FURTHER DATES ANNOUNCED AT ROYAL COURT THEATRE

Monday 23 September

FURTHER DATES ANNOUNCED AT ROYAL COURT THEATRE

– THE BIG IDEA on sale. Debates and events bringing leading thinkers and artists together to engage with the big ideas of the day. The opening two events discuss Greed and Belief.

– GASTRONAUTS on sale- a theatre adventure with food written by April De Angelis and Nessah Muthy, directed by Wils Wilson in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs.

– Kate Tempest opens a London-wide tour of her award-winning show BRAND NEW ANCIENTS.

Further events have been announced as part of Vicky Featherstone’s inaugural season at the Royal Court Theatre.

Tickets have been released for The Big Idea, offering audiences radical thinking and provocative discussion around the work on stage. The Big Idea: Greed is inspired by Dennis Kelly’s The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas and The Big Idea: Belief explores the breadth of ideas in Rachel De-lahay’s Routes, Abhishek Majumdar’s The Djinns of Eidgah and Suhayla El-Bushra’s Pigeons, which embarks on a London schools tour in November.

Gastronauts (21 Nov- 21 Dec) – a theatre adventure with food and music in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, created by writers April De Angelis and Nessah Muthy and director by Wils Wilson goes on sale.

Poet and Spoken Word Artist Kate Tempest’s award-winning show from Battersea Arts Centre Brand New Ancients will start its ten date London tour in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs on 14 November.

Tickets will go on sale to Friends and Supporters on Tuesday 24 September at 10am and on sale to the general public on Wednesday at 10am. 020 7565 5000 www.royalcourttheatre.com

The Big Idea

The Big Idea is a new strand of work launched during Open Court offering audiences radical thinking and provocative discussion inspired by the work on stage. The Big Idea seeks to foster debate and collaboration, bringing together leading thinkers and artists from all walks of life to engage with the big ideas of our times, through a series of debates and events.

AlixPartners support The Big Idea at the Royal Court Theatre

THE BIG IDEA: GREED
inspired by Dennis Kelly’s The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas

Greed: The Debate

Join philosopher AC Grayling, neuroscientist Professor Kate Jeffery and chair Anne McElvoy as they debate and discuss what drives us to be greedy. How much do our instincts drive our compulsions and what role does culture and free will play in making ‘good’ or ‘bad’ choices?

Kate Jeffery is Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience at University College London. She originally trained as a doctor at the University of Otago in New Zealand, but became interested in basic questions concerning how the brain causes the mind and so left clinical work and moved to the UK to become a laboratory-based research scientist. Her current focus of study is navigation and memory. In 2006 she founded the Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience dedicated to studying mind-brain relationships.
AC Grayling is Master of the New College of the Humanities, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford. Until 2011 he was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London and has written and edited over 30 books on philosophy and other subjects, most recently On Friendship.

Anne McElvoy is Public Policy Editor at The Economist, a presenter of BBC Radio 3’s Night Waves and a columnist on the London Evening Standard.

Monday 7 October 6.30pm
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Tickets £5 (or free with a ticket to The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas, bookable in advance)
Greed! – A Game Show of Theft and Deception

The Royal Court has teamed up with award-winning game design studio Hide&Seek to bring you two days of ‘Greed!’ Join our host and his glamorous assistant in a pre-show game which pits audience members against each other in a battle of acquisition and lies.

Friday 11 October 6.30pm
Saturday 12 October at 2pm. Tickets: £5 (or free with a ticket to The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas, bookable in advance)
THE BIG IDEA: BELIEF
Inspired by Rachel De-lahay’s Routes, Abhishek Majumdar’s The Djinns of Eidgah and Suhayla El-Bushra’s Pigeons
Tickets: £5 (or free with a ticket to Routes or The Djinns of Eidgah)
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs

Monday 28 October, 6.15pm
Islam: What’s the Big Idea?
Ziauddin Sardar and guests explore Islam as a faith, look at Sunni and Shi’a identities and ask how we define Islam today.

Ziauddin Sardar is a writer and broadcaster, who has written over 40 books, including Desperately Seeking Paradise. He is Visiting Professor at City University’s School of Arts and Editor of ‘Futures’, the monthly journal of planning, policy and futures studies.

Tuesday 29 October, 6.15pm
Young, Angry and Throwing Stones: Political and Religious Radicalisation in Kashmir

Playwright Abhishek Majumdar gives an insight into the history of Kashmir and what life is like today, for the people of Kashmir.

Abhishek Majumdar is an Indian playwright and director. His play The Djinns Of Eidgah opens in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court on 18 October.

Thursday 31 October, 6.15pm
I Speak for Myself – Feminism and Islam

Dr Laura Zahra McDonald and guests debate and discuss Islamic feminism and the role of women in Islam.

Dr Laura Zahra McDonald is Co-Director at ConnectJustice and lectures internationally while researching, engaging and advising high-impact projects for diverse organisations including RAN Int/Ext (EU), Royal United Services Institute, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Real ActionUK, An-Nisa Society and the University of Cambridge. Laura continues to teach and engage on issues of gender and justice, with regular courses at Cambridge Muslim College and The Deen Institute.

Saturday 2 November, 1.30pm
Global: Local – Cultural Identity in London

Abdul-Rehman Malik and guests celebrate and interrogate the plurality of cultural experience amongst young Londoners.

Abdul-Rehman Malik is a journalist, educator and organiser, currently programmes manager for the Radical Middle Way, an organisation that gives young Muslims the inspiration and tools to enable positive social change, promote social justice and combat exclusion and violence.

Kate Tempest & Battersea Arts Centre co-production, co-commissioned by The Albany
Brand New Ancients
written and performed by Kate Tempest
Thurs 14 – Sat 16 Nov 2013
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs

Performance poet and rapper Kate Tempest will open a London tour of her award-winning show from Battersea Arts Centre, Brand New Ancients, opening at the Royal Court as part of a ten venue across the capital, as well as five regional venues across the UK.

The gods are in the betting shops, the gods are in the café, The gods can’t afford the deposit on their flat … Winged sandals tearing up the pavement, Me, you, everyone, Brand New Ancients. An epic spoken word performance of every day gods told over a live score played by tuba, cello, violin, drums and electronics. The story follows two South London families as their respective generations grow and intertwine into a parable of modern life. Highlighting the immortal and very real truths of life, love and loss, Brand New Ancients is a call to arms for the modern day hero.
Brand New Ancients opened at Battersea Arts Centre last year, playing to full houses and critical acclaim, winning the Ted Hughes Poetry Award this year. In August, the production played at the Traverse as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, winning a Herald Angel Award.
Brand New Ancients is a Battersea Arts Centre co-production which has been developed with Battersea Arts Centre audiences through the Scratch process.

Kate Tempest grew up in South-East London, where she still lives. Starting out as a rapper, she toured the spoken word circuit for a number of years, and now works as a poet and playwright. Her work includes Balance, her first album with her band Sound of Rum; Everything Speaks in its Own Way, a collection of poems with a CD and DVD of a live performance; GlassHouse, a play for Cardboard Citizens; and the plays Wasted and Hopelessly Devoted for Paines Plough.

She is currently working on a new collection of poems to be published by Picador, a novel, music collaborations with producer duo letthemusicplay, and a new solo record with music producer Dan Carey.

Listings Information:
Brand New Ancients
written and performed by Kate Tempest
Thurs 14 – Sat 16 Nov 2013, 8pm
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square SW1W 8AS
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £15
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)

Gastronauts
Created by April De Angelis, Nessah Muthy & Wils Wilson
Written by April De Angelis & Nessah Muthy
Directed by Wils Wilson
Thurs 21 Nov – Sat 21 Dec 2013
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs

A theatre adventure with food and music

The cast includes Andy Clark, Alasdair Macrae and Justine Mitchell. The production will be designed by Lizzie Clachan, with lighting by Natasha Chivers, with music by Alasdair Macrae.

April De Angelis’ credits at the Royal Court include Jumpy (also transferred to the Duke of York’s as part of the Royal Court’s West End season), PIIGS (part of Open Court) Catch and Wild East. Credits elsewhere include A Gloriously Mucky Business (Lyric Hammersmith); Calais (Paines Plough/Oran Mor); Country (Southwark Playhouse); an adaptation of Wuthering Heights (Birmingham Rep Theatre); A Laughing Matter (Out of Joint, National Theatre); The Warwickshire Testimony (RSC, The Other Place); The Positive Hour (Out of Joint /National Tour) and Playhouse Creatures (Sphinx Theatre Company, later revived by Old Vic Theatre).

Nessah Muthy’s play Hungry was performed as part of Lost in Theatre in Open Court and will be making her Jerwood Theatre Upstairs debut with Gastronauts.
Wils Wilson’s directing work includes The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, which recently played in London as part of the Royal Court’s Theatre Local. Other credits include Gobbo – The Adventure of Gobbo and The Watchmaker devised and created with David Greig and Home Shetland created with Jackie Kay and Ignition a site-specific production for the National Theatre of Scotland. Wils was co-founder and Co-Artistic director of Wilson+Wilson creating site-specific art, installation and theatre. Her other work includes productions with Manchester Royal Exchange, Live Theatre, Bolton Octagon, Gate Theatre, Midsommer Actors and BBC Radio Drama and The Manchester Lines, a site-specific play for the Library Theatre Manchester, written by Jackie Kay.
Listings Information:
Gastronauts
Created by April de Angelis, Nessah Muthy & Wils Wilson
Written by April de Angelis & Nessah Muthy
Directed by Wils Wilson
Thurs 21 Nov – Sat 21 Dec 2013
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7pm
Saturday matinees (from 30 November) 1.30pm
Thursday matinee (from 5 December) 1.30pm
BSL Interpreted Performance Thursday 19 December 7pm
Press Night Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 November, 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £30
Access £22 (plus a companion at the same rate)
For the intrepid eater. During the performance a variety of tastings will be served, you can choose what you eat and will be able to make an informed decision.
ends
For more information, please contact Anna Evans on 020 7565 5063 annaevans@royalcourttheatre.com

Notes to Editors:
Coutts is the Royal Court Theatre Innovation Partner

Coutts is the wealth division of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Coutts has a long history of supporting the arts going back 200 years, having looked after the financial affairs of many famous clients connected with the arts such as Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens and Chopin. In 1816, Thomas Coutts married Harriot Mellon, a popular actress of her day, and together they became partners of a number of London Theatres, including the Drury Lane and the Royal Opera House. Coutts has even featured in a number of artistic works including The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In the new millennium, this tradition has continued not only through Coutts managing the finances of many of today’s top writers, actors and musicians, but also through our arts sponsorship programme. We are delighted to support The Royal Court and its diverse range of ground-breaking performances.

AlixPartners support The Big Idea at the Royal Court Theatre

The Royal Court offer radical thinkers and provocative voices a home, wherever they come from. The Big Idea series brings this to life by engaging the public in debate and discussion about civic, political, domestic and international issues. As a leading global business advisory firm of results-oriented professionals who specialise in creating value and enhancing performance, we share in this conviction to challenge pre-conceived standards and generate new ideas. AlixPartners is
delighted to support the Royal Court in this exciting new programme.

The Royal Court Theatre’s Flight Partner is

American Airlines supports the Royal Court by providing transatlantic flights. For more information on American Airlines or our support of theatre, contact our press office at polly.tracey@aa.com.

Brand New Ancients is a Kate Tempest & Battersea Arts Centre co-production, co-commissioned by The Albany

Housed in a Grade II* listed old town hall, BAC is a place where artists, audience, participants and staff can play a role in inventing the future of theatre.

Mission & Vision Inventing the Future of Theatre
Our vision is of a better future for everyone by putting creativity and invention at the heart of everything we do; of a community that explores its history and looks to its periphery for inspiration; and a theatre where our collective imagination is a catalyst to change the world.

For press enquires on Brand New Ancients, please contact Miranda Marcus on mirandam@bac.org.uk or 0207 326 8259

TOUR DATES
14-16 November 2013
Royal Court Theatre
Box Office 020 7565 5000
www.royalcourttheatre.com

16 December 2013
Spitalfields Winter Music Festival
Box Office 020 7377 1362
http://www.spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk/

2 January 2014
Young Vic Theatre
Box Office 020 7922 2922
http://www.youngvic.org/

7 January 2014
Lyric Hammersmith
Box Office 020 8741 6850
http://www.lyric.co.uk/

29 January 2014
Southbank Centre
Box Office 0844 875 0073
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/

14-15 February 2014
MAC Birmingham
Box Office 0121 446 3232
http://www.macarts.co.uk/

21-22 February 2014
Contact, Manchester
Box Office 0161 274 0600
http://contactmcr.com/

25-26 February 2014
The North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford
Box Office 01865 319450
http://www.thenorthwall.com/

28 February 2014
West Yorkshire Playhouse
Box Office 0113 213 7700
http://www.wyp.org.uk/

1 March 2014
Hackney Empire
Box Office 020 8985 2424 http://www.hackneyempire.co.uk/

7-8 March 2014
Brighton Dome
Box Office 01273 709 709
http://brightondome.org/

10 March 2014
The Linbury Studio at Royal Opera House
Box Office 020 7304 4000
http://www.roh.org.uk/

20 March 2014
Harrow Arts Centre
Box Office 020 8416 8989
http://www.harrowarts.com/

22 March 2014
The Albany
Box Office 020 8692 4446
http://www.thealbany.org.uk/

18-20 April 2014
Battersea Arts Centre
Box Office 020 7223 2223
https://www.bac.org.uk/

Hide&Seek present Greed! – A Game Show of Theft and Deception, as part of The Big Idea

Hide&Seek is a game design studio based in London and New York. Through a compelling combination of design, technology and cultural partnership, their work re-imagines public space as a place to play. Their work spans multiple platforms: console, smartphone, browser, TV screen, street.

The studio is founded on the belief that play is essential to our health, minds and relationships, and will play an increasing role in the civic culture of the 21st century. They create new games and experiences, curate and support the work of artists and designers through the Sandpit series, design and consult with global brands, and speak at conferences and events around the world.