THE BIG IDEA Discussion Series, Based on New Play HOPE, to Be Held, Dec. 13

The Big Idea - a series of events at the Royal Court inspired by Jack Thorne's new play Hope - will offer audiences the opportunity to engage further with the political issues on stage through provocative discussion and radical thinking. Hope is an urgent, responsive play about where we are right now politically. Directed by John Tiffany, the play attacks the squeeze on local government, examines our disillusionment with the current political parties and asks where we go from here.

Highlights of The Big Idea include Political Playwright@Your Table; a rare opportunity to hear playwrights including Howard Brenton, David Hare, Gary Mitchell, Louise Page, Winsome Pinnock and Roy Williams read aloud their own plays to small audiences in secret locations around the building, reviving landmark political works from the last 60 years at the Royal Court. David Hare will read Via Dolorosa, Winsome Pinnock will read Talking in Tongues, Roy Williams will read Fallout, Howard Brenton will read Magnificence, Louise Page will read Falkland Sound and Gary Mitchell will read The Force of Change. Audiences will select their chance encounter from a tombola draw and be taken to a secret location for the reading. Saturday 13 December, 10am, £10 (limited availability).

Jack Thorne In Conversation on Apathy and Austerity; a one-off opportunity to hear the BAFTA-winning writer discuss the themes behind his new play. Hope is Thorne's first original play to be staged at the Royal Court and follows his success with Glue and This is England '86. He collaborates with director John Tiffany once again after their production of Let the Right One In, which transferred to the West End last year. Friday 5 December, post-show, free with a ticket to Hope.

The New Order; playwrights April De Angelis, Clint Dyer and Chris Goode will write and perform political broadcasts on behalf of their own political parties. Friday 12 December, 6.15pm, £5 or free with a ticket to Hope.