Jerwood New Playwrights

Jerwood New Playwrights supports playwrights in the early stages of their careers to bring their plays to life, at the Royal Court Theatre. Since 1994, this initiative has supported over 70 writers to premiere and produce their plays in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs and Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court.

Throughout its history, the programme has produced a collection of challenging and outspoken works which explore a variety of new forms and voices. It has been instrumental in discovering and supporting some of the most important playwrights of our time, from Sarah Kane to David Greig and Mark Ravenhill to Ayub Khan Din.

Recent Jerwood New Playwrights include Zia Ahmed, Ruby Thomas and Oli Forsyth. Jerwood New Playwrights is part of a long-standing partnership between Jerwood and the Royal Court which spans 30 years.