The British Shakespeare Company was a British open-air touring Shakespeare Company. Founded by Robert J. Williamson in 1994 (as the R. J. Williamson Company), it was renamed in 2005. Originally based in Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 (performing in the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey

Kirkstall Abbey

Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Kirkstall north-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire. It is set in a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded c.1152. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry...

), the company later established Shakespeare festivals for Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

, The Kew Gardens

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...

, Cannizaro Park

Cannizaro park

Cannizaro Park is a park in Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton. It is located to the south of Wimbledon Common and is known for its ornamental landscaped gardens with ponds and sculpture.-History:...

 in Wimbledon and Holland Park

Holland Park

Holland Park is a district and a public park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in west central London, England.Holland Park has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants...

 Theatre in central London.

The company produced two of Shakespeare's most commercially popular plays each year from 1994 to 2007, totalling over 700 performances, usually featuring household names from film, television and stage. These have included James Alexandrou

James Alexandrou

James Alekos Alexandrou is an English actor of Greek Cypriot descent, best known for playing Martin Fowler in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders.-Early life:...

 from EastEnders

EastEnders

EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...

, Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...

's actor son Sean

Sean Brosnan (actor)

Sean Brendan Brosnan is an Irish and Australian American actor and the son of actor Pierce Brosnan.-Early life:He was born in 1983 to Pierce Brosnan and Cassandra Harris. Pierce Brosnan is an actor and Harris was a professional actress...

, the dancer and performer Wayne Sleep

Wayne Sleep

Wayne Philip Colin Sleep OBE is a British dancer, director, choreographer and panelist. He was a Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet and has appeared as a Guest Artist with several other ballet companies.-Early life:...

, and the comedian Norman Pace

Norman Pace

Norman Pace is an English actor and comedian, best known as one half of the comedy duo Hale and Pace with his friend and comic partner Gareth Hale...

. The 2007 shows, Henry V

Henry V (play)

Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...

and As You Like It

As You Like It

As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...

toured Norway, Windsor, Leeds and Oxford. In 2008 the company performed A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...

for two nights at Arundel Castle

Arundel Castle

Arundel Castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England is a restored medieval castle. It was founded by Roger de Montgomery on Christmas Day 1067. Roger became the first to hold the earldom of Arundel by the graces of William the Conqueror...

.

The company's last tour in 2009 starred Mark Arden

Mark Arden

Mark Arden is an English comedian and actor, best known for being one half of comic double act "The Oblivion Boys" with Stephen Frost....

, Louisa Lytton

Louisa Lytton

Louisa Lytton is an English actress born in Camden and living in Islington. She rose to fame in 2005 when joining EastEnders as Ruby Allen. After leaving EastEnders in late 2006, Lytton joined The Bill as PC Beth Green, who she played from May 2007 to March 2009. She also appeared on Strictly...

, Daniela Lavender

Daniela Lavender

Daniela Lavender, Lady Kinsley is a Brazilian actress, appearing on Brazilian television, and English-language television, film and stage, including touring with the British Shakespeare Company.-Early life:...

, Gabriel Thomson

Gabriel Thomson

Gabriel Thomson is an English actor, best known for his role as Michael Harper in the British situation comedy series My Family.-Career:...

, Steven Blakeley

Steven Blakeley

Steven Blakeley is a British actor best known for his role as PC Geoff Younger in the British police drama Heartbeat.-Early life:...

 and Robert J. Williamson. The company performed Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....

 and A Midsummer Night's Dream. This was the BSC's largest tour, commencing at the Rose Theatre, Kingston

Rose Theatre, Kingston

The Rose Theatre, Kingston is a theatre on Kingston High Street in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The theatre seats 899 around a wide, lozenge shaped stage....

, Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

, Ramme Gaard in Norway, before visiting Gawsworth Hall

Gawsworth Hall

Gawsworth Old Hall is a Grade I listed country house in the village of Gawsworth, Cheshire, England. It is a timber-framed house in the Cheshire black-and-white style. The present house was built between 1480 and 1600, replacing an earlier Norman house...

 in Cheshire, Norwich Cathedral

Norwich Cathedral

Norwich Cathedral is a cathedral located in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Formerly a Catholic church, it has belonged to the Church of England since the English Reformation....

, Kentwell Hall

Kentwell Hall

Kentwell Hall is a stately home in Long Melford, Suffolk, England. It includes the hall, outbuildings, and a rare breeds farm and gardens. Most of the current building facade dates from the mid 16th century, but the origins of Kentwell are much earlier, with references in the Domesday Book of...

 in Suffolk, Kirkstall Abbey

Kirkstall Abbey

Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Kirkstall north-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire. It is set in a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded c.1152. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry...

 in Leeds, Burgrave Palace in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, Sterts Theatre in Cornwall and Arundel Castle

Arundel Castle

Arundel Castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England is a restored medieval castle. It was founded by Roger de Montgomery on Christmas Day 1067. Roger became the first to hold the earldom of Arundel by the graces of William the Conqueror...

 in West Sussex. Since this tour there has been no further activity by the company.

From 2006, when the company began performing at Ramme Gaard, an ecological estate with an outdoor amphitheatre

Amphitheatre

An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...

 on the coast of Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, the Norwegian billionaire and philanthropist Petter Olsen

Petter Olsen

Petter Olsen is a Norwegian businessman and member of the Olsen shipping family owning the company Fred. Olsen & Co.. He is the younger brother of the current leader of the company, Fredrik Olsen...

was its patron.