Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory

Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory is a professional theatre company based at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol, England. It was founded by Andrew Hilton in 1999, with the initial aim of producing two Shakespeare plays between mid February and May each year. The plan was to operate without subsidy, seeking instead sponsorship and using an ensemble of actors recruited or each season. Hilton, an established actor, had spent ten years teaching the craft of Shakespearean theatre at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

The company website states:

To perform the world’s greatest plays with searching intelligence, crystal clarity and shared passion To maintain a large ensemble on stage – and a lean management team off it To be open, respectful and creative amongst ourselves in rehearsal & performance To be open and respectful towards our audiences, regardless of age or background To engage most particularly with the young – through workshops, placements and other opportunities To pursue new, creative opportunities, independently and in partnership with others To practise equality and fair pay across the whole company, based on a Company Wage.

In 2000, the company's first season consisted of productions of King Lear and A Midsummer Night's Dream. These were well received by critics such as Toby O'Connor Morse of The Independent, who commented on Lear: "One of the finest productions of Shakespeare – or any other playwright for that matter – seen in Bristol in years". On A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lyn Gardner of The Guardian commented:

Andrew Hilton's brilliantly clear, beautifully simple production is played on an almost totally bare rectangular space with the audience sitting on three sides. Yet despite its minimalism, it conjures up a rare sense of enchantment, creating the feeling that it would be easy to slip between the parallel worlds of humans and fairies. To do this with just a single strand of fairy lights, music and unaccompanied voices is something of an achievement.

For the 2001 season, the company paired Measure for Measure with Coriolanus. Both productions were well received; Susannah Clapp of The Observer, reviewing Measure for Measure, stated: