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“Entertaining Strangers”: 50 Years of Shakespeare's Contemporaries at the Royal Shakespeare Company

This essay offers a selective study of the RSC's work on the plays of Shakespeare's contemporaries from 1960 to 2011, focusing on key productions within that period. Placing early productions in the theatrical and social contexts of the 1960s, it goes on to assess the impact of the RSC's investment in smaller venues such as The Other Place. From 1986, the RSC's exploration of this repertoire was largely confined to the Swan Theatre, a much-loved auditorium that nevertheless presents considerable challenges to practitioners, as this essay explores. The future prospects for Shakespeare's contemporaries within the RSC's repertoire are also briefly considered.