ROY A L S HAKES PEARE COM PANY EMEA
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON / UK
Situated alongside the River Avon in the heart of Warwickshire, The Royal Shakespeare Company’s main location is in a Grade II listed building which retains many of the art deco features of the 1932 Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. Inside are two performances spaces – the 1,018-seat Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) is the main auditorium, and the Swan Theatre is an intimate room with capacity to hold up to 469 people on three sides of a deep thrust stage. Both rooms share their front of house space, with audiences enjoying the same foyer, box office, bars and restaurant. Over recent years several upgrades have been completed across both venues, including the introduction of TiMax speaker processing in the RST, and a total technological infrastructure upgrade was completed in the Swan, which reopened in April 2023, incorporating new Ayrton lighting fixtures on an improved grid. Also introduced was a crossvenue Riedel communications system, which replaced the existing wired, two-ring intercom system. “One of the starting points for the upgrade in the Swan Theatre was to look at improving its production grid and rigging system, which is directly beneath the Ashcroft Room – a space often used for rehearsals which caused vibrations in the grid and caused gentle movement of the lighting fixtures below,” said Kevin Sleep, the venue’s Head of Lighting. The plan was to transfer the weight of the production grid from the ceilings to the walls of the building, which in turn would open up a larger space for more lighting fixtures. The forced closure of the Swan during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic hastened the plan to upgrade the room, and the funds were raised for the project to begin in March 2022. Tasked with redesigning the electrical systems infrastructure of the Swan was Stage Electrics, who brought the theatre up to date technologically, whilst being budget-conscious and mindful of sustainability throughout the process. “The Stage Electrics team provided custom-made technical solutions, installation, on-site project management, and commissioning services for the refurbishment of the Swan, refurbishing or replacing 59 lighting facility panels and 33 sound facility panels,” said Chris Brant, Senior Project Manager at Stage Electrics. “More than 700 electrical circuits were commissioned throughout the venue, repurposing 50% of the existing wiring and installing an additional 18Km of power, audio, video, data, and fibre-optic cables to create an infrastructure which makes the Swan one of the most technically advanced and adaptable theatres in the UK.” The work allowed for a reconfiguration of the venue, as the stage was slightly reduced in size and its seating revamped from benches to individual seats. It also meant an improved lighting rig could be set up. The new grid was designed and delivered by Unusual Rigging, who
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