RSC’s The Magician’s Elephant rescheduled dates announced

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s musical version of American author Kate DiCamillo’s much-loved book, The Magician’s Elephant will now receive its world premiere in Stratford-upon-Avon in October 2021.

Originally scheduled to play the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from 29 October 2020 until 17 January 2021, the new adaptation of the popular children’s novel will now play its debut run from 14 October until 1 January 2022.

Along with the revised dates for both The Magician’s Elephant and the much-anticipated ambitious The Wars of the Roses Part 1 and Part 2 at the Swan Theatre (24 September 2021 to 1 January 2022) the RSC’s has signalled its intention to reopen as soon as possible with new events and rescheduled performances of The Winter’s Tale and The Comedy Errors.

Announcing the 2021 re-scheduled dates, the RSC’s artistic director Gregory Doran said: ‘While we continue to explore every opportunity to open our Stratford buildings as soon as we possibly can, ideally later this year, I am pleased to share this hopeful news of the confirmed schedule for our Winter 2021 season.

“Since first closing our doors back in March, we have continued to do everything we possibly can to support our audiences through lockdown and to engage and entertain our communities across the UK and beyond. Of course, nothing can or should replace the live theatre experience, which continues to be much missed by audiences everywhere.

“Alongside our colleagues across the industry, we can and want to play a crucial role in the recovery of the country, knowing how valuable the arts are to our collective wellbeing, whether giving strength in difficult times, helping us to tell our own stories or simply lifting the spirits for a few hours. We very much look forward to welcoming audiences back to our buildings and to share this live experience with them.

Commenting on the productions, Doran added: “Every time the RSC mounts Shakespeare’s early history plays, they strike a powerful chord. If you want to understand the dangerous world we live in, with its divisive politics, the rise of demagoguery and the threat of despotism, then you need look no further than The War of the Roses Part 1 and 2.

“This ferociously vivid account of the brutal struggle for the English Crown will without doubt strike different resonances deep in its audiences’ consciousness today. I’m thrilled to be working alongside Owen Horsley once more, who I last worked with on the RSC’s King and Country cycle, to bring this dynamic story of power and corruption, saints and psychopaths, of then and now, to life afresh in a newly configured Swan auditorium in 2021.

“Meanwhile in the RST, we continue to platform the most exciting voices of today with the premiere of our new family musical, The Magician’s Elephant. Sarah Tipple will direct, who was my invaluable associate director on last year’s much-loved production of The Boy in the Dress.

“The beautifully crafted storytelling of Kate DiCamillo’s novel combined with Nancy Harris and Marc Teitler’s idiosyncratic ear for music and lyrics are the perfect marriage for this darkly comic fairytale which, at its heart, is a celebration of human imagination and the miracle of surviving adversity.”

Public booking will reopen on 12 August at 10am. The RSC has offered assurances that audiences who book tickets throughout 2020 for future performances who are then unable to attend a performance for any reason will be able to exchange their ticket up to two hours before the performance or event start time at no extra cost. Unless a performance is cancelled, tickets cannot be refunded once a purchase has been made.

Angela Thomas