It had not occurred to me until the other day that I have been a regular visitor to Elisabeth Scott’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre for more than half of its existence. It was completed — the first major public building by a woman architect — in 1932. I was first there 36 years later to see Eric Porter as King Lear. Trevor Nunn’s production boasted what now seems an utterly stellar cast, including Michael Williams as The Fool, Alan Howard (Edgar), Diane Fletcher (Cordelia), Patrick Stewart (Cornwall) and Ben Kingsley (Oswald). I think I have seen all the Stratford Lears since, including Donald Sinden, Michael Gambon, Robert Stephens, Nigel Hawthorn, Corin Redgrave, Ian McKellen and (this year) Greg Hicks.

Twenty-four years ago, I reviewed the first production at the new Swan Theatre, which was fashioned from the fire-damaged remains of the Memorial Theatre of 1879. This was William Shakespeare and John Fletcher’s Two Noble Kinsmen. It was directed by Barry Kyle, and featured fine work by Hugh Quarshie, Gerard Murphy and Imogen Stubbs.

The Swan was an instant hit with performers and audiences, with a thrust-stage that greatly assisted rapport between the two groups.

Its success was such that it became clear that any future (and, it was starting to seem, very necessary) transformation of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre would need to be on similar lines.

The plan by then artistic director Adrian Noble to raze the building to the ground was, happily, not followed through. What was eventually settled on was a revised scheme from architects Bennetts Associates in which a new thrust-stage auditorium was placed within the shell of the old building, from which was removed unsightly accretions built up over the years. At the same time a wide new walkway, styled the Collonade, was introduced to create a foyer linking the two theatres.

A controversial aspect of the design, for some, was the erection of a tower, 36 metres high, which challenges the domination of the skyline by the nearby Holy Trinity Church, Shakespeare’s last resting place. At the tower’s base, the lifts it contains aid access to the theatre balconies; farther up, its only function is as a viewing platform.

Last week, the sun shone as the Press was shown over the building by RSC chairman Sir Christopher Bland, artistic director Michael Boyd and key figures from the architects and consulting engineers Buro Happold. From the vantage point of the tower, we could enjoy views in all directions over hundreds of square miles of country, with the buildings of the town appearing almost model-like beneath our feet.

In the auditorium of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Michael Boyd gave an impressive demonstration of the acoustics. Turning his back on one section of the audience, he lowered his voice to a whisper. He remained entirely audible to all. Curmudgeonly correspondents in a number of newspapers have since claimed that a design guaranteed to place every audience member within 15 metres of the action is necessary only because today’s generation of actors does not know how to make itself heard.

This is grossly unfair to the fine ensemble of actors that have been doing superb work for the past four years in the nearby Courtyard Theatre (which is either going to be dismantled and sold, or converted into a smaller performance venue).

I think particularly of Michael Boyd’s handling of the history plays, one of whose stars, Jonathan Slinger, was sitting immediately in front of me at last week’s presentation. He performed what seemed to me the amazing feat of playing both Richard II and Richard III concurrently.

From the way he spoke to journalists about his liking for the new theatre, I suspect we shall see him on its stage very soon. Perhaps in the Macbeth which rather daringly (The Scottish Play!) Boyd has decided to offer, under his own direction, as the RST’s first new production.