Writing for Performance: Mexico

This major collaboration between the Royal Court and UNAM in Mexico City took place between 2022 and 2023. The project ran as a long-form group for emerging writers and theatre makers from Mexico to explore and develop a new piece of work. This group was facilitated by Lucy Morrison (Associate Director, Royal Court Theatre), Gurnesha Bola, Nazareth Hassan, Rory Mullarkey and Chris Thorpe, alongside Mariana Gándara from the The Bergman Chair and the artistic team at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, working in close collaboration with Anglo Arts.

The project aimed to provide a space for thought and reflection about writing for theatre. To allow writers, artists and institutions to share practice and thinking from different theatre cultures and traditions within those cultures. For each artist to work on the development of a new piece of writing for theatre supported by conversations with their peers and other artists. The project also sought foster a broader dialogue between two different cultural communities.

As well as working closely with this group of writers, the project created space for the wider sharing of practice between the teams at UNAM and the Royal Court. As well as opportunities for more public facing conversations, talks and dialogue during workshop periods in Mexico.

The first phase of this project took place online in 2022, with a visit to Mexico in September 2022 by Lucy Morrison, Nazareth Hassan and Rory Mullarkey. The project culminated in October 2023 in Mexico with a series of public readings at UNAM in Mexico City.