close to the Swan Theatre entrance you can see a small round stone booth. This was the original toll booth, where people travelling along Waterside would stop to pay a toll for using the road.

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