'This rusty shed'

Of course, I already knew that the RST was being rebuilt to create a theatre space more suited to the 21st century, and I’d seen a few photographs, but it was still a shock to walk down to Waterside and see its shell. Only some of the outer walls are left. I hadn’t expected that all the gardens would be dug up too. The whole area is a building site.

As I stood there, gazing, a workman commented ‘don’t look, it isn’t finished yet’. I could see the back of what was the stage of the RST, and thought of all the productions that I’d seen there, going back over 20 years, up to the last one in December 2006. I’m sure the new one is going to be amazing, and the Swan remains, though closed at the moment, but a piece of theatre history has gone.

On a more positive note, the new Courtyard Theatre* is fabulous. From the outside, it looks like a rusty iron shed, added to the side of The Other Place. It’s a prototype for the new RST auditorium, and to me feels like the Swan writ large It has a thrust stage, and two galleries. It holds over 1000 people, yet feels intimate. It allows the actors to work with the audience in a way that the old theatre never did. After some of my earliest visits, I always tried to get stalls tickets, close to the stage, as you could end up feeling a million miles away from the action. In the new theatre, you’re often so close you could reach out and touch them.

The reason for my visit this weekend? ‘The Glorious Moment’ – 8 history plays played in historical sequence, over 4 days. Of which, much more is to come, but it will take a while to get it all clear in my mind.