Dr Abigail Rokison-Woodall uncovers the history of the RSC’s forgotten theatre

Dr Abigail Rokison-Woodall, Senior Lecturer in Shakespeare and Theatre, is leading a new research project to reveal the history of the Stratford Roundhouse, a disused theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon. First established in 1970 by actor Martin Bay, the Roundhouse was a home for experimental theatre during the two years it was open.

Despite its short life, the Roundhouse was an important space for creatives in the Royal Shakespeare Company, with the likes of Dame Helen Mirren, Sir Patrick Stewart, and Sir Ben Kingsley all performing in the theatre. 

Dr Rokison-Woodall explained where her interest in the Stratford Roundhouse started, saying: In his account of ‘The Historical Background’ to The Other Place in Other Spaces: New Theatre and the RSC, Colin Chambers touches briefly on the formation of what he describes as ‘a group formed around actors Martin Bax and Hugh Keays Byrne’, taking the name ‘Chaff and Bran’, that formed at Stratford in 1970, converting ‘The rotunda in the gardens behind the main theatre into an auditorium’ called ‘The Little Roundhouse’. This brief paragraph, is reproduced almost verbatim in Chambers’ Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company and Alycia Smith-Howard’s Studio Shakespeare.”

She explained further: “I came across these accounts when researching the history of The Other Place and was determined to find out more. I discovered that Keays Byrne was an actor living in Australia, and that Martin Bax was living in Frome (having been the town’s Mayor and founded the Frome Festival). I contacted the mayor’s office and almost immediately received a reply from Bax, who said he would come to Stratford with his archive and tell me the whole story.

“He did, and I discovered that the references in the books were not only inaccurate but that they underplayed the scale, ambition and impact of the Stratford Roundhouse and of the role taken by Bax in founding it, in 1970.”

To bring the history of the Roundhouse to the public, Dr Rokison-Woodall brought in an external filmmaker to develop a documentary. She explains: “Having teamed up with Bafta and Emmy Award winning documentary maker Andrew Smith, we decided that we would capture Bax’s story and the story of the Stratford Roundhouse”

‘The Stratford Roundhouse – Stratford’s Forgotten Theatre’ will be screened to the public for free on July 6 at the Merlin Theatre during the Frome Festival.