On a humid July afternoon, several Japanese visitors stand a few metres apart between the gravestones, taking pictures of a church on the banks of the River Avon. The church is grey, unexceptional and like hundreds of others across the country. It is, however, the most visited parish church in England because it was here, at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, that William Shakespeare was baptised and buried. Five hundred metres away, actors rest between a packed programme of matinee and evening performances of King Lear and Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) temporary Courtyard Theatre. Every show plays to a full house. In the bustling town centre, tourists giggle and point as a 'living statue' of the most famous man in world literature strikes comic poses. Nearby, visitors queue up to enter Shakespeare's Birthplace, the 16th-century house in which he was born and spent his childhood years. Shops are piled high with everything from copies of his Complete Works to Shakespeare fudge, Shakespeare tea towels and Shakespeare mugs and calendars. Four hundred years after his death, the lure of the bard is more potent than ever. Stratford has a population of only 25,000 but draws about four million visitors annually with numbers growing at 5 per cent a year - and the coming 12 months may be its busiest ever. Early next year, the curtain will rise again at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, after a GBP112 million (HK$1.47 billion) refurbishment spanning five years. The reopening has been timed to coincide with the RSC's 50th anniversary. The 1,000-seat auditorium in the state-of-the-art theatre will bring audiences closer to Shakespeare; the distance from the furthest seats to the stage has been reduced from the 27 metres of the 1930s' structure to just 15 metres, making the experience more like that of the early performances. The complex also features a 38-metre tower with views across the River Avon and the town, a riverside walkway, restaurants, cafes and public areas - all designed to help the RSC shed its elitist image. It is, according to the RSC's executive director, Vikki Heywood, a venue for the 21st century that reflects Shakespeare's extraordinarily durable standing. 'Shakespeare's appeal is as strong, if not stronger, than ever,' she says. 'He has tremendous international appeal and people get a lot of enjoyment out of his work, even when English is not their first language. He speaks to everyone. He's an international superstar.' As the theatre's opening draws near, Stratford is preparing for a huge influx of visitors. Pavements are being widened, parks and shopping centres spruced up, waterside areas beautified and hotels opened and renovated. Meanwhile, the RSC is putting the finishing touches to its 50th-anniversary programme. Details of which works will be performed first - and which star actors will play the leading roles - remain a closely guarded secret, but Heywood promises the new theatre will be a major part of the Stratford visitor experience. 'We want it to be a building that is accessible to everyone,' she says. 'You can enter it from four sides [and] it will be open seven days a week. 'We want people to stay a while longer - not to just rush through on a day tour, but to stay and to dawdle and to enjoy [the town].' 'In the old theatre, the audience and actors were divided. The new theatre is one shared shape. The stage is thrust out into the audience, it gives a 3D experience where the audience is breathing the same air as the actors,' she says. 'There are seven metres of space below the stage, which means a forest of trees can appear on the stage, then descend below. It will be a very unique and different experience.' Tanya Aspinwall, spokeswoman for the district council's tourism division, says: 'The appeal of Stratford is very much its links to Shakespeare and we definitely expect more people to come as a result of the theatre opening. It's going to be hugely exciting for the town.' It should prove lucrative, too. The RSC contributes an estimated ?50 million a year to the regional tourism economy, a figure that will rise if the average visitor stays in Stratford for longer than the current two to three nights. The main attractions apart from the theatres and their performances are all Shakespeare related - his birthplace, Holy Trinity Church, Anne Hathaway's Cottage, which is where Shakespeare's wife lived, and New Place, the house in which he died. Presently, international visitors are more likely to spend their time at Shakespeare's Birthplace and Anne Hathaway's Cottage than sitting through a three-hour performance of King Lear. RSC figures show that 92 per cent of ticket bookers are from Britain and 52 per cent of those are from the Midlands, the area closest to the theatre. Of overseas visitors, people from the United States are the largest single group, accounting for 4 per cent of total sales. Although they make up a much higher percentage of visitors to Stratford, less than 1 per cent of theatre audiences are from Asia, suggesting that either the intimidating atmosphere of the old theatre or the challenge of understanding Shakespeare's language has been a barrier. The next 12 months may give an indication of whether the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre and its more people-friendly environment will lure Asians away from Holy Trinity Church and the curio shops outside Shakespeare's Birthplace. The RSC believes it might. 'Shakespeare is a great storyteller,' Heywood says. 'His plays are full of drama, excitement, humour and fear. Above all, Shakespeare has such a depth of understanding about what it means to be human. The plays may have been written 400 years ago but the emotions and situations the characters find themselves in are as relevant today as they were when they were first performed. 'They transcend cultures. Everyone knows what it's like to be in love, to be jealous, to feel alone, whether you live in England or China.' Getting there: Cathay Pacific ( www.cathaypacific.com ) flies daily from Hong Kong to London, from where you can travel to Stratford-upon-Avon by train, bus or car. See gouk.about.com for details.