The University of Birmingham is engaged in an exciting collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). This pioneering project is the result of the longstanding relationship between the RSC and the University of Birmingham's Shakespeare Institute.
The collaboration is rooted in a vision of theatre as an engine room for creative thinking and research, a place for the exchange of artistic and academic knowledge and practice, and a shared commitment to enriching student experience and contemporary Shakespeare studies.
Through exploring the concept of ‘the radical’ our collaboration seeks to bring together theatre artists, scholars and students in creative experiments that stimulate connections between the arts, the academy and society at large. Our collaboration has already produced fascinating and innovative new research.
Our students are at the heart of the collaboration and encouraged to study and create theatre in Shakespeare's own daring spirit. They benefit from the expertise of RSC artists and practitioners through innovative modules, masterclasses, workshops and projects.
The Other Place Studio Theatre
The original theatre closed in 1989 [Credit: Joe Cocks Studio Collection/Shakespeare Birthplace Trust]
The Other Place Theatre reopened in 2016
The University of Birmingham is a Founding Partner in the RSC’s The Other Place. Opened in 2016, to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, The Other Place is a creative hub for rehearsal, training, learning and research.
Where theatre meets the classroom
We believe the knowledge exchange between the University of Birmingham, as the first civic university in the country, and the RSC, one of the world’s leading theatre companies, can provide unparalleled opportunities for our students and staff.
From the outset of our collaboration, University of Birmingham students have benefitted from input from RSC artists and practitioners on a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses at our Edgbaston campus, as well as at our base in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Shakespeare Institute.
Since its launch, the collaboration has enhanced the student experience in a number of ways:
- Both the MA Shakespeare and Creativity course have been enhanced by the Shakespeare Institute’s collaboration with the RSC offering unique and extensive opportunities to work with RSC artists.
- Through the BA English with Shakespeare course, students have accessed unparalleled resources for studying Shakespeare and benefitted from the expertise of academics at the Shakespeare Institute and our links with the RSC.
- Students and staff have participated in a variety of professional research and development workshops in The Other Place since it reopened in 2016 and contributed to a range of collaborative research projects.
- Across the University of Birmingham, students have accessed specially programmed workshops, courses and events featuring input from RSC artists and practitioners, and visited RSC shows.
The University of Birmingham and Shakespeare Institute collaboration
Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute
“ One reason the University of Birmingham established its Shakespeare Institute in Stratford in 1951 was so that its scholars could benefit from the presence of a great classical theatre company and contribute intellectually to its work. I am absolutely thrilled that, thanks to our collaboration with the RSC, Institute students are now engaged with the company at all levels, thinking creatively not only about the great traditions of Shakespearean performance but about the future of performance itself. ”
Jacqui O’Hanlon, Director of Learning, Royal Shakespeare Company
“ Our partnership with the University of Birmingham is rooted in a shared commitment to and belief in arts and humanities subjects as fields that shape the world around us and contribute to a better and more equitable society. Together, UOB and the RSC create formal and informal opportunities for knowledge exchange about Shakespeare’s work and theatre practice – bringing together students, scholars and artists to explore the place and relevance of that work in our world today. It’s an incredibly rich partnership that we are privileged to be part of ”