Norwich Theatre has become an Associate Partner Theatre of Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).
The organisations said the formal partnership cements a commitment to bringing Shakespeare work and storytelling to Norwich.
Norwich Theatre has worked with the RSC’s Learning and National Partnerships team for a number of years and will now join RSC’s Associate Schools Programme, providing resources for teachers, workshops for pupils and small scale shows for schools from September.
The partnership will also build upon existing community work, with the theatre planning to work with local adult communities in the county who would not normally have access to live performance.
RSC’s Acting Artistic Director Erica Whyman described the partnership as “really special”.
“We both believe that the role of the theatre company is to ensure everyone has access to creativity, because creativity can help us all to find resilience, to find our community, find friendship and also understand the world.”
Norwich Theatre Creative Programs Director, Wendy Ellis, called the new partnership “the next natural step" for all the collaborative work the two companies already do together.
“Our audiences love to see RSC tours come to Norwich and we are proud to bring world-class Shakespeare to the region for local people to enjoy. We have been delighted to partner on all of this fantastic work together.”