‘The first building in England since the Commonwealth definitely constructed with an Apron and a Gallery so that Shakespeare can be given upon the stage for which he wrote’ – Nugent Monck, 26^th September 1921

 

The words spoken by the founder of The Norwich Players before their inaugural performance of  

As You Like It at the iconic Maddermarket Theatre in the heart of Norwich.

Inspired by the work of William Poel and the Elizabethan Stage Society, who sought to perform Shakespeare’s plays as the Bard intended, Monck left a successful theatrical career in London and set up home in Norwich to return to more simplistic production values. 
Using minimal scenery, period costume and full, uncut texts Monck and his players performed various plays and pageants in locations around Norwich including the Assembly House, the Theatre Royal, the Old Music House on King Street and even Monck’s own home. Further afield the Players performed at Blickling Hall (The Masque of Anne Boleyn, written by Monck),as well as the Kings Hall in Covent Garden and the Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.

After ten years of having no permanent ‘home’ for his Norwich Players, Monck bought an old, disused Roman Catholic chapelwith near perfect acoustics and he and his Players set about transforming the building into a theatre. In roughly six weeks the derelict chapel was converted into England’s first permanent re-creation of an Elizabethan stage. As You Like It opened the new theatre and by 1936, The Norwich Players were the first company to perform all of Shakespeare’s plays under one producer. In 2011, in the centenary year of the founding of the Norwich Players, we completed the Shakespeare cannon once again with the newly attributed ‘Double Falsehood’, three weeks ahead of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

With such a wealth of Shakespearian origins it’s no surprise that the Norwich Players and the Maddermarket Theatre are celebrating the Bard’s 450^th birthday with a collection of performances and events throughout March and April. 

See the events page for more details.