Lyric Theatre at the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare's First Folio

Last Tuesday our Head of Creative Learning, Philip Crawford, and Senior Producer, Morag Keating, were invited to Windsor Castle to Celebrate the contribution of William Shakespeare's works to the literary culture and society of the United Kingdom. The event included a Performance and Reception.

The Performance, 'The World's Volume: A Celebration of the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare's First Folio with the Royal Shakespeare Company' took place in the Waterloo Chamber and was devised and directed by Gregory Doran, Royal Shakespeare Company's Artistic Director Emeritus. This included extracts from Macbeth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Antony and Cleopatra and The Tempest.

The company was made up by Mr Ray Fearon, Ms Lucy Phelps, Mr Mark Quartley, Sir Simon Russell Beale and Dame Harriet Walter with Mr Paul Englishby as composer, Mr Nick Lee on guitar and Ms Sophia Nomvete as a vocalist.

The works of Shakespeare have been, and will remain to be, important to programming here at the Lyric. The 2023 production of Romeo & Juliet marked the Lyric Theatre's 25th Shakespeare production on Ridgeway Street. Our very first ever Shakespeare production took place back in 1959, with Romeo & Juliet, in the grounds of our home of our founder, Mary O'Malley. 64 years later, and we were honoured to continue Mary O'Malley's legacy with this production of Romeo & Juliet, bringing the classic text into a modern-day setting.

Timeline of Shakespeare at the Lyric

1959 - Romeo & Juliet, at Mary O'Malley's house

1971 - Romeo & Juliet, Director: C. Denys

1973 - Macbeth, Director: Donald Bodley

1976 - Henry IV Part One, Director: Ian Lindsay

1978 - A Midsummer Night's Dream, Director: Tony Dinner

1981 - Julius Ceasar, Director: Leon Rubin

1983 - Twelfth Night, Director: John Price

1984 - Macbeth, Director: Patrick Stanford

1986 - The Comedy of Errors, Director: Patrick Stanford

1994 - The Taming of the Shrew, Director: Robin Midgley

1997 - A Midsummer Night's Dream, Director: Robin Midgley

1999 - Twelfth Night, Director: Andrew Hinds

2002 - Macbeth, Director: Jackie Doyle

2005 - Macbeth, Director: Conall Morrison

2007 - Much Ado About Nothing, Director: Rachel O'Riordan

2012 - Macbeth, Director: Lynne Parker

2023 - Romeo & Juliet, Director: Philip Crawford