£2 Million Funding Boost to Make Shakespeare Accessible to over 100,000 people across England

Audiences across England, from Cornwall to Cumbria, will have the opportunity to experience high-quality Shakespeare productions in their local community, thanks to a £2 million funding boost for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) from Arts Council England, using money from the National Lottery.

The four-year touring programme has been developed by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) as part of their ongoing collaboration with 16 Associate Regional Theatres and 280 schools across 100 towns and cities, to help tackle barriers to cultural participation and access and to develop sustainable audiences for Shakespeare, supporting the wider UK touring ecology. The RSC has worked in sustained partnership with schools and communities for over 20 years with its touring programmes — both large and small scale — aligned to these partnership areas since 2016.

The newly announced funding will underpin a major, four-year programme to pilot new models of touring to make high-quality Shakespeare productions accessible to communities, with a specific focus on areas of structural disadvantage across England. This includes a new prototype for embedded partnership work, based on a week-long residency model in which schools act as regional touring hubs, working with RSC and regional artists to deliver an integrated programme of live performances, in-school workshops, post-show Q & As and talent-development opportunities.

This four-year commitment responds directly to research published by Arts Council England this month, showing that the number of plays touring across England has fallen 64% since 2019. As the RSC’s Executive Director Andrew Leveson observed in this year’s Future of Theatre Conference keynote speech; “Jennie Lee’s founding proposition – that everyone should have access to arts and culture where they live, not as privilege but as public good – remains unmet. As touring costs rise, fewer productions travel, runs are shorter…The communities losing out are overwhelmingly those already under served.” The RSC’s network of partners was established to address these systemic challenges.

The programme consists of two large-scale Shakespeare tours in 2028 and 2030, programmed in collaboration with the RSC’s 8 large-scale Associate Regional Theatres: Blackpool Grand Theatre, Norwich Theatre , Newcastle Theatre Royal, Bradford Theatres, Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall Nottingham, Marlowe Theatre Canterbury, Hall for Cornwall and York Theatre Royal, with an anticipated audience reach of 56,000+, alongside four annual, twelve-week First Encounters with Shakespeare tours to schools, theatres and communities with an anticipated audience and participant reach of c50,000.

RSC Co-Artistic Directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey and Executive Director Andrew Leveson said: “Our 2026-30 touring programme builds on 20 years of working in long-term partnership with over 280 schools and 16 regional theatre partners across the country to address systemic barriers to cultural access & participation across England.

This newly announced funding will enable the RSC to increase the reach and impact of its touring work, developed through long-term, targeted partnerships between artists, regional theatres, communities and young people, which support audience development in the long-term, and create opportunities for children and young people to unlock their potential, thrive and belong.”   

Hannah Lake, Director, Touring Transformation at Arts Council England said: “This programme continues the RSC’s vital work in finding new ways to share the magic of one of this country’s most iconic playwrights with people of all ages, up and down the country. It comes at a time when our research shows a decline in drama touring in recent years and we hope this significant investment will ensure a regular supply of large-scale and high-quality work with a national footprint.”

Marianne Locatori, Chief Executive of Newcastle Theatre Royal said: “Our relationship with the RSC has created unforgettable shared experiences for generations of theatregoers, and this new commitment ensures even more people will enjoy exceptional theatre close to home in their schools, in their community and at the Theatre. Together, we believe in the power of live performance to inspire, connect communities and open up opportunities for young people, and we’re pleased to play a central role in this national initiative that places creativity, learning and inclusion at its heart.”

Opening in Autumn 2026 as previously announced, Harriet Walter will reprise her role as Brutus in Phyllida Lloyd’s landmark revival of all-female, 2012 production of Julius Caesar touring to Associate Schools across England; the first of four First Encounters with Shakespeare productions to be presented in schools and local communities across England from 2026-2030. 

The production will tour to Associate Schools in Peterborough, Cornwall, Bradford, Nottingham and Blackpool as part of a new week-long residency model from Monday 21 September – Friday 23 October, after which, it will visit The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon from Thursday 5 – Saturday 28 November. A series of in-school workshops and post-show discussions will accompany the production. These live events, unique to each performance will see cast, creatives, young people and guest speakers from local communities and the criminal justice system discuss how this 400-year-old text connects with our lives and world today.

RSC Youth Advisory Board member, Freedom said: “Julius Caesar speaks to young people today through its exploration of self-discovery within a society that often expects individuals to fit into a rigid system. The RSC’s Youth Advisory Board and young creators from across the country are excited to engage with this production and explore its themes of power and authority. Being able to bring this tour to Bradford is especially meaningful to me. The city has a vibrant artistic culture and talent, and it is wonderful that young people here will have the chance to be part of this creative experience.”

The RSC’s Associate Schools Programme works with 16 Associate Regional Theatres and 280 Associate Schools across England to embed the active teaching of Shakespeare in the curriculum. First piloted in 2006, the programme is open to primary, secondary and special state-funded schools and further education colleges in England, with a specific focus on schools serving areas of structural disadvantage and is built around the principle of schools and theatres working in local partnership clusters to develop long-term, sustainable pathways to success.

The 16 Associate Regional Theatre involved in First Encounters are: Bradford Theatres, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, The Core at Corby Cube, Embassy Theatre Skegness, Blackpool Grand Theatre, Hall for Cornwall, Hull Truck Theatre, Marlowe Theatre Canterbury, Mayflower Theatre & Mayflower Studios Southampton, Newcastle Theatre Royal, New Vic Theatre, Northern Stage, Norwich Theatre, Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall Nottingham, Silhouette Youth Theatre and York Theatre Royal.