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What is the Royal Shakespeare Company? What is its history and mission? //Answered prepared by Bill W.// Frances Gray, English and Drama teacher in the Royal Shakespeare Company stated about how she enjoyed working with the actors perfecting their pronunciation on Shakespeare’s words, “There's no better way to introduce Shakespeare to other people than by performing a play. I spent nearly fifteen years working for the RSC helping actors and they are truly amazing. I truly enjoyed my time working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was outstanding!” The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is one of the best known theater companies that perform thousands of plays that were written by Shakespeare. From the 1875, when this company began its production to the present day, the RSC is considered an amazing place to visit. The mission of the RSC is to keep modern audiences in touch with Shakespeare’s work and his contemporary plays.

In 1875, Charles Edward Flower, a Stratford brewer, began an international campaign to build a theatre in the town of Shakespeare's birth. He was always fascinated with Shakespeare’s unique way of writing always trying to emphasize a specific word. So, he donated excessive amounts of money to builder to construct a stunning theater that can be used to perform in similar to the Globe. The Globe Theater was where Shakespeare performed his plays for the public to see. In the 1907, visitors began to appear in Stratford such as Ellen Terry, H. Beerbohm Tree and F R Benson. These famous actors began to start performing many of Shakespeare’s play. In the middle of the 1900’s, the company was renamed to the Royal Charter. The Royal Charter was recognized for 50 years of excellent acting, but only a year later the theater was destroyed by a fire. Fortunately, many of the citizens began donating more money to produce an even more elaborate theater. According to the history webpage of the Royal Shakespeare Company, it continued to build its reputation, working with established Shakespearean actors such as Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier and Richard Burton. A few of these actors would become worldwide sensations staring in movies all around the world. It wasn’t until the 1960’s when Peter Hall renamed it to the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Soon, this famous company began its journey by touring the world and performing. On July 2002, Michael Boyd was announced the new director of RSC.

The RSC also sponsors many campaign for Shakespeare. Its newest campaign about having Shakespeare being read by everybody who hasn’t has worldwide popularity. Michael Boyd, the director of Royal Shakespeare Company stated, "It is desirable that all the Shakespeare chosen for study should be read aloud in class. The living voice will often give a clue to the meaning, and reading aloud is the only way of ensuring knowledge of the theater. In a class of beginners the teacher must take a liberal share of the reading, but the pupils should be brought into play. They can be cast for some of the parts; the forum scene in Julius Caesar comes one step nearer the dramatic if the teacher is Anthony and the other parts are distributed and the class transformed into a Roman mob shouting for the will." The Stand Up campaign is to examine the changing opinions and policy in teaching Shakespeare through the last 100 years. One of the most debated about topic for Shakespeare is whether or not Shakespeare should be given in

Despite the growth from Festival theatre to international status, the values of the RSC today have changed very little since 1905: the RSC is still formed around an ensemble of actors and a core of associate actors who continue to give a distinctive and amazing approach to theater. The RSC will forever be cherished worldwide for their outstanding approach to theater and continuing Shakespeare’s legacy forever. Works Cited "A history of RSC." __Royal Shakespeare Company__. 2004. Royal Shakespeare Company.

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"Archive Catalouge." __Royal Shakespeare Company__. 2000. Royal Shakespeare Company. .

Irish, Tracy. "Teaching Shakespeare." //Royal Shakespeare Company//. 2008. Shakespeare Company. 14 Apr 2009 .  Neil King, ‘Starting Shakespeare,’ in Teaching Shakespeare, ed. Richard Adams, Robert Royce, 1985, p57 The English Association, The Teaching of English in Schools (Leaflet No. 7, 1908), p2

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