Meanwhile in the reopened Swan Theatre, the season will be launched with Cardenio, Shakespeare's "lost" play, re-imagined under the direction of Gregory Doran, the RSC's chief associate director. Other productions will include Philip Masinger's The City Madam, directed by Dominic Hill (artistic director at Edinburgh's Traverse); a re-staging of David Greig's Dunsinane, originally premiered by the RSC at Hampstead Theatre under the direction of Roxana Silbert; a new production of Pinter's The Homecoming, directed by David Farr; and a Young People's Shakespeare production of The Taming of the Shrew, edited and directed by Tim Crouch. In a press statement, Michael Boyd commented, "We will celebrate our 50th birthday next year and formally reopen the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Swan Theatre in April 2011 with two new ensembles of actors and a repertoire which celebrates Shakespeare, new work and some of our greatest hits from the last half century. When Peter Hall first founded the company in 1961, he made a commitment to collaborative, contemporary theatre making. The company has helped shape British theatre ever since and that commitment remains at the heart of we do today."

Priority booking for RSC members begins Jan. 5, with public booking from Jan. 28, 2011. To book tickets, contact the box office on 0844 800 1110, or visit www.rsc.org.uk.