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| Interior View |
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| The White Swan Hotel |
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| Interior view |
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The Emblem |
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| The Black Swan Hotel |
Swan Hotel" in Rother Street dated back to 1450's. It was used as an inn since 1560.
The owner, Robert Perrot's granddaughter, Susanne Woodward, was the wife of a young
officer called Richard Taylor who was a close friend of Shakespeare. So it was possible
that Shakespeare used to frequent this place to have a drink and have a merry chat with
his friend. Even now the low wooden beams and antique furniture bear testimony to the
fact that it is at least five hundred years old. Another oldest pub is "The Black Swan
Pub",later nicknamed as "The Dirty Duck", located just a hundred yards away from the
"RoyalShakespeare Theatre'. It dates back to sixteenth century. It attracted many
theatrical persons since it became famous when Robert Garrick, the eminent actor
of the eighteenth century, used to visit this place whenever he came to Stratford. When
some American girls were stationed here during the First World War, the name of the
hotel was changed to "The Dirty Duck", perhaps due to mistaken identity of the black
swan with the dirty duck. "The Old Thatch Tavern" is also one of the oldest taverns
dating to 1470's. It is the only thatched building in the whole town. Located in the Green
Hill Street, just three hundred yards away from the bard's birthplace, it offers hand-baked
bread and traditional ale in the typical Elizabethan ambiance.
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| The Old Thatch Tavern |
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| Interior View |
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| The Old Thatch Tavern |
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| Interior View |
On the side of the river one can see three theatres managed by the Royal Shakespeare
Company established in 1961. The first real theatre in Stratford was built in a temporary
wooden building in 1769 by David Garrick to mark the Jubilee celebrations of the bard.
But it was washed away during floods. In 1879 due to Charles Flower's earnest efforts
the first Shakespeare's Memorial Theatre was completed. It was effectively managed
by the famous actor, Sir Frank Benson. The theatre was burnt down in 1926. The new
theatre "Royal Shakespeare Theatre" with a seating capacity of 1040 people, designed
by the famous architect, Elizabeth Scott, was opened by the Prince of Wales (later called
Edward VIII) in 1932. This theatre was built on the site adjacent to the remains of
the old theatre destroyed by fire. TheRoyal Shakespeare Company also ran two small
theatres . The first one was 'The Swan"(1986), modeled on the Elizabethan type of the
stage located just beside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Four hundred and fifty people
can sit on three sides of the deep thrust stage. Both these theatres were developed as a
part of the Transformation Project and opened in 2010 after a period of three years.
The second one was the "Other Place Theatre" which was first opened in a shed in 1974.
In 1989 it was closed and after two years of renovation, it was re-opened in 1991.
A temporary "Courtyard Theatre" was built on the adjacent car park to stage perfor-
mances when the"Other Place Theatre" was closed again for the sake of renovation
works. During Shakespeare's time there were no theatres in Stratford-upon-Avon. The
people had to see the the plays performed by the touring groups of actors whose
welfare was taken care of by town councils or by trade guilds.
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| Renovated R.S. Theatre |
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| Royal Shakespeare Theatre |
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| Swan Theatre |
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| Inside the Swan Theatre |
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| The Other Place Theatre |
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| The Courtyard Theatre |
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| The Dirty Duck |
The world-wide fame of the immortal bard rejuvenated the spirit of drama and inspired the people to set up theatres in his memory in the town where he was born. Really a glowing and fitting tribute to the great bard of all times!
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3rd June, 2014 Somaseshu Gutala
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