The London theatre abandoned by the Royal Shakespeare Company has announced plans to continue staging the Bard's plays without them.

The Barbican Centre is to fill the void left by the RSC's move by putting on plays itself.

Nigel Hawthorne starred as King Lear at the Barbican with the RSC

The theatre was designed for the RSC, and the company had its London base there for 20 years.

But the curtain came down on its era at the venue in May after a controversial decision by former artistic director Adrian Noble to take the RSC on a tour of London theatres.

They had staged six months of Shakespeare at the venue every year, for which the Barbican paid them �1m.

Some of that money will now go towards the Barbican's own productions, which will be staged on a show-by-show basis.

We want very much to continue to provide for the Shakespeare audience that has traditionally come here

Spokeswoman The Barbican

"It's new and it's quite an unusual thing for the Barbican to do," a spokeswoman told BBC News Online.

"There is a huge audience, particularly a huge Barbican audience, for Shakespeare and other classic texts," she said.

"We want very much to continue to provide for the Shakespeare audience that has traditionally come here, and also to go on to looking for new audiences for Shakespeare."

A spokeswoman for the RSC said it was not a radical move and there was room for both.

"If it enriches London's arts scene, then it's fine with us. It's not a question of either or," she told BBC News Online.

Return

"We have plans to go back there quite regularly, with Shakespeare and other things."

The company's next visit to the Barbican will come in 2003 when they present a stage adaptation of Salman Rushdie's Midnight Children.

As well as two theatre spaces, the Barbican, which opened in 1982, also includes a concert hall, three cinemas and two art galleries.

It has just announced a �12m plan to renovate its entrances and foyers.