The story of the stage
THE Royal Shakespeare Company’s new family-friendly visitor attraction, The Play’s The Thing, opens this Saturday.
We are promised that it will reveal secrets and stories from the world’s most famous theatre company.
Visitors can try on virtual costumes, learn how magical and gory stage effects are made, and experience how productions are brought to life through state-of-the-art interactive activities.
Treasures from the RSC’s extensive collections will be displayed, including rarely-seen props, exquisite costumes and original set designs.
The RSC’s first permanent exhibition also promises to take visitors on a journey into the history of theatre-making. The experience includes many unique-sounding activities.
These include playing Hamlet alongside actor Ewart James Walter, using state-of-the-art gaming technology, and trying on virtual costumes via The Magic Costume Mirror, including those worn by David Tennant, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Helen Mirren, Sir Laurence Olivier, Paul Robeson, and Vivien Leigh.
To mark the opening, the Chandos portrait, a unique portrait of Shakespeare painted during his lifetime, will be on display for a limited time only. Full story HERE.
The portrait has lived at the National Portrait Gallery since it was founded in 1856, only leaving the building on a few occasions since that time. It will be loaned to the RSC until Sunday, 18th December, and will sit alongside the RSC’s rare first folio of Shakespeare’s plays, dating from 1623.
The Play’s The Thing is the culmination of a major project to restore the oldest part of the RSC’s theatres in Stratford, the 1879 Swan Wing.
Geraldine Collinge, director of events and exhibitions for the RSC, said: “We have been researching, planning the building for this exhibition for over two years, and we are very excited that we can now open the doors and share the many wonderful and fascinating stories behind the making of our productions with our visitors.”
On the opening weekend there will be a reduced ticket price, with people able to buy a ticket for £10, which will allow entrance for up to four people of any age, normally it’s £8.50 for adults, £4.25 for children.
