Friend Membership Terms & Conditions
Royal Court Theatre Friend Membership Terms & Conditions
Thank you to our Royal Court Friends, whose support is vital to our mission: to be the home of new writing, supporting writers to create bold, challenging and exceptional theatre.
These are the terms and conditions which apply to your Royal Court Theatre Friend Memberships (‘these Conditions’). By purchasing or renewing a Friend Membership with the Royal Court Theatre, you are agreeing to be bound by these Conditions. These terms and conditions shall apply to all Friend Memberships purchased, activated and/or renewed on or after 8 September 2025.
Thank you to our Royal Court Friends, whose support is vital to our mission: to be the home of new writing, supporting writers to create bold, challenging and exceptional theatre.
These are the terms and conditions which apply to your Royal Court Theatre Friend Memberships (‘these Conditions’). By purchasing or renewing a Friend Membership with the Royal Court Theatre, you are agreeing to be bound by these Conditions. These terms and conditions shall apply to all Friend Memberships purchased, activated and/or renewed on or after 8 September 2025.
1. Definitions
‘Applicable Laws’ means all laws, regulations, regulatory requirements and codes of practice applicable to either party or to the existence or operation of these Conditions from time to time;
‘Royal Court Theatre’, ‘the Royal Court’, ‘Royal Court’, ‘the Court’ and ‘the Theatre’ (and ‘we’, ‘our’, ‘ours’ and ‘us’) refers to the English Stage Company Limited (operating name ‘The Royal Court Theatre’), registered charity number 231242, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AS;
‘Membership’ means the Royal Court Theatre’s Friend membership packages which include the ‘Friend £75’, the ‘Friend £70’, the ‘Friend 35 & Under £35’ and the ‘Writers’ Card Plus £35’;
‘Membership Period’ means the date from which you sign up to a Membership to the date on which your Membership expires or is terminated in accordance with these Terms, as set out in the Royal Court Theatre Friend Membership confirmation email;
‘Gift Membership’ means the contract between us in accepting your offer to purchase specific Benefits from the Royal Court for a designated person;
‘Accepting’ means either confirmation by the Royal Court verbally or in writing (including by email) that your Membership application has been received and your Benefits will commence;
‘Benefits’ means those products and services offered to you by the Royal Court Theatre pursuant to these Conditions as part of a Membership;
‘Personal Information’ refers to all personal data relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified in particular by reference to an identifier; and
‘You’ or ‘Your’ means you or anybody who in our reasonable opinion is acting with your authority or permission;
‘Terms’ means The Royal Court Theatre Friend Membership Terms and Conditions set out in this document;
‘Applicable Laws’ means all laws, regulations, regulatory requirements and codes of practice applicable to either party or to the existence or operation of these Conditions from time to time;
‘Royal Court Theatre’, ‘the Royal Court’, ‘Royal Court’, ‘the Court’ and ‘the Theatre’ (and ‘we’, ‘our’, ‘ours’ and ‘us’) refers to the English Stage Company Limited (operating name ‘The Royal Court Theatre’), registered charity number 231242, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AS;
‘Membership’ means the Royal Court Theatre’s Friend membership packages which include the ‘Friend £75’, the ‘Friend £70’, the ‘Friend 35 & Under £35’ and the ‘Writers’ Card Plus £35’;
‘Membership Period’ means the date from which you sign up to a Membership to the date on which your Membership expires or is terminated in accordance with these Terms, as set out in the Royal Court Theatre Friend Membership confirmation email;
‘Gift Membership’ means the contract between us in accepting your offer to purchase specific Benefits from the Royal Court for a designated person;
‘Accepting’ means either confirmation by the Royal Court verbally or in writing (including by email) that your Membership application has been received and your Benefits will commence;
‘Benefits’ means those products and services offered to you by the Royal Court Theatre pursuant to these Conditions as part of a Membership;
‘Personal Information’ refers to all personal data relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified in particular by reference to an identifier; and
‘You’ or ‘Your’ means you or anybody who in our reasonable opinion is acting with your authority or permission;
‘Terms’ means The Royal Court Theatre Friend Membership Terms and Conditions set out in this document;
2, Membership Benefits
2.1 As a member you are entitled to the benefits listed on the relevant Membership page of the Royal Court Theatre’s website, subject to availability of the benefits and these Terms.
2.2 The Royal Court Theatre reserves the right to make changes to the Membership benefits from time to time in its absolute discretion. For any material changes to your Membership benefits we will notify you in advance of any changes taking effect, and such notification will include details of how you can cancel the Membership before the changes take effect. If you choose to cancel your membership, please see the conditions listed in paragraphs 3.4, 5.1 and 5.3 below.
2.3 Priority booking opportunities made available as part of a Membership will apply to events selected by the Royal Court Theatre in its sole discretion. Membership does not guarantee access to any tickets and ticket limits may apply.
2.4 Advanced access to £15 tickets for Monday performances at the Theatre are limited to two per customer.
2.5 As a member, you will receive emails from the Royal Court Theatre about upcoming productions, events, news and supporting the theatre. You may also receive selected communications by post. You can view details of our privacy policy online here and change your contact preferences any time by contacting our office or logging in to your account via our website.
2.6 Membership benefits are for the personal use of the individual identified as the Membership holder only, as set out in the Membership confirmation email and are non-transferable. If the information available to us suggests that you have used your Benefits for commercial gain (e.g. reselling tickets purchased during priority booking periods) we may, at the Royal Court Theatre’s complete discretion, cancel your Membership without notice or refund.
2.1 As a member you are entitled to the benefits listed on the relevant Membership page of the Royal Court Theatre’s website, subject to availability of the benefits and these Terms.
2.2 The Royal Court Theatre reserves the right to make changes to the Membership benefits from time to time in its absolute discretion. For any material changes to your Membership benefits we will notify you in advance of any changes taking effect, and such notification will include details of how you can cancel the Membership before the changes take effect. If you choose to cancel your membership, please see the conditions listed in paragraphs 3.4, 5.1 and 5.3 below.
2.3 Priority booking opportunities made available as part of a Membership will apply to events selected by the Royal Court Theatre in its sole discretion. Membership does not guarantee access to any tickets and ticket limits may apply.
2.4 Advanced access to £15 tickets for Monday performances at the Theatre are limited to two per customer.
2.5 As a member, you will receive emails from the Royal Court Theatre about upcoming productions, events, news and supporting the theatre. You may also receive selected communications by post. You can view details of our privacy policy online here and change your contact preferences any time by contacting our office or logging in to your account via our website.
2.6 Membership benefits are for the personal use of the individual identified as the Membership holder only, as set out in the Membership confirmation email and are non-transferable. If the information available to us suggests that you have used your Benefits for commercial gain (e.g. reselling tickets purchased during priority booking periods) we may, at the Royal Court Theatre’s complete discretion, cancel your Membership without notice or refund.
3. Membership Terms
3.1 Membership of the Royal Court Theatre is an annual membership, valid for 12 months, and payment in full covers a period of 12 months from the month of purchase.
3.2 All members must pay an annual Membership Fee. The Royal Court Theatre reserves the right in its absolute discretion to change the Membership Fee each year.
3.3 Once you have signed up to a Membership you will receive a confirmation email providing the details of your Membership and Membership Period.
3.4 Subject to any statutory right to cancel, your Membership Fee is non-refundable once payment has been received by the Royal Court Theatre and you are not entitled to cancel or terminate before the expiry of the Membership Period, unless otherwise permitted under these Terms.
3.5 Our Friend £70 Membership is solely available for those who pay on a recurring annual basis when paying with Continuous Payment Authority.
3.5.1 If you choose to auto-renew, payments will be taken by credit/debit card payments (sometimes known as Continuous Payment Authority or CPA) where we will ask you to allow the same amount to be debited from your card automatically at a fixed interval.
3.6 Renewal by auto-renew for all Memberships: When each Membership Period approaches an end, the Royal Court Theatre will send you renewal reminders prior to the expiry of our Membership Period. If you do not wish to renew your Membership you must inform the Royal Court Theatre at the earliest opportunity and in any event at least 5 working days before payment is due under the renewal as set out in the renewal notice, otherwise your Membership will automatically be renewed and you will be liable to pay the Membership Fee for the renewal as set out in the notice.
3.6.1 You can cancel a Continuous Payment Authority any time by logging into your Royal Court Theatre account and unticking the ‘auto-renew’ box which appears next to your active Membership. Payment will be taken in the morning of the day your Membership is due to expire, and you will receive an email notification of this upcoming payment 10 days before this payment will be taken. You can cancel your automatic renewal by emailing boxoffice@royalcourttheatre.com before the payment collection date. Once the Membership has automatically renewed, we will only refund the membership in accordance with these Terms (see specifically paragraphs 3.4, 5.1 and 5.3)
3.7 Renewal by credit/debit card for all Memberships not eligible for auto-renew: When each Membership Period approaches an end, the Royal Court Theatre will send you renewal reminders, and your Membership will lapse unless a further Membership Fee payment is received from you. The Royal Court Theatre may contact recently lapsed Members regarding re-joining.
3.8 You can renew (where auto-renewal does not apply to the Membership) or upgrade your Membership and update your details at any time by contacting the Royal Court Theatre at boxoffice@royalcourttheatre.com or on 020 7565 5000 or via our website.
3.9 Memberships, and any applicable benefits, are non-transferable unless set out in these Terms.
3.10 The Royal Court Theatre reserves the right to change the price of a Membership at any time, although any such change to fees will not come into effect until the expiry of your current subscription term. We will notify you if there is a change in the price of a Membership and we will give you at least 10 working days’ notice of the change.
3.11 A discount is available on the Membership for those Members aged 16-35. Where you have purchased a Membership with this discount, the Royal Court Theatre reserves the right to request you to evidence proof of your age at any point during the Membership Period. Should you not evidence your eligibility for such discount, the Royal Court Theatre shall be entitled to remove any discount and require payment of the full Membership Fee, or cancel the Membership and any tickets purchased under the Membership with only a credit of the ticket costs deducting any applicable administrative fee.
3.12 Any offer associated with a Membership must be redeemed within the duration of the Membership Period and will be valid for up to 14 days after the Membership Period has ended. If the offer is not redeemed within this period by contacting the Royal Court Theatre, such offer will expire and will not apply to any subsequent Membership.
3.13 Any gifted Membership must be paid for in full in advance. Following payment, you will be issued with a non-refundable voucher which must be activated within 12 months of the date of issue, as stated on the voucher, by the recipient of the gift in order to activate the Membership. Once activated, the gifted Membership will be valid for 12 months.
3.13.1 The value of a Gift Membership is redeemed as account credit to be used for the purchase of a Membership. The Royal Court reserves the right to refuse any request to restore or amend account credit which was used for other purchases (such as tickets) which was redeemed through the use of a Gift Membership voucher (in accordance with our returns & exchanges policy here).
3.13.2 Gifted Memberships cannot be redeemed for cash and cash refunds shall not be available under any circumstances.
3.14 We may store encrypted credit card details for Members, to enable you to make purchases more speedily and to allow for the automatic renewal of your Membership (if you have chosen for your Membership to do so). The credit card details are not visible to us. You can ask us to remove these details at any time. We will delete credit card details at your request.
3.1 Membership of the Royal Court Theatre is an annual membership, valid for 12 months, and payment in full covers a period of 12 months from the month of purchase.
3.2 All members must pay an annual Membership Fee. The Royal Court Theatre reserves the right in its absolute discretion to change the Membership Fee each year.
3.3 Once you have signed up to a Membership you will receive a confirmation email providing the details of your Membership and Membership Period.
3.4 Subject to any statutory right to cancel, your Membership Fee is non-refundable once payment has been received by the Royal Court Theatre and you are not entitled to cancel or terminate before the expiry of the Membership Period, unless otherwise permitted under these Terms.
3.5 Our Friend £70 Membership is solely available for those who pay on a recurring annual basis when paying with Continuous Payment Authority.
3.5.1 If you choose to auto-renew, payments will be taken by credit/debit card payments (sometimes known as Continuous Payment Authority or CPA) where we will ask you to allow the same amount to be debited from your card automatically at a fixed interval.
3.6 Renewal by auto-renew for all Memberships: When each Membership Period approaches an end, the Royal Court Theatre will send you renewal reminders prior to the expiry of our Membership Period. If you do not wish to renew your Membership you must inform the Royal Court Theatre at the earliest opportunity and in any event at least 5 working days before payment is due under the renewal as set out in the renewal notice, otherwise your Membership will automatically be renewed and you will be liable to pay the Membership Fee for the renewal as set out in the notice.
3.6.1 You can cancel a Continuous Payment Authority any time by logging into your Royal Court Theatre account and unticking the ‘auto-renew’ box which appears next to your active Membership. Payment will be taken in the morning of the day your Membership is due to expire, and you will receive an email notification of this upcoming payment 10 days before this payment will be taken. You can cancel your automatic renewal by emailing boxoffice@royalcourttheatre.com before the payment collection date. Once the Membership has automatically renewed, we will only refund the membership in accordance with these Terms (see specifically paragraphs 3.4, 5.1 and 5.3)
3.7 Renewal by credit/debit card for all Memberships not eligible for auto-renew: When each Membership Period approaches an end, the Royal Court Theatre will send you renewal reminders, and your Membership will lapse unless a further Membership Fee payment is received from you. The Royal Court Theatre may contact recently lapsed Members regarding re-joining.
3.8 You can renew (where auto-renewal does not apply to the Membership) or upgrade your Membership and update your details at any time by contacting the Royal Court Theatre at boxoffice@royalcourttheatre.com or on 020 7565 5000 or via our website.
3.9 Memberships, and any applicable benefits, are non-transferable unless set out in these Terms.
3.10 The Royal Court Theatre reserves the right to change the price of a Membership at any time, although any such change to fees will not come into effect until the expiry of your current subscription term. We will notify you if there is a change in the price of a Membership and we will give you at least 10 working days’ notice of the change.
3.11 A discount is available on the Membership for those Members aged 16-35. Where you have purchased a Membership with this discount, the Royal Court Theatre reserves the right to request you to evidence proof of your age at any point during the Membership Period. Should you not evidence your eligibility for such discount, the Royal Court Theatre shall be entitled to remove any discount and require payment of the full Membership Fee, or cancel the Membership and any tickets purchased under the Membership with only a credit of the ticket costs deducting any applicable administrative fee.
3.12 Any offer associated with a Membership must be redeemed within the duration of the Membership Period and will be valid for up to 14 days after the Membership Period has ended. If the offer is not redeemed within this period by contacting the Royal Court Theatre, such offer will expire and will not apply to any subsequent Membership.
3.13 Any gifted Membership must be paid for in full in advance. Following payment, you will be issued with a non-refundable voucher which must be activated within 12 months of the date of issue, as stated on the voucher, by the recipient of the gift in order to activate the Membership. Once activated, the gifted Membership will be valid for 12 months.
3.13.1 The value of a Gift Membership is redeemed as account credit to be used for the purchase of a Membership. The Royal Court reserves the right to refuse any request to restore or amend account credit which was used for other purchases (such as tickets) which was redeemed through the use of a Gift Membership voucher (in accordance with our returns & exchanges policy here).
3.13.2 Gifted Memberships cannot be redeemed for cash and cash refunds shall not be available under any circumstances.
3.14 We may store encrypted credit card details for Members, to enable you to make purchases more speedily and to allow for the automatic renewal of your Membership (if you have chosen for your Membership to do so). The credit card details are not visible to us. You can ask us to remove these details at any time. We will delete credit card details at your request.
4. Gift Aid
4.1 All Memberships are a full donation which is eligible for Gift Aid and can be included in self-assessment tax returns.
4.2 Memberships purchased as a gift for someone else are not eligible for Gift Aid claims and cannot be included in self-assessment tax returns.
4.3 Gift Aid can only be claimed on the Membership donations when we have a valid Gift Aid declaration on file. You can make a declaration in writing or verbally to a member of staff at the Royal Court Theatre (which we will confirm in writing).
4.4 To be eligible for Gift Aid you must be a U.K. taxpayer and have paid an amount of U.K. income tax or capital gains tax that is equal to any tax we (and any other charitable donations for which you claim relief) would reclaim on your donation.
4.1 All Memberships are a full donation which is eligible for Gift Aid and can be included in self-assessment tax returns.
4.2 Memberships purchased as a gift for someone else are not eligible for Gift Aid claims and cannot be included in self-assessment tax returns.
4.3 Gift Aid can only be claimed on the Membership donations when we have a valid Gift Aid declaration on file. You can make a declaration in writing or verbally to a member of staff at the Royal Court Theatre (which we will confirm in writing).
4.4 To be eligible for Gift Aid you must be a U.K. taxpayer and have paid an amount of U.K. income tax or capital gains tax that is equal to any tax we (and any other charitable donations for which you claim relief) would reclaim on your donation.
5. Terminating your Membership
5.1 You have the right to cancel a Membership within 14 days of purchase for a full refund of the Membership Fee. To cancel your Membership during this period, you must contact us at the details below to confirm such request for cancellation. Following receipt of your cancellation notice, the Royal Court Theatre shall be entitled to cancel any tickets and/or event bookings purchased under the Membership, and in use of Membership Benefits, during this cancellation period. In such case we shall provide you with a credit for the cost of such purchase deducting any applicable administration fee.
5.2 Following cancellation, the Royal Court Theatre will send you an acknowledgement email of the cancellation.
5.3 We do not offer any partial or pro-rata refunds of Memberships, except as set out in these Terms, and have no liability for any unused Membership.
5.4 Upon notification of the death of a member, the Royal Court Theatre will conclude the Membership unless instructed to transfer to a named individual for the remainder of the annual Membership Period. Such transfers will be at the discretion of the Royal Court Theatre, and subject to Gift Aid regulations.
5.6 Upon expiry of your Membership you will no longer be a member of the Royal Court Theatre and you will no longer be entitled to receive any Membership benefits or access. However, you may receive Membership email updates for up to 3 months after the expiry of your Membership.
5.1 You have the right to cancel a Membership within 14 days of purchase for a full refund of the Membership Fee. To cancel your Membership during this period, you must contact us at the details below to confirm such request for cancellation. Following receipt of your cancellation notice, the Royal Court Theatre shall be entitled to cancel any tickets and/or event bookings purchased under the Membership, and in use of Membership Benefits, during this cancellation period. In such case we shall provide you with a credit for the cost of such purchase deducting any applicable administration fee.
5.2 Following cancellation, the Royal Court Theatre will send you an acknowledgement email of the cancellation.
5.3 We do not offer any partial or pro-rata refunds of Memberships, except as set out in these Terms, and have no liability for any unused Membership.
5.4 Upon notification of the death of a member, the Royal Court Theatre will conclude the Membership unless instructed to transfer to a named individual for the remainder of the annual Membership Period. Such transfers will be at the discretion of the Royal Court Theatre, and subject to Gift Aid regulations.
5.6 Upon expiry of your Membership you will no longer be a member of the Royal Court Theatre and you will no longer be entitled to receive any Membership benefits or access. However, you may receive Membership email updates for up to 3 months after the expiry of your Membership.
6. Your obligations as a Member
6.1 We reserve the right to, if necessary, revoke Membership without refund if an individual behaves in a threatening or abusive manner towards any person at the Royal Court Theatre, damages or threatens to damage any property of the Royal Court Theatre or other venue of a Royal Court Theatre event, acts in a manner which – in the Royal Court Theatre’s sole opinion – brings the Theatre into disrepute, or is convicted of a serious crime including offences under money laundering or bribery laws and regulations.
6.1 We reserve the right to, if necessary, revoke Membership without refund if an individual behaves in a threatening or abusive manner towards any person at the Royal Court Theatre, damages or threatens to damage any property of the Royal Court Theatre or other venue of a Royal Court Theatre event, acts in a manner which – in the Royal Court Theatre’s sole opinion – brings the Theatre into disrepute, or is convicted of a serious crime including offences under money laundering or bribery laws and regulations.
7. Data Protection
7.1 For more information on how we look after your personal information please see our Privacy Policy.
7.2 You can change your contact preferences any time by contacting our office or logging in to your account via our website.
7.1 For more information on how we look after your personal information please see our Privacy Policy.
7.2 You can change your contact preferences any time by contacting our office or logging in to your account via our website.
8. General
8.1 These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales and, in the event of any dispute arising out of these Terms and/or Your Membership, you agree with the Royal Court Theatre to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
8.2 These Terms together with the welcome confirmation email supplied by the Royal Court Theatre set out the whole of our agreement relating to the supply of Membership services by us to you.
8.3 The failure of or delay by the Royal Court Theatre to exercise or enforce any right in these terms does not constitute a waiver of such rights.
8.4 The Royal Court Theatre shall not be liable if it is delayed or prevented from performing any obligation under this agreement for reasons outside of its reasonable control.
8.5 The Royal Court Theatre reserves the right to revise these terms and conditions.
8.1 These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales and, in the event of any dispute arising out of these Terms and/or Your Membership, you agree with the Royal Court Theatre to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
8.2 These Terms together with the welcome confirmation email supplied by the Royal Court Theatre set out the whole of our agreement relating to the supply of Membership services by us to you.
8.3 The failure of or delay by the Royal Court Theatre to exercise or enforce any right in these terms does not constitute a waiver of such rights.
8.4 The Royal Court Theatre shall not be liable if it is delayed or prevented from performing any obligation under this agreement for reasons outside of its reasonable control.
8.5 The Royal Court Theatre reserves the right to revise these terms and conditions.
9. Contact Details
For any information regarding your Membership, please feel free to contact us at support@royalcourttheatre.com or 020 7565 5000.
For any information regarding your Membership, please feel free to contact us at support@royalcourttheatre.com or 020 7565 5000.