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Royal Shakespeare Company Art Installation

There cannot be many people who do not know that this year commemorates 400 years since Shakespeare’s death and of course this means great plans are afoot in his home town of Stratford. One of the beautiful things you will see if you travel to Shakespeare’s birthplace is this amazing Royal Shakespeare Company Art Installation which is guaranteed to take your breath away.

Artist Steven Follen was commissioned to build something truly attention grabbing and as you will see from these images, he did not fail in his duty.

Given the word ‘Time’ as his brief Steven used 2,000 stainless steel stars to create this masterpiece which is to be a permanent display at the home of The Royal Shakespeare Company.

Shakespeare’s iconic play Romeo and Juliet was to be his inspiration.

The installation is titled ‘For all time’ which is taken from Ben Jonson’s eulogy to Shakespeare.

“He was not of an age, but for all time!”

The artwork took two weeks to complete and Follet took care that the piece would fit in with the building’s mix of Art Deco, Victorian Gothic, and 21st century industrial architecture styles.

Romeo and Juliet Act III Scene II and  Juliet says of Romeo..

“When he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine….”



Standing three metres tall and visible in three dimensions, Romeo’s face is given an ethereal touch as the stars move gently in the breeze.

The stars that surround his face are a loose representation of the constellations that were visible to people on the night of Shakespeare’s birth.

For All Time can be found in The Swan Wing which is the oldest part of the building and is the largest permanent artwork to be displayed by the RSC.

It has been made possible by a £2.8 million award by The Heritage Lottery Fund.

And it is beautiful.

If you have ever wanted to travel to the home of the Bard, this year is the one to make it a reality. There are so many things going on in and around Shakespeare’s home that you are guaranteed to leave with a greater knowledge of his life and works and an affinity for the beautiful English town of Stratford-upon-Avon.

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