From a tin shed to our hub of new writing and experimental theatre, we celebrate 50 years of The Other Place with a deep dive into the radical history of our small but mighty theatre space.
The Other Place is our third and smallest theatre space in Stratford-upon-Avon. The 200-seat, ‘tin shed’ theatre was created in the 1970s to house new writing and experimental theatre that was nevertheless aimed at attracting as wide and diverse an audience as possible.
It has been through different iterations and re-imaginings over its 50-year history – including several years acting as the foyer to our temporary Courtyard Theatre. It reopened as The Other Place in 2016, and today retains its focus on new writing, community engagement as well as housing our Costume Hire Department.
During the mid to late 1960s, the RSC pioneered outreach and education programmes designed to bring theatre to non-traditional audiences, initially in London and then around the West Midlands. Actors Commando and, later, Theatregoround, took condensed productions on the road, with minimal props and costumes, often ending them with discussions about the material.
In December 1973, the RSC’s first female director, Buzz Goodbody, wrote a manifesto, putting forward the need for a permanent studio theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. She proposed that the new theatre should run on small production budgets, serve the local community and challenge actors with new ways of working, much in the vein of Theatregoround, which she had been heavily involved in since joining the company.
In less than a few months, The Other Place was born, converted from a rehearsal room in a corrugated tin hut into a 150-200 seat small-scale, ‘black box’ auditorium. Inspired by the revolutionary spirit of the alternative theatre movements occurring throughout Britain and fuelled by Buzz’s artistic vision, The Other Place became an unconventional space for experimentation, and offered a programme that encouraged a sense of community and intimacy between actors and audience.
Throughout its early years, some of the most ground-breaking RSC productions were staged here with some of theatre’s brightest stars – including Buzz Goodbody's Hamlet starring Ben Kingsley (1975) and possibly the most famous production of Macbeth of modern times, starring Ian McKellen and Judi Dench and directed by Trevor Nunn (1976).
It also staged new writing from contemporary playwrights including David Edgar (Destiny, 1976), Edward Bond (Bingo, 1976), Pam Gems (Piaf, 1978), Peter Flannery (Our Friends in the North, 1982) and Christopher Hampton (Les Liaisons Dangereuses, 1985).
THE OTHER PLACE TODAY (2016-present)
The third and current incarnation of The Other Place reopened in 2016, in time for the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. The 200-seat studio theatre was remodelled to provide a mixed-use space for new work, community, amateur and education work, with the intention of maintaining its legacy as ‘a place of playful and serious experiment’ (Erica Whyman, RSC Deputy/Acting Artistic Director).
In that time, it has staged many new and experimental pieces as part of its recurring Making Mischief and Mischief Festivals, as well as inviting visiting productions, such as 2024's Ukrainian language King Lear. It has also became the home of the RSC’s Costume Hire Department, where more than 30,000 costumes are available for commercial hire and by the general public, and is a much-loved highlight on the RSC's guided theatre tours.
2024 marks the 50th anniversary of The Other Place with a programme that celebrates the spirit it was founded upon, with productions of the European premiere of Sanaz Toossi’s English and David Edgar’s 10th play for the RSC, The New Real.
Further Reading
Studio Shakespeare: The Royal Shakespeare Company at The Other Place by Alycia Smith-Howard, 2006
