Grand plans for Royal Shakespeare Company turn into tragi-comedy

Actors clinked glasses with politicians and cultural grandees as the Royal Shakespeare Company threw its summer party on Thursday night.

The atmosphere in the atmospheric vaults under the Roundhouse, the RSC's temporary new venue in north London, seemed jolly. But amid the introductions and the gossip, the conversation over wine occasionally turned to the future of the company. And that is a subject few seem in the mood to celebrate.

Nobody could have missed the empty seats in the auditorium earlier when party guests watched Pericles in its final preview before the official opening last night. And many fear that is a sign of what is to come.

The company, which only recently was riding a wave of acclaim with its cycle of Shakespeare history plays, now appears in disarray. Adrian Noble, its artistic director, embarked on an ambitious plan to quit the Barbican for the flexibility – and uncertainty – of offering plays in whatever venues they might best fit. He added, for good measure, that he would also demolish its riverside theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

But when the criticisms began, he announced that he would resign. And with a decision on his successor not expected for another month, everything is on hold. "The plans are under review because the new artistic director may want to bring his own particular vision for the company," a spokesman said.

Lord Alexander of Weedon, the RSC's chairman, has begun to suggest that the company might back down on demolishing the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, an Art Deco gem. "We always said it was the ideal option but there were lots of hurdles. It is a listed building," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, many are questioning the wisdom of abandoning its home in the Barbican for a peripatetic life in other venues. Since the RSC quit the Barbican, its attendance figures have tumbled. The season at the Roundhouse has played to houses of 45 to 50 per cent – nowhere near the 70 to 80 per cent needed to break even.

That will be followed later this month by the next stage in the RSC's new plan: a residency at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in the West End. The RSC admits that advance bookings for Antony and Cleopatra with Sinead Cusack and Much Ado about Nothing with Harriet Walter are not great. But for two popular Shakespeare plays with star names they expect a good walk-in audience.

Again, while it would have liked audiences at the Roundhouse to be higher, the move did succeed in another important objective – attracting a younger audience. "The age of the audience has dropped by about 20 years which is fantastic. It's been a shock to the system for our core bookers who are older. We probably under-estimated [the impact of] that. But it's not like it's been a waste of time," the RSC spokesman said.

Interestingly, though, the company is already in talks with two theatres about establishing longer-term relationships – though they insist that they are not talking about taking up residency.

A permanent home does, of course, have benefits. At the Barbican, management could estimate returns for up to a couple of years ahead, but it is more difficult, at least initially, to gauge potential income from the West End, where it will cost £21,000 a week simply to rent the theatre.

The company already had a £1.3m deficit, which is expected to have risen by a further £500,000 when the figures to March are finally audited. A sum of £4.5m pledged by the Arts Council as part of its "stabilisation" programme is also on hold until the current uncertainty is concluded.

But at least in the succession, the odds are on a safe pair of hands. All the candidates on the final shortlist were approached after extensive consultation with other directors, such as Sir Peter Hall and Peter Brook, and members of the company itself.

As much as many would have liked to have seen Kenneth Branagh apply for the post, his name is not in the running. Nor is that of Jude Kelly, the former artistic director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Instead, the contenders are believed to be the RSC associate directors Michael Boyd and Gregory Doran, who is the partner of the actor Antony Sher; an honorary associate director, John Caird, in a partnership with the actor Simon Russell Beale, and the actor- director Michael Pennington.