Adam Matthew Digital to publish selected Royal Shakespeare Company archives

Housed at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, the RSC archive documents over two centuries of performances through prompt books and other materials. The prompt books were used by directors and stage managers of productions at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Theatre from 1889 until 2013, including widely acclaimed productions such as Peter Brook’s 1970 A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Productions are not limited to Shakespeare and include a range of key 20^th and 21^st Century playwrights, making this collection an invaluable resource for the study of theatre and performance history.

“The RSC archive is a fantastic tool for students and researchers. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring these unique materials, which give detailed insight into landmark productions from modern theatre history, to the global academic community.” Claudine Nightingale, Publisher, Adam Matthew Digital.

In addition to prompt books, the resource includes costume bibles, programmes, music folders, performance photographs and production files containing rehearsal notes, show reports, cast lists, props lists, and much more. These archive materials make up the large body of case studies, which focus on ground-breaking RSC performances, created in coordination with the collection’s editorial board of leading academics and theatre directors.

Geraldine Collinge, Director of Events and Exhibitions at the RSC said “We are delighted to be collaborating with Adam Matthew Digital to make our archive more available online to scholars and academics. It is wonderful to be able to open up further access to some of the gems in our archive in Stratford-upon-Avon.”

To register your interest in this collection, or to discover more about Adam Matthew Digital collections, contact us at info@amdigital.co.uk.

About Royal Shakespeare Company

The Royal Shakespeare Company creates theatre at its best, made in Stratford-upon-Avon and shared around the world.  We produce an inspirational artistic programme each year, setting Shakespeare in context, alongside the work of his contemporaries and today’s writers.  

Everyone at the RSC - from actors to armourers, musicians to technicians - plays a part in creating the world you see on stage.  All our productions begin life at our Stratford workshops and theatres and we bring them to the widest possible audience through our touring, residencies, live broadcasts and online activity. So wherever you experience the RSC, you experience work made in Shakespeare’s home town.  

We have trained generations of the very best theatre makers and we continue to nurture the talent of the future. We encourage everyone to enjoy a lifelong relationship with Shakespeare and live theatre.  We reach 530,000 children and young people annually through our education work, transforming their experiences in the classroom, in performance and online.  Registered charity no. 212481. www.rsc.org.uk.

About Adam Matthew Digital

Adam Matthew Digital is an award-winning publisher of primary source content with 30 years’ experience identifying and making accessible primary resource collections from leading archives and libraries around the world. The publisher is an independent company within the SAGE Group, based in the United Kingdom, and has offices around the world. As its guiding philosophy, AM Digital believes that at the heart of education is the freedom to think critically. Each year it publishes new, relevant primary source collections that span a wide variety of topics ranging from gender and sexuality, literature, art, politics, war, business, popular culture and more. These curated collections are offered to academic institutions on a customized platform designed to maximize discoverability and drive usage to primary source content to enhance learning. www.amdigital.co.uk