Today the Royal Court Theatre announces Artistic Director David Byrne’s second season. Featuring seven plays and a new writing festival, the 24/25 season brings together Royal Court debut writers and long-time collaborators for a programme of work that spans the globe from South Africa to Singapore, from Palestine and New York to the North East of England. Traversing the past, present and future, each of these plays speaks to the world we live in now.
JERWOOD THEATRE DOWNSTAIRS
- Robert Icke makes his Royal Court debut with the world premiere of Manhunt, a co-production with Sonia Friedman Productions which tells the story of Raoul Moat: the man at the heart of one of the most infamous manhunts of the century.
- Tensions rise when a mysterious new shack springs up in a suburban gated community in the world premiere of A Good House, a biting satire about neighbourhood politics by Amy Jephta, co-produced with Bristol Old Vic in association with The Market Theatre.
- Sutara Gayle, AKA award-winning reggae artist Lorna Gee, takes us on an epic spiritual journey traversing her extraordinary family history, from a silent retreat in India, to Jamaica, to the Brixton uprising, with spell-binding original music in The Legends of Them, a Hackney Showroom production originated with Brixton House.
- Transferring to the Royal Court directly from a run at New York Theatre Workshop, writer and performer Khawla Ibraheem’s A Knock on the Roof is the witty, gripping and heart-wrenching tale of Mariam, a woman in Gaza who is preparing for war.
JERWOOD THEATRE UPSTAIRS
- 25 years on from its debut run at the Royal Court, the full original cast and creative team return to the Theatre Upstairs to revisit Sarah Kane’s era-defining final play, 4.48 Psychosis, in a co-production with The Royal Shakespeare Company.
- What happens when the Chinese government demands the British Museum returns a stolen artefact? Joel Tan’s Scenes from a Repatriation is a kaleidoscopic examination into the relationship between art, power and empire, which interrogates the global politics of returning statues.
- More Life is a sci-fi gothic horror by Lauren Mooney and James Yeatman of Kandinsky which, set in 2075, explores the ethics of transhumanism, and the impact of technology on human existence.
- A brand new festival of staged readings, Open Submissions Festival will provide a regular professional platform for brilliant new writing identified through the Royal Court’s open programmes.
David Byrne, Artistic Director of the Royal Court, said, “Across the past nine months we’ve been bringing together the best writers, collaborations and stories to thrill audiences at the Court – and I couldn’t be happier with the result. Every show in this season delivers on the Royal Court promise of a combustible night at the theatre.
From reggae royalty to Robert Icke, from glimpses of the far future to echoes from the recent past, from international playwrights to the best UK theatre makers – every show in this line-up is an unmissable theatrical event. The writers at the Royal Court have got something to say, and this season you’re not going to want to miss a single word.”
Across this season, the Royal Court will forge creative partnerships with Bristol Old Vic; The Royal Shakespeare Company; Sonia Friedman Productions; piece by piece productions, New York; Kandinsky; Hackney Showroom; Brixton House and The Market Theatre, South Africa.
As part of its commitment to open up world-class theatre to the widest possible audience, the theatre also announces an expansion of their access performances offering. Across three Theatre Upstairs productions in this season, the Royal Court is partnering with Bump & Baby Club to host Babes in Arms performances, with soft play in the Bar & Kitchen. The theatre is also partnering with Age UK Kensington & Chelsea to host Age UK Performances, which will be free for Age UK members, will be captioned and will include complimentary tea and biscuits in the Bar & Kitchen, in an effort to fight isolation and encourage community. In addition, the regularly programmed Captioned and Chilled performances will now offer pre-show familiarisation tours, and BSL-Interpreted and Audio-Described performances continue across the season.
This announcement follows the recent launch of The Writers’ Card, the Royal Court’s free-to-join membership for writers which endeavours to support the next generation of playwrights with a wealth of opportunities, for which 4,000 playwrights across the country have signed up so far. The opportunities include Career Surgeries, Writers’ Canteens and Writers’ Nights, Zoom focus writing sessions, free printing, bookable rooms and a Writers’ Card Menu in the Bar & Kitchen. As part of this renewed support for writers, the Royal Court has also announced a new funded invitational Writers’ Retreat programme, an Unpublished Writers’ Award supported by Concord Theatricals and the aforementioned inaugural Open Submissions Festival, which will become a regular event in the Royal Court calendar.
Tickets for all newly announced productions go on sale to supporters from 12 noon on Thursday 17 October, to Friends and Good Friends at 12 noon on Wednesday 23 October, and to the general public at 12 noon on Monday 28 October.
