The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre

Waterside, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire
Elisabeth Whitworth Scott, 1928
Listed Grade II*

The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford was the first significant public building in Britain to be designed in a ‘modern’ rather than in a Classical or any other historical style. The design, as built in 1929-32, exhibits the strong influence of the modern brick architecture of Holland and North Germany and thus reflects how open so many British architects were to the influence of Northern Europe in the 1920s. The building is also historically important as being the work of the first woman to win a major architectural competition and to design a large public building in Britain.

The first Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, dating from the 1870s, burned down in 1926. In 1928 an international competition was held for the design of a new building and the entry by the twenty-nine year old Elisabeth Whitworth Scott, was chosen by the Anglo-American assessors, out of seventy-two entries. The firm of Scott, Chesterton & Shepherd was formed in 1929 to carry out the commission but, despite contemporary rumours and sexist innuendo, there is no doubt that the design was Scott’s. Her sensitivity to scale and to the site by the River Avon was much praised, and she also cleverly integrated fragments of the Victorian building into the design. As built, the theatre was faced in a beautiful and carefully detailed red brick rather than stone, and Scott designed foyers and a grand spiral staircase in a careful Art Deco manner.

The auditorium no longer survives in its original form. Scott redesigned the interior after a tour of modern theatres in Germany insisted on by the director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, William Bridges-Adam. If the completed building was found to be inadequate in terms of facilities and the narrowness of the proscenium, much of the fault lay in the competition brief and in the expert advice Scott received. Recently, Scott’s theatre was proposed for total demolition by the former Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Adrian Noble, as part of his overambitious plans for Stratford.

Today, the RSC seems to be considering alternative schemes for the several different theatres in the town. Both English Heritage and The Twentieth Century Society recognise the need for a new auditorium, but insist that Elizabeth Scott's theatre deserves respect and the best parts of the building must be retained. The architect Erick van Egeraat has recently proposed ways of adapting Elisabeth Scott's masterpiece but the scheme has fallen through. The future of the theatre is once more uncertain.

Gavin Stamp

Current status
January 2006
Back in 2004 the RSC was arguing that in order to make the RST fit for C21st audiences it would be necessary to demolish not just the auditorium but the front of house spaces of the Elisabeth Scott building. The regime which took this stance (both architect and theatre management) have now departed and the new team have developed a more flexible attitude. Following pre-application meetings with their architects Bennetts Associates, we are pleased to see that a refurbishment scheme is emerging. This would keep those elements of the building which the Society considers most important, and the Society is likely to give support. The theatre is applying for lottery funding and hope to realise their scheme between 2007 and 2010. Meanwhile a temporary theatre building by architect Ian Ritchie has been put up to accommodate performances while the RST is under redevelopment.
Previously
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is currently, after a change in managment, developing a brief for a possible refurbishment of the building. Demolition is, according to the Theatre, now seen as unlikely. An architect could be appointed in spring 2005.

Further reading
The architectural Review, June 1932, pp 219-231

Contacts
Jane Ellis, Press and PR Officer, T 01789 412668, jane.ellis@rsc.org.uk

Image credits
Photograph Team 3