The Tempest    directed by David Farr

30 March – 19 May 2012 and 13 July – 7 October 2012    Buy Tickets

The Comedy Of Errors Directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi

16 March – 14 May 2012 and 16 July – 6 October 2012    Buy Tickets

Twelfth Night  Directed by David Farr

8 March – 15 May 2012 and 12 July – 6 October 2012       Buy Tickets

1st Dec-5th Jan

‘Christmas Times’

Christmas during both Elizabethan and Victorian times.

Hall’s Croft

1st Dec – 31st Dec

‘Tudor Christmas Quiz’

How much do you know about the traditions of Christmas. Family quiz.

Shakespeare’s Birthplace

Thursday 16th December

“When icicles hang by the wall”

5:00 pm – 9:00 pm  Admission £1

Mince pies, hot chocolate and mulled wine at this magical evening event. The garden will be transformed into a winter wonderland and our Tudor players will perform seasonal songs. Listen to wintery Shakespeare excerpts performed throughout the house and garden. 

Anne Hathaway’s Cottage

18th Dec – 19th Dec

‘The Holly and the Ivy’

11:00 am- 4:00 pm

A weekend of festive fun. Story-telling, live music, mystery objects quiz mulled wine and mince pies.

Nash’s House & New Place

18th Dec – 2nd Jan

‘A Merry Tudor Christmas’

Find out how the Tudors celebrated Christmas.See the Tudor feast. At 12pm and 2pm we’ll be playing forfeits.

Public booking is now open for the series of on-stage events, productions and tours which offer you the chance to explore the new building and all it has to offer.

From November 2010 to January 2011, enjoy events with guests including Quentin Blake, Camille O’Sullivan and Barrie Rutter.

From February to April 2011, the RSC Ensemble revive King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra and their acclaimed Young People’s Shakespeare productions of Hamlet and The Comedy of Errors.

The Swan Theatre also welcomes two new productions. The Tempest, created in collaboration with Little Angel Theatre, blends puppetry songs, live music and storytelling for ages 7 and up, whilst Elizabeth Freestone directs Camille O’Sullivan in Shakespeare’s rarely performed poem The Rape of Lucrece.

Matilda, A Musical

Don’t forget that you can also see Matilda, A Musical, the new production, written by Dennis Kelly with songs by comedian Tim Minchin, in The Courtyard Theatre from 9 November 2010 to 30 January 2011.

This is your opportunity to explore the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre home: visit The Tower, take a theatre tour, enjoy the new viewing platform.

It is believed that the popularity of the event is due to the organisers’ philosophy of hosting a festival that meets all the criteria of their own ‘perfect party’, organised by bikers, for bikers.

The festival has been hosted at the Shakespeare County Raceway in Stratford-on-Avon in England since 1987, and always takes place in mid August. Since its inception, it has followed largely the same format (though expanded for larger crowds and more recently included bigger name bands): providing entertainment aimed at the motorcycle riding fraternity, including live rock music, beer tents, motorcycle racing, drag racing & stunt riding demonstrations.

The event currently runs over four days, gates opening on Thursday, and running through Friday and Saturday and wrapping up on Sunday.

The USA equivalents on a much larger scale are Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and Daytona Beach Bike Week.

Security and crime

Despite the general public’s connotation of violence and crime with the Hells Angels, the Bulldog Bash has a consistent record of causing the Warwickshire Police little trouble, compared to other events of this scale.

There are no police patrolling the site (though they have a small base just off site), no personal searches conducted by police – the Hells Angels maintain security inside the festival grounds themselves.

Inspector Dave Patterson from the Warwickshire Police is quoted to have said about the 2006 event: “There was just four crimes reported on site and only three arrests during the four day event. Although traffic to and from the Long Marston site was greater than normal, the traffic plan worked well.”

The four crimes recorded on the Police Media Portal were all theft related.

Festival-goers and performers created an electric atmosphere that prevailed throughout the festival, where Faithless and Dizzee Rascal were the headline acts.

In spite of a gloomy start and some isolated light showers on Friday night, on the whole, the weather was fine. On Saturday, there were some sunny spells during the afternoon and it remained dry right into the small hours.

As usual questionable fashion trends emerged among the revellers, with large, furry neon leg-warmers and neon skirts  proving the most popular.

Bright facepaints were also a popular choice, but it all contributed to the highly-charged festival atmosphere.

Then there were the those who had really made an effort and gone the whole hog in fancy dress. Dangermouse, Batman, Super Mario and Luigi, the full set of the Teletubbies and even a hot-dog were just some of the costumes spotted.

Actors from the television series Shameless and Sugar Rush, who arrived in a silver sports car, were also spotted immersing themselves in the VIP camping experience.

Michael Boyd talks about his vision for the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre auditorium.

The new theatre will transform the existing 1932 Royal Shakespeare Theatre, retaining the key Art Deco and Victorian elements of the building.  The theatre will give artists and audiences the best environment in which to perform and enjoy Shakespeare.

Work to create our new home for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is underway and due for completion in 2010.

As someone who has played all the RSC theatres, it seems to me that what the Company has now found is a brilliant way of retaining the original building while constructing a new theatre which will work wonderfully for actors and audiences alike. It’s a spectacular idea which has my full support.

— RSC Honorary Associate Artist, Dame Judi Dench

The video above shows a few photos of the walk from our bed and breakfast into town. It goes along the ‘Old Tramway’ past the Butterfly farm, over the river Avon and into the Bancroft gardens, which lie next to the new theatre.