Prince Charles enjoys RSC tour and brief performance at The Other Place
STRATFORD welcomed His Royal Highness Prince Charles today during a brief visit to the Royal Shakespeare Company to view progress on the RSC’s ongoing refurbishment of its Costume Workshop and to enjoy a short performance of The Boy in the Dress.
Word spread fast and by the time of the arrival of Prince Charles a small but enthusiastic crowd numbering four deep were waiting to give a right royal welcome to the future heir to the throne.
He chatted and shook hands with members of the public including cadets from the all the armed forces before meeting with civic leaders and shown around the costume workshop site by RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran.
As President of the RSC, Prince Charles is known to really enjoy his visits to Shakespeare’s home town and today’s tour of the RSC Costume Workshop was no exception.
RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran accompanied Prince Charles and the Royal party from the workshop on the short walk along Southern Lane to The Other Place theatre where he met Alistair McArthur, RSC head of costume, Pip Asteri, costume hire manager and Alex Thompson, RSC head of millinery.
Costumes and hats from recent RSC productions were on show and His Royal Highness particularly enjoyed discussing the craft and skill involved in making such colourful items as authentic as possible using original designs.
A hushed audience seated in the Studio Theatre at The Other Place welcomed Prince Charles as he took his front row seat to enjoy a brief and delightful performance of The Boy in the Dress which concluded with cheers and a round of applause from the invited audience.
At the conclusion of his one hour visit Prince Charles was presented with a commemorative book on Shakespeare and theatre and a print of the Yellow Dress costume used to help promote the Stitch in Time campaign which raised funds for the renovation of the workshop when it was announced almost three years ago.
He also had time to meet some French visitors on his departure and wished them “bon chance” before moving on to his next royal engagement in the Midlands.
