Seeing the RSC Without Paying Full Price

The Royal Shakespeare Company has three permanent theatres in Stratford: the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Swan, which share the Waterside building, and The Other Place on Southern Lane. It also plays in London and tours. The part of it that costs nothing is larger than most visitors realise, and the ticket bands start low if you know where to look.

What is free

The RSC says its Waterside building is free to enter and open most days of the year to simply drop in, and it invites people to explore the artworks around the foyers and walkways. The Riverside Cafe and the RSC Shop open at 10am. On Sundays and any day without a performance the building closes at 4pm. The tower, 32 metres above the street and reached by lift, is free every day from midday to 4pm, except on matinee days and in bad weather. On a clear day the RSC says you can see nearly 20 miles across Warwickshire and into Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Worcestershire.

Cheaper tickets

Ticket prices start from £10 in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and £15 in the Swan, depending on the date and where you sit. From 2 March 2026 the RSC adds a £3.50 transaction fee to online and phone bookings, but not to tickets bought in person at the Box Office counter in Stratford, so it can be worth walking in. The routes to a cheaper seat, as the RSC lists them:

• Rush tickets go on sale online on Fridays from midday to midnight only, for shows the following week. A limited number are £25, with £10 restricted-view seats.
• £10 tickets for 14 to 25 year olds and full-time students for Stratford shows, once you have signed up for the free membership.
• Standby is £25 for the best available seat, on the day only. The RSC lists who qualifies, including CV37 residents and students.
• Disabled people pay £18 a ticket in both theatres for the 2026/27 season, and a companion who is needed pays the same.
• Groups of ten or more are £39.50 a head for Monday to Friday performances.

The 2026/27 season

As You Like It plays until 7 November 2026. Middlemarch, in two parts, runs from 1 October 2026 to 16 January 2027. First Encounters: Julius Caesar has dates until 23 October and from 5 to 28 November. The Three Musketeers arrives on 28 November and runs to 9 January, The Bear and the Piano opens on 11 December, and Brock's Mill follows in spring, from 26 March to 8 May 2027. The RSC's own What's On page is the source for anything you are booking.

Booking the play itself

The £3.50 fee is per order, not per ticket, as the RSC words it: it applies to the total cost of your order. Bookers who are exempt include Artists Circle members, schools, access rate bookers, those buying £10 tickets for 14 to 25 year olds, and anyone buying at the Box Office counter in person. If a Friday rush slot is what you are after, be at your screen at midday, since seats go on a first come, first served basis and are online only.

Tours and the other buildings

The daily tours are led by the RSC's own guides. The 60 minute Theatre Tour takes in front-of-house areas and at least one auditorium, either the Royal Shakespeare Theatre or the Swan, and its route is fully wheelchair accessible. A Costume Tour visits the costume hire store at The Other Place, on Southern Lane, and the costume workshop; it is a continuous walk with nowhere to sit, across a road. The Backstage Tour is 75 minutes and goes into areas that are normally off limits, including the wings and the control room. If you want both an interior and a sight of the river, the tower does that for free.

The Box Office is on 01789 331111, and the counter in Stratford is normally open from 11.30am to 7.30pm on performance days. The phone line runs from midday to 5.30pm on weekdays. All of this is from the RSC's own pages on 29 September 2026, and it changes with the season.