Roundhouse turned from rock venue to theatre in 10 days

The Royal Shakespeare Company has transformed the Roundhouse into a fully-functioning theatre in just 10 days.

The Camden rock venue will be home for the next eight weeks for the company's entire sequence of Shakespeare history plays.

Eighty riggers, carpenters and technicians have taken 34 lorry-loads of set and equipment to create a courtyard stage just like the one the RSC has in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Project manager Peter Bailey described the task as "monumental". He said: "The Roundhouse was re-built for rock 'n' roll. It's terrific but there isn't enough of anything, so we're not only building the auditorium, we've had to add the backstage infrastructure as well."

Mr Bailey and Alan Bartlett, the head of technical design, have been working on the plans for a year and the structure will be stored after dismantling at the end of the run. It is believed to be the first time the RSC has presented all the history plays with one ensemble company in a programme in London.

Michael Boyd, the RSC's artistic director, said: "Each play refers in a very profound way to the others. To watch Richard III on its own is an absurd thing to me now.

"We like huge long stories - it's like following The Sopranos - and it's just fun seeing them all."

The Histories open tomorrow and run until 25 May.