Royal Court Theatre Announces 60th Season - Six World Premieres, Five UK Productions and More!

· In 2016 the Royal Court Theatre celebrates its 60th birthday by looking towards the future. The new season includes six world premieres, five UK and worldwide collaborations, one European premiere, a major collaboration with LIFT, a partnership with Picturehouse Cinemas, the return of Open Court and ongoing work in Tottenham and Pimlico.

· Caryl Churchill starts the year with ESCAPED ALONE, a new play directed by James Macdonald in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Thursday 21 January - Saturday 12 March 2016.

· Royal Court Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone directs Alistair McDowall's new play X in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Wednesday 30 March - Saturday 7 May 2016.

· The Royal Court involved in UK partnership with Schaubühne Berlin for OPHELIAS ZIMMER, a new project directed by Katie Mitchell and designed by Royal Court Artistic Associate Chloe Lamford with text by Alice Birch. Jerwood Theatre Downstairs Tuesday 17 May - Saturday 21 May 2016. The Royal Court Theatre in association with Schaubühne Berlin.

· Anthony Neilson returns to the Royal Court with his new play UNREACHABLE which will premiere in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Friday 1 July - Saturday 6 August 2016.

· Suzan-Lori Parks returns to the Royal Court with a new production of her plays FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS (PARTS 1,2 & 3) directed by Jo Bonney, Jerwood Theatre Downstairs,Thursday 15 September - Saturday 22 October 2016.

· After a celebrated run in Manchester, Anna Jordan's Bruntwood award winning play YEN, directed by Ned Bennett transfers to the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Friday 22 January - Saturday 13 February 2016. A Royal Court Theatre and Royal Exchange Theatre Production.

· South African playwright Mongiwekhaya's debut Royal Court play I SEE YOU, directed by Noma Dumezweni, premieres in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Thursday 25 February - Saturday 26 March 2016. A Royal Court Theatre and Market Theatre, Johannesburg production, which will tour to Johannesburg after its UK run.

· David Ireland makes his Royal Court debut with his new play, CYPRUS AVENUE, in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs. The production opens at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin in February then tours to the Royal Court Tuesday 5 April - Saturday 7 May 2016. Royal Court Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone directs. A Royal Court Theatre and the Abbey Theatre production.

· Stef Smith's Royal Court debut HUMAN ANIMALS, a new play directed by Royal Court Associate Director Hamish Pirie premieres in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Wednesday 18 May - Saturday 18 June 2016.

· Charlene James makes her Royal Court debut with CUTTIN' IT, directed by Gbolahan Obisesan, which will play in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Friday 24 June - Saturday 9 July 2016. A Royal Court / Young Vic co-production with Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Sheffield Theatres and The Yard Theatre.

· Nathaniel Martello-White's Royal Court debut play TORN will premiere in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Wednesday 7 September - Saturday 15 October 2016.

· The Royal Court Theatre partners with LIFT for a month of work in collaboration with international communities, including a co-commission of THE ISLANDS by Argentinian artist Lola Arias, OPEN FOR EVERYTHING by Constanza Macras/DorkyPark and the Migration Commissions, a series of works from international artists on the theme of migration and displacement - a response to the refugee and migrant crisis. Dates to be announced.

· TOLD FROM THE INSIDE new plays exploring accounts of exile, displacement and survival developed through a project with emerging Lebanese and Syrian writers, presented in workshop performances.

· As part of the Royal Court's inclusive programme of activities for young people up to age 21, YOUNG COURT launches the ROYAL COURT YOUTH BOARD, YOUTH THEATRE, the YOUNG PEOPLE'S SCRIPT PANEL, OPEN COURT, and returning for a third year - PRIMETIME which will tour to schools in north and south London.

· ROYAL COURT: PIMLICO AND TOTTENHAM sees second year of a three-year residency in SW1Vand N17.

· The Royal Court Theatre partners with Picturehouse Cinemas for ROYAL COURT ON SCREEN - a season of gala screenings of productions which have gone from stage to screen to mark the 60thanniversary.

· THE BIG IDEA continues with a programme of talks, debates and workshops exploring the work on stage. The Royal Court has now presented over 60 Big Idea events live and online to a global audience.

· Tickets for the new season go on sale to Friends on Tuesday 13th at 10am and to the general publicon Thursday 15th at 10am. 020 7565 5000 / www.royalcourttheatre.com

Commenting on the new season Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone said;

"In 1956 George Devine founded the Royal Court. He called for a theatre 'where the experimentalists of the modern era may be seen', with 'hard-hitting, uncompromising writers', where 'their works are stimulating, provocative and exciting', not 'bringing the dramatist of the past into focus for the present', but giving attention to the future.

60 years on the Royal Court is still striving to do the very same thing. The programme encompasses the very best in writing for theatre, with a new full-length play by Caryl Churchill, a new piece by Anthony Neilson, a new play by Alistair McDowall and a return to the Royal Court from Suzan-Lori Parks as well as new writers debuting at the Royal Court for the first time - among them David Ireland, Charlene James, Anna Jordan, Nathaniel Martello-White, Mongiwekhaya and Stef Smith.

Responding as ever to the writers, our work is challenging and ambitious and looks to our collective futures. This is undoubtedly among one of the most internationally outward-looking years the Royal Court has ever seen. With collaborations including the Schaubühne Berlin, the Abbey Theatre, the Market Theatre Johannesburg and LIFT; as well as meaningful projects about refugees and migration, we are thinking hard about our place in the world.

I am delighted too that our programme for young people, Young Court, is being launched in this year. We are thrilled to be bringing back Open Court - only this time young people will have the keys.

The Royal Court has been unique for 60 years - I look forward to launching it into the next 60."

Escaped Alone
By Caryl Churchill

Directed by James Macdonald
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Thursday 21 January - Saturday 12 March 2016

"I'm walking down the street and there's a door in the fence open and inside there are three women I've seen before."

Three old friends and a neighbour. A summer of afternoons in the back yard. Tea and catastrophe.

"Stories of those above ground were told and retold till there were myths of the husband who cooked feasts, the wife who swam the ocean, the gay lover who could fly, the child who read minds, the talking dog."

Caryl Churchill returns to the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs with Escaped Alone, directed by James Macdonald.

Design by Miriam Buether, Lighting by Peter Mumford and Sound by Christopher Shutt.

Caryl Churchill's previous work for the Royal Court Theatre includes Ding Dong the Wicked; Love and Information; Seven Jewish Children; Drunk Enough to Say I Love You?; A Number; Far Away; Blue Heart; Serious Money; Top Girls and Cloud Nine. Recent Revivals of Churchill's plays include The Skriker (Royal Exchange) and Light Shining in Buckinghamshire plus new play Here We Go (National).

James Macdonald's previous work for the Royal Court Theatre includes The Wolf from the Door, Circle Mirror Transformation, Love and Information (and off-Broadway), Cock, Drunk Enough to Say I Love You?, Blasted and the European and US tours of Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis. He was Associate Director at the Royal Court 1992-2007. Other recent work includes The Father(Theatre Royal Bath, Tricycle and West End), Exiles (National) and Glengarry Glen Ross (West End).

Listings Information:

Escaped Alone
By Caryl Churchill

Directed by James Macdonald
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS

Thursday 21 January - Saturday 12 March 2016
Monday - Saturday 7.30pm
Thursday & Saturday matinees 2.30pm (from 30 January)
Captioned Performance 23 February 7.30pm
Audio Described 27 February 2.30pm (Touch Tour 1pm)
Press Night Thursday 28 January 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £12, £16, £25, £35 (Mondays all seats £10 available from 9am online on the day of performance)
Concessions* £5 off top two prices. 25s and under £12 (available in advance for previews and all matinees)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts subject to availability.

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YEN

By Anna Jordan

Directed by Ned Bennett

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Friday 22 January - Saturday 13 February 2016
A Royal Court Theatre and Royal Exchange Theatre production

"I'm Bobbie. As in Bobbie Dazzler, my Nan says, although I don't know who that is. And this is my brother Hench. He's got a face for radio."

Hench is 16, Bobbie is 13. They're home alone in Feltham with their dog Taliban; playing PlayStation, streaming porn, watching the world go by. Sometimes their mum Maggie visits, usually with empty pockets and empty promises.

Then Jenny shows up.

"She's in our territory, bruv. She's in our territory! She's in our territory."

After a celebrated run in Manchester at the Royal Exchange Theatre YEN, by Anna Jordan, transfers to the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs.

Anna won the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting for YEN in 2013.

Ned Bennett, former Royal Court trainee director, directs. The cast includes Alex Austin, Sian Breckin, Jake Davies and Annes Elwy.

Design by Georgia Lowe, Lighting by Elliot Griggs and Composition and Sound by Giles Thomas.

Anna Jordan's work includes YEN (Manchester Royal Exchange), Chicken Soup (Soho); Youth & Age (Camden People's Theatre) and The Freedom Light (Company of Angels).

Ned Bennett's previous work at the Royal Court includes Primetime and Pigeons. His production of Pomona (Orange Tree) recently transferred to the National Theatre. Other credits include YEN (Manchester Royal Exchange), Superior Donuts(Southwark Playhouse) and Mercury Fur (Old Red Lion and Trafalgar Studios). He was also trainee director at the Royal Court Theatre.

Alex Austin's previous credits for the Royal Court Theatre include Pigeons. Other theatre includes Barbarians (Bad Physics/Young Vic), YEN (Manchester Royal Exchange), The Nutcracker, The Man With the Disturbingly Smelly Foot(Unicorn), Idomeneus (Gate), Hope, Light and Nowhere (Suba Das Company/Underbelly), HMP Feltham Project (Synergy Theatre), Ryan Gander: Locked Room Scenario (Artsangel), Life in my Shoes (Body and Sould Charity) and My City (Almeida). Television includes Sherlock, The Interceptor, New Tricks, The Musketeers, Misfits and Holby City. Film includes Legacy, The Christmas Candle, The Hooligan Factory, The World's End and The Swarm.

Sian Breckin's previous theatre includes Yen (Manchester Royal Exchange), Geisha Girls (Bush/Bush Beano, Omar Elerian),But I Cd Only Whisper (Arcola), Chalet Lines (Bush), The Baron, 24 Hour Plays Old Vic New Voices (Old Vic), Christine (New End Theatre), Mancub (Vanishing Point/Soho), The Fool (Wiltons Music Hall) and The Recruiting Officer (Blue Elephant). Television includes Houdini & Doyle, Silent Witness, Truckers, Dates, Casualty, Scott & Bailey, D.C.I. Banks: Aftermath, Heartbeat, George Gently, The Bill and The Royal. Film includes Starred Up, Tyrannosaur and Donkey Punch.

Jake Davies' previous theatre includes Barbarians (Central St Martins), YEN (Manchester Royal Exchange), Friend or Foe, Good Person of Szechuan (Mercury, Colchester), Jungle Book (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow), Beautiful Thing (Arts Theatre),London Wall (Finborough) and Something for the Winter (Southwark). Television includes Silent Witness, Cyber Bully, A Mother's Son, Call the Midwife, Holby City and Bad Education. Film includes X+Y, Leave to Remain and Vengeance.

Annes Elwy's previous credits include The Crucible (Bristol Old Vic) and YEN (Manchester Royal Exchange). Television includes Lan A Lawr and Gwaith/Cartref. Film includes The Passing/Yr Ymadawiad.

The Royal Exchange Theatre is a leading producing theatre situated in the heart of Manchester. Its ambitious programme is inspired by the world's greatest stories: stories that have the power to change the way we see the world. That means taking artistic risks, working as part of exciting partnerships, championing new talent and seeking out bold collaborations. A record number of people experienced their work in the last year, and they continue to broaden their output on and offstage, to speak to the most diverse audiences in Manchester and beyond.

The Royal Exchange is committed to supporting and developing new writing, and together with the property company Bruntwood they run The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting - the UK's biggest playwriting competition. Anna Jordan's YEN was the 2013 prize winner and 2015 sees the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting celebrate its 10th Anniversary year. Future Royal Exchange Theatre collaborations include a partnership with the National Theatre, with a co-production of The Orange Tree Theatre's Pomona by Alistair McDowall, as well as Husbands and Sons adapted by Ben Power, and a co-production of King Lear with Talawa Theatre in 2016.

YEN is a Royal Court Theatre and Royal Exchange Theatre production.

Listings Information:

YEN

By Anna Jordan

Directed by Ned Bennett

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Friday 22 January - Saturday 13 February 2016
A Royal Court Theatre and Royal Exchange Theatre production

Monday - Saturday 7.45pm
Thursday & Saturday matinees 3pm (from 28 January)
Captioned Performance 10 February 7.45pm
Press Night Monday 25 January 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £20 (Mondays all seats £10 available from 9am online on the day of performance)
Concessions* £15 (available in advance for previews and all matinees)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts subject to availability.

I See You

By Mongiwekhaya

Directed by Noma Dumezweni

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Thursday 25 February - Saturday 26 March 2016

A Royal Court Theatre and Market Theatre, Johannesburg production
International Playwrights: A Genesis Foundation Project

"Speak to me in your mother-tongue and I will let you go."

Post-Apartheid South Africa, after dark.

Ben meets Skinn for a night out. But the party is interrupted by the police. Ben, a young student who doesn't know his own history, is accused of a crime he didn't commit. And Officer Buthelezi, a former freedom fighter, can't let it go.

"I don't need your sorries white boy. Yes You heard right. You know white people think we're the same? We both look black. But only one of us is black."

I See You (English) / Ngiyakubona (Zulu) / Ek Sien Jou (Afrikaans) / Ndiyakubona (Xhosa)

Based on a real encounter, I See You addresses the questions of a new generation of South Africans encountering their country's traumatised past.

Mongiwekhaya's Royal Court debut play is presented as part of International Playwrights, a Genesis Foundation Project. It was developed during the Royal Court's new writing project in South Africa which began in 2013. The project was supported by the British Council and Connect ZA.

After its run in the JTU I See You will tour to the Market Theatre, Johannesburg.

Noma Dumezweni makes her directorial debut.

Mongiwekhaya is a writer, performer and director with Handspring Puppet Company and currently performing in the international tour of Ubu and the Truth Commission. Previous work includes Kagg'an Dreams (Handspring Trust); Fallen, The Feather Collector (Grahamstown Festival). He is currently Artist in Residence for Center for Humanities Research (CHR) at the University of Western Cape and a member of the newly formed SA Playriot group.

Noma Dumezweni makes her directorial debut. Her work as an actor includes Carmen Disruption (Almeida), The Bogus Woman (The Red Room, Traverse and Bush theatres), President of an Empty Room and The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other (National); Macbeth, Breakfast with Mugabe, The Winter's Tale, Romeo and Juliet (RSC) and A Raisin in the Sun (Young Vic) for which she was awarded an Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role. In 2013-2015 she appeared in A Human Being Died That Night at the Hampstead Theatre, the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town, the Market Theatre in Johannesburg and BAM in New York.

Based in Johannesburg's vibrant Newtown Precinct, the Market Theatre was established in 1976 to operate as an independent, non-racial playhouse during the country's apartheid regime. The theatre is renowned world-wide for brilliant anti-apartheid productions as well as the premieres of many of Athol Fugard's award-winning dramas. The Market Theatre's history is intertwined with the cultural, social and political struggle for freedom in South Africa. The Market Theatre has a legacy for riveting storytelling and creating dialogue and thus has launched many initiatives that have supported and showcased many outstanding theatre productions. For more information please visit www.markettheatre.co.za

I See You is a Royal Court Theatre and Market Theatre, Johannesburg production.

The Big Idea:

Mongiwekhaya in conversation

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Friday 4 March, Post-show
Playwright Mongiwekhaya will be in conversation with Royal Court International Director, Elyse Dodgson.

Further Big Ideas to be announced.

Listings Information:

I See You

By Mongiwekhaya

Directed by Noma Dumezweni

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Thursday 25 February - Saturday 26 March 2016

A Royal Court Theatre and Market Theatre, Johannesburg production
International Playwrights: A Genesis Foundation Project
Monday - Saturday 7.45pm
Thursday & Saturday matinees 3pm (from 5 March)
Captioned Performance 23 March 7.45pm
Press Night Thursday 3 March 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £20 (Mondays all seats £10 available from 9am online on the day of performance)
Concessions* £15 (available in advance for previews and all matinees)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts subject to availability.

X
By Alistair McDowall

Directed by Vicky Featherstone

Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Wednesday 30 March - Saturday 7 May 2016

"It's a tax write-off. This is where they send the new, the underqualified, the old. And most of all the British. Mars is full of blonde Americans. It's like they're building the master race out there."

Billions of miles from home, the lone research base on Pluto has lost contact with Earth. Unable to leave or send for help, the skeleton crew sit waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting long enough for time to start eating away at them.
To lose all sense of it.
To start seeing things in the dark outside.

"Can you help me?... I really feel like I'm... I'm hanging on by my nails here..."

Alistair McDowall's new play X is directed by Royal Court Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone.

Alistair McDowall's previous Royal Court credits include Talk Show (Open Court) and Brilliant Adventures (Young Writers Festival reading). Other credits include Pomona (Orange Tree/National), Brilliant Adventures (Royal Exchange/Live Theatre Newcastle and Edinburgh Fringe), Some Scary Stories, Plain Jane (Royal Exchange), Eighteen Stupid Reasons Why I Love You Lots and Lots (Royal Exchange, Buxton Fringe Festival and on tour). Alistair won the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting forBrilliant Adventures at the Royal Exchange in 2013.

Vicky Featherstone is Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre. Her work for the Royal Court includes How to Hold Your Breath; God Bless the Child; Maidan: Voices from the Uprising; The Mistress Contract; The Ritual Slaughter of George Mastromas; Talk Show; Untitled Matriarch Play and The President Has Come to See You.Her other work includes Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour; Enquirer; An Appointment with the Wicker Man; 27; The Wheel; Somersaults (National Theatre of Scotland); The Small Things; Pyrenees; On Blindness; Tiny Dynamite; Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco; Splendour; Crave (Paines Plough). Vicky was Artistic Director of Paines Plough 1997-2005 and Artistic Director of The National Theatre of Scotland 2005-2012. In 2016 Vicky will also direct Cyprus Avenue by David Ireland.

The Big Idea:

Alistair McDowall in conversation

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Tuesday 19 April, Post-show
Playwright Alistair McDowall will be in conversation with Royal Court Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone.

Listings Information:

X
By Alistair McDowall

Directed by Vicky Featherstone

Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Wednesday 30 March - Saturday 7 May 2016

Monday - Saturday 7.30pm
Thursday & Saturday matinees 2.30pm (from 7 April)
Captioned Performance 26 April 7.30pm
Audio Described 23 April 2.30pm (Touch Tour 1pm)
Press Night Tuesday 5 April 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £12, £16, £25, £35 (Mondays all seats £10 available from 9am online on the day of performance)
Concessions* £5 off top two prices. 25s and under £12 (available in advance for previews and all matinees)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts subject to availability.

Cyprus Avenue

By David Ireland

Directed by Vicky Featherstone

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Tuesday 5 April - Saturday 7 May 2016

A Royal Court Theatre and Abbey Theatre production

"Without prejudice we're nothing! If we don't discriminate, we don't survive!"

Eric Miller is a Belfast Loyalist. He believes his five-week old granddaughter is Gerry Adams.

His family keep telling him to stop living in the past and fighting old battles that nobody cares about anymore but his cultural heritage is under siege. He must act.

The story of one man struggling with the past and terrified of the future.

"Gerry Adams has disguised himself as a new-born baby and successfully infiltrated my family home."

David Ireland's Royal Court debut sees his new play, Cyprus Avenue, play in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs following its premiere at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Royal Court Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone directs.

David Ireland's work includes Summertime (Tinderbox); Trouble and Shame, Most Favoured, The End of Desire (Òran Mór);Can't Forget About You (Lyric, Belfast) and Half a Glass of Water (Abbey Theatre). David is the former Playwright-in-Residence at the Lyric Theatre Belfast, and is a recent winner of the Stewart Parker BBC Radio Drama Award and the Meyer Whitworth Award.

The Abbey Theatre was founded as Ireland's national theatre, by W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory in 1904 "to bring upon the stage the deeper emotions of Ireland". Although written more than a hundred years ago, this is still the kernel of what constitutes the artistic imperative for the Abbey Theatre today. The Abbey produces an annual programme of diverse, engaging, innovative Irish and international theatre and invests in and promotes new Irish writers and artists. They do this by placing the writer and theatre-maker at the heart of all they do, commissioning and producing exciting new work and creating discourse and debate on the political, cultural and social issues of the day. Abbey Theatre's aim is to present great theatre art in a national context so that the stories told on stage have a resonance with artists and audiences alike.

Cyprus Avenue is a Royal Court Theatre and Abbey Theatre production.

It is an Abbey Theatre Commission.

Supported by Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a donor-advised fund of London Community Foundation.

Supported by Culture Ireland as part of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme.

Listings Information:

Cyprus Avenue

By David Ireland

Directed by Vicky Featherstone

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Tuesday 5 April - Saturday 7 May 2016

A Royal Court Theatre co-production with the Abbey Theatre, Dublin

Monday - Saturday 7.45pm
Captioned Performance 27 April 7.45pm
Press Night Thursday 7 April 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £20 (Mondays all seats £10 available from 9am online on the day of performance)
Concessions* £15 (available in advance for previews and all matinees)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts subject to availability.

Ophelias Zimmer
Directed by Katie Mitchell
Designed by Chloe Lamford
Text by Alice Birch

Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Tuesday 17 May - Saturday 21 May 2016
The Royal Court Theatre in association with Schaubühne Berlin

"I do not know, my lord, what I should think."

Katie Mitchell explores Ophelia, freed from Hamlet.

Schaubühne Berlin partners with the Royal Court Theatre to collaborate on Katie Mitchell's new project Ophelias Zimmer.Designed by Royal Court Artistic Associate Chloe Lamford with text by Alice Birch, the production will be in German with English surtitles.

The production will open in Berlin in December 2015.

Katie Mitchell's previous work at the Royal Court includes 2071, Ten Billion, Wastwater, The City, The Country and Forty Winks. Other work includes The Trial of Ubu Roi (Hampstead Theatre), After Dido (ENO and Young Vic), and A Woman Killed with Kindness, Pains of Youth, ...Some Trace of Her, Waves, Three Sisters and The Seagull (National Theatre). International work includes The Forbidden Zone (Salzburg Festival. Schaubühne, Berlin); A Sorrow Beyond Dreams (Vienna Burgtheater);Lungs, The Yellow Wallpaper (Schaubühne, Berlin); Happy Days and Travelling On One Leg (Schauspielhaus, Hamburg);Night Train (Schauspiel, Cologne/Avignon Festival/Theatertreffen); Rings of Saturn, Waves (Schauspiel, Cologne). Katie has been Associate Director at the Royal Court Theatre, RSC and the National Theatre. She was awarded an OBE in 2009 for services to Drama.

Chloe Lamford is Artistic Associate at the Royal Court Theatre where credits include The Twits, How to Hold Your Breath, God Bless the Child, 2071, Teh Internet is Serious Business, Open Court and Circle Mirror Transformation. Other work includes Salt Root and Roe (Donmar/Trafalgar Studios); Lungs (Schaubühne, Berlin); 1984 (Headlong/Almeida/West End/Tour); Rules for Living and The World Of Extreme Happiness (National); Cannibals (Royal Exchange); The Events (Actors Touring Company/Young Vic/Tour); The History Boys (Crucible, Sheffield); Disco Pigs, Sus, Blackta (Young Vic). Chloe has been awarded with the Theatrical Management Association Award for Best Theatre Design (Small Miracle) and the Arts Foundation Fellowship Award for Design for Performance: Set & Costume.

Alice Birch's previous work at the Royal Court includes Peckham: The Soap Opera and Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again (RSC). Other credits include We Want You To Watch (National Theatre), Little on the Inside (Almeida), Life for Beginners and Many Moons (Theatre 503), Come to Where I'm From (Oxford Playhouse), Bonfires (Arcola), Light Fittings (Dogstar), Tom and Sal(M+D). Alice received the Arts Foundation Award for Playwriting in 2014 and was shortlisted for the Bruntwood Prize in 2013.

The Schaubühne was founded in 1962. Since 1999 it has been led by artistic director Thomas Ostermeier. The foundation of his tenure was laid in the formation of a new ensemble of permanently employed actors, who essentially have been working together ever since, regularly extended by new appointments. The Schaubühne premieres a minimum of ten shows per season alongside a repertoire of over 30 existing productions. One of the theatre's distinctive features is a stylistic variety in approaches to directing, which includes new forms of dance and musical theatre. The repertoire encompasses the great dramatic works of world literature and contemporary plays from internationally renowned writers. Alongside directors from Berlin such as Thomas Ostermeier, Michael Thalheimer, Armin Petras, Patrick Wengenroth, Falk Richter and Marius von Mayenburg the theatre frequently offers a platform in Berlin to notable directors from abroad. Currently productions by Romeo Castellucci, Katie Mitchell, Rodrigo García, Yael Ronen and choreographer Constanza Macras are being shown at the theatre. At the same time, the Schaubühne showcases its productions abroad in over 100 performances every year: whether at big international festivals or at theatres around the world including in New York, Paris, Rome, São Paulo, London, Moscow, Oslo, Ramallah, Melbourne, Taipei, Tel Aviv, Seoul, Barcelona, Tokyo, Prague, Sydney, Montreal and Beijing.

Listings Information:

Ophelias Zimmer
Directed by Katie Mitchell
Designed by Chloe Lamford
Text by Alice Birch

Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Tuesday 17 May - Saturday 21 May 2016
The Royal Court Theatre in association with Schaubühne Berlin

Tuesday - Saturday 7.30pm
Thursday & Saturday matinees 2.30pm (19 & 21 May)
Press Night No press night
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £12, £16, £25, £35 (Mondays all seats £10 available from 9am online on the day of performance)
Concessions* £5 off top two prices. 25s and under £12 (available in advance for previews and all matinees)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts subject to availability.

Human Animals

By Stef Smith

Directed by Hamish Pirie

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Wednesday 18 May - Saturday 18 June 2016

"Don't go burying wild animals in my garden... or at least ask for permission first."

In the overcrowded city, nature is getting out of control.

The mice are scratching between walls, the pigeons are diseased and the foxes are beginning to rule the streets.

The problem is growing. It's contagious. It has to be stopped, before it's too late.

"People can get used to terrible things, very quickly. If they have to. It doesn't take much for things to start to fall apart."

Stef Smith's Royal Court debut new play Human Animals, directed by Royal Court Associate Director Hamish Pirie, premieres in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs.

Stef Smith was a member of the inaugural Royal Court national writer's group. Her work includes Swallow (Traverse Theatre); Remote (NT Connections); And the Beat Goes On (Random Accomplice/Perth Horsecross Theatres); Cured (The Arches, Glasgow); Woman of the Year (Òran Mór); Grey Matter (Lemon Tree); Falling/Flying (Tron, Glasgow) and Roadkill (Edinburgh Festival). She was awarded an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, Best New Production - The Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland, Amnesty International Expression of Freedom Award, Herald Angel, Total Theatre Award and Fringe First Award for Roadkill; and the Scottish Arts Club Theatre award and Fringe First Award for Swallow. She has also been awarded the New Playwright Award by Playwrights Studio Scotland. Stef is an associate artist at the Traverse Theatre.

Hamish Pirie is Associate Director at the Royal Court where his work includes Violence and Son, Who Caresand Teh Internet is Serious Business. Other work includes Shibboleth (Abbey), I'm With the Band, Quiz Show, Love With A Capital 'L', 3 Seconds, Most Favoured, Demos, Bravo Figaro, The Last Bloom and 50 Plays for Edinburgh (Traverse), Salt Root and Roe (Donmar/Trafalgar); Purgatory, Stacy (Arcola & Trafalgar Studios) and Pennies (nabokov). Hamish was Resident Assistant Director at Paines Plough and at the Donmar Warehouse.

The Big Idea:

Stef Smith in conversation

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs

Wednesday 1 June, Post-show
Playwright Stef Smith will be in conversation.

Further Big Ideas to be announced.

Listings Information:

Human Animals

By Stef Smith

Directed by Hamish Pirie

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Wednesday 18 May - Saturday 18 June 2016

Monday - Saturday 7.45pm
Thursday & Saturday matinees 3pm (from 26 May)
Captioned Performance 14 June 7.45pm
Press Night Monday 23 May 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £20 (Mondays all seats £10 available from 9am online on the day of performance)
Concessions* £15 (available in advance for previews and all matinees)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts subject to availability.

________________________________________________________________________

Cuttin' It

By Charlene James

Directed by Gbolahan Obisesan

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Friday 24 June - Saturday 9 July 2016

A Royal Court / Young Vic co-production with Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Sheffield Theatres and The Yard Theatre

"I know what it meant to have a little sister. I knew what it meant for her."

Teenagers Muna and Iqra get the same bus to school but they've never really spoken. Muna wears Topshop and sits on the top deck gossiping about Nicki Minaj's latest beef, while Iqra sits alone downstairs in her charity shop hand-me-downs.

They were both born in Somalia but come from different worlds. But as they get closer, they realise that their families share a painful secret.

"We're opposites, even though we came from the same, she's nuttin like me. An that shames me."

Charlene James' Royal Court debut play Cuttin' It, directed by Gbolahan Obisesan, tackles the urgent issue of FGM in Britain. Charlene won the George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright in 2015 and the Alfred Fagon Award for Best New Play for Cuttin' It.

Designed by Joanna Scotcher.

Charlene James participated in the Royal Court's Young Writers Programme. Her theatre work includes Tweet Tweet (Birmingham Repertory Theatre), Bacon (Arcola), Dad (Die) (Talawa Firsts), Do You Want To Continue?(Theatre 503) and Maybe Father (Young Vic), which was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award. She won the Alfred Fagon and George Devine Awards for Cuttin' It.

Gbolahan Obisesan's previous work at the Royal Court includes Feast as a playwright and School Gate, a microfilm as part of the Guardian Off the Page series. As a writer his credits include Pigeon English (Bristol Old Vic), Mad About the Boy (Edinburgh Festival, Unicorn, Bush, Young Vic) and Hold It Up (National Youth Theatre/Soho). As a writer and director his credits include How Nigeria Became, A Story, and a Spear That Didn't Work (Unicorn). Other directing credits include We Are Proud To Present... (Bush); SUS (Young Vic & Tour). He was also awarded the Bulldog Princep Bursary as Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio 2008-9. He is currently Genesis Fellow at the Young Vic.

Cuttin' It is a Royal Court / Young Vic co-production with Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Sheffield Theatres and The Yard Theatre.

The Big Idea:

Charlene James in conversation

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs

Tuesday 5 July, Post-show
Playwright Charlene James will be in conversation.

Further Big Ideas to be announced.

Listings Information:

Cuttin' It

By Charlene James

Directed by Gbolahan Obisesan

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Friday 24 June - Saturday 9 July 2016
A Royal Court / Young Vic co-production with Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Sheffield Theatres and The Yard Theatre

Monday - Saturday 7.45pm
Thursday & Saturday matinees 3pm (from 25 June)
Press Night Friday 27 May 7pm at the Young Vic via CharlotteBayley@youngvic.org
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £20 (Mondays all seats £10 available from 9am online on the day of performance)
Concessions* £15 (available in advance for previews and all matinees)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts subject to availability.