VICKY FEATHERSTONE ANNOUNCES A SEASON OF WORLD PREMIERES, CO-PRODUCTIONS AND TOURING UNTIL JULY 2014

PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday 13 November

VICKY FEATHERSTONE ANNOUNCES A SEASON OF WORLD PREMIERES, CO-PRODUCTIONS AND TOURING UNTIL JULY 2014

– THE PASS by John Donnelly, directed by John Tiffany, with Gary Carr and Russell Tovey, 13 January – 1 March 2014.

– BIRDLAND by Simon Stephens, directed by Carrie Cracknell, with Andrew Scott, 3 April – 24 May.

– THE BIG IDEA: Debates and events bringing leading thinkers and artists together to engage with the big ideas of the day.

– ADLER & GIBB written and directed by Tim Crouch, a co-commission with Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles, from 13 June – 5 July

– PESTS by Vivienne Franzmann, directed by Lucy Morrison, 27 March – 3 May, a co-production with Clean Break & Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.

– THE NETHER by Jennifer Haley, directed by Jeremy Herrin, 17 July – 9 August, a co-production with Headlong.

– KHANDAN (FAMILY) by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, directed by Roxana Silbert, 11-28 June, a co-production with Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

The Royal Court Theatre announces its programme from January to July 2014 today (Wednesday 13 November), including new plays from John Donnelly, Simon Stephens and Tim Crouch, as well as collaborating with regional theatres across the UK to present London runs of work by Vivienne Franzmann, Jennifer Haley and Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti.

The Big Idea continues in 2014 offering audiences radical thinking and provocative discussion around the work on stage. Events and debates inspired by Abi Morgan’s The Mistress Contract, Simon Stephens’ Birdland and Jennifer Haley’s The Nether will be announced later in the year.

Elsewhere, New York Theatre Workshop presents Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information, directed by James Macdonald, which premiered at the Royal Court in 2012. The Beckett trilogy, Not I, Footfalls and Rockaby, with Lisa Dwan will follow its January run at the Royal Court with a national and international tour later in 2014. Suhayla El-Bushra’s play Pigeons, which opened in Weekly Rep as part of Open Court is currently on a 20-date tour of London schools.

Theatre Local, the Royal Court’s project that aims to take plays to alternative spaces, which has previously been resident in Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre and the Bussey Building in Peckham will be back in Autumn 2014 with further details to be announced.

“I am thrilled to be announcing the Royal Court Season from January to July 2014. With six fantastic new plays from Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Tim Crouch, John Donnelly, Vivienne Franzmann, Jennifer Haley and Simon Stephens – each pushing the boundaries of story-telling and theatre to ask the vital question of what it means to be alive today, the range and subject of these plays will hopefully challenge, thrill and delight audiences. As well as three homegrown commissions the Royal Court is beginning its new commitment to significant co-productions with several wonderful partners outside London as well as Clean Break. This means that for the writers and audiences the work will have as wide a reach as possible.”
Vicky Featherstone, Artistic Director, Royal Court Theatre

Tickets will go on sale to Friends and Supporters on Thursday 14 November at 10am and on sale to the general public on Monday 18 November at 10am. 020 7565 5000 www.royalcourttheatre.com

The Pass
by John Donnelly
directed by John Tiffany
Monday 13 January – Saturday 1 March 2014
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night, Friday 17 January 2014, 7pm

“They affect people in different ways, nerves. Sometimes you feel tired. Or angry. Sometimes you get horny.”
In a high end hotel room, rising football stars Jason and Ade are living the dream. Goals, girls and glory. Tomorrow they make their first team debut.
But the game starts before you’ve even walked out the tunnel.
Twelve years. Three hotel rooms. A lie lived.
An agile new story about sex, fame and how much you’re willing to lose in order to win.

The production will be directed by John Tiffany, designed by Laura Hopkins with lighting by Chahine Yavroyan and sound by Carolyn Downing.

Gary Carr plays Ade. His theatre credits include Earthquakes in London, Dido Queen of Cathage and Nation at the National Theatre, Marianne at Trafalgar Studios and Yerma at the Arcola. On screen, he has recently been seen in ITV’s Downton Abbey and has also appeared Bluestone 42 on BBC3 and Death in Paradise on BBC 1.

Nico Mirallegro plays Harry. His television credits include The Village and Upstairs Downstairs for BBC1, My Big Fat Mad Diary on E4 and the regular role of Newt in Channel 4’s Hollyoaks. He also appeared in a leading role in the film Spike Island.

Russell Tovey plays Jason. His credits at the Royal Court include A Miracle and Plasticine. On stage, his credits include Sex with a Stranger at Trafalgar Studios, The History Boys at the National Theatre and on Broadway, His Dark Materials at the National Theatre. On screen, his credits include BBC’s What Remains, The Job Lot on ITV, Him and Her on BBC3 and the lead role of werewolf George Sands in the BBC3 series Being Human.

John Donnelly is a graduate of the Young Writers Programme and his first play Bone was performed at the Royal Court as part of the Young Writers Festival in 2004. His most recent credits include his adaption of Chekhov’s The Seagull for Headlong, Little Russians, as part of First Blast at the Tricycle, The Knowledge at The Bush Theatre and Encourage the Others for Almeida projects. John is a past winner of the Tom Erhardt Award, the PMA Award for Best New Writer and the NSDF Sunday Times Playwriting Award. On television he recently wrote the short film Henry for Channel 4’s Coming Up.

John Tiffany, new Associate Director of the Royal Court, directs. His recent credits include Let the Right One In for National Theatre of Scotland, which transfers to the Royal Court in December 2013. Other credits include The Glass Menagerie at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Broadway, Once (New York Theater Workshop, Broadway and the West End) for which John won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical, a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical, an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical and an Obie Award. His work for the National Theatre of Scotland, where he was previously an Associate, includes Macbeth (also on Broadway), Enquirer (co-directed with Vicky Featherstone), The Missing, Peter Pan, The House of Bernarda Alba, Transform Caithness: Hunter, Be Near Me, Nobody Will Ever Forgive Us, The Bacchae and Black Watch, for which he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director, as well as a Critics’ Circle Award for Best Director.

Listings Information:

The Pass
by John Donnelly
*Directed by John Tiffany
Monday 13 January – Saturday 1 March 2014
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.30pm
Saturday matinees (from 25 Jan) 3pm
Thursday matinee (from 13 Feb) 3pm
Captioned Performance Wednesday 19 February
Press Night Friday 17 January, 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £20 Mondays all seats £10
Concessions £15 (available in advance until 25 January, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10 (avail. Wed-Sat and mats)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability.

Birdland
by Simon Stephens
directed by Carrie Cracknell
Thursday 3 April – Saturday 24 May 2014
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Press Night, Wednesday 9 April 2014, 7pm

“Everything can be quantified. All worth can be quantified. Artistic worth. Human worth. Material worth. Everything. Some food is simply better than other food. Isn’t it? Some clothes are better than other clothes. Aren’t they?”

The last week of a massive international tour and rock star Paul, is at the height of his fame. Everybody knows his name. Whatever he wants he can have. He can screw anybody he wants to. He can buy anything he desires. He can eat anything. Drink anything. Smoke anything. Go anywhere.

_As the inevitability of the end of the road looms closer, and a return home becomes a reality, for Paul, the music is starting to jar.

A piercing new play looking at empathy, money and fame.

The production will be directed by Carrie Cracknell, set designed by Ian MacNeil with lighting by Neil Austin.

Andrew Scott plays Paul. Andrew last appeared at the Royal Court in Cock by Mike Bartlett. His other Royal Court credits include Dying City, A Girl In A Car With A Man, Playing The Victim, Crave and Dublin Carol. His other stage work includes Sea Wall by Simon Stephens at the Bush, recently revived at The Shed at The National Theatre for Paines Plough, Emperor and Galilean and Aristocrats for the National Theatre, Design for Living at the Old Vic, The Vertical Hour (Broadway), and extensive work with Druid and the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. His television work includes Dates, The Town and Sherlock, for which he won the 2012 Best Supporting Actor BAFTA for his role as Moriarty.

Simon Stephens’ credits at the Royal Court include Wastwater, Motortown, Country Music, Herons and Bluebird. His work elsewhere include his Olivier Award-winning adaptation of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time for the National Theatre, now playing in the West End; an adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House for the Young Vic, which transferred to the West End, Port, recently revived at the National Theatre, Punk Rock at the Royal Exchange, Manchester and Lyric Hammersmith, Pornography at the Edinburgh Festival, Harper Regan at the National Theatre and On the Shore of the Wide World at the Royal Exchange, Manchester and National Theatre.

Carrie Cracknell directs. She is Associate Director at the Royal Court and an Associate Artist at the Young Vic and was co-Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre, from 2007 to 2012. At the Royal Court, she directed Suhayla El-Bushra’s Pigeons as part of the weekly rep in Open Court, which will tour to 19 London schools in November. Her most recent credits include A Doll’s House at the Young Vic, which recently transferred to the West End for which she was nominated as Best Director in the Evening Standard Awards, Wozzek at ENO and Elektra at the Young Vic. At the Gate Theatre her credits included: Electra, Breathing Irregular, Hedda, Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat and The Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents.

Listings Information:

Birdland
by Simon Stephens
Directed by Carrie Cracknell
Thursday 3 April – Saturday 24 May 2014
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.30pm
Saturday Matinees 2.30pm (from 12 April)
Thursday Matinees 2.30pm (from 8 May)
No performance Saturday 5 April, Friday 18 April, Monday 21 April, Monday 5 May
Press Night Wednesday 9 April 2014, 7pm
Captioned Performance Wednesday 21 May
Audio Described Performance Saturday 17 May, 2.30pm
Post Show Talk Wednesday 7 May
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £32, £22, £16, £12
Mondays all seats £10 (available in advance to Friends and Supporters subject to availability and on the day of the performance from 9am online)
Concessions £5 off top two prices* (available in advance for all performances until Saturday 12 April inclusive and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
25s and under £10 (limited availability)
School and HE Groups of 8+ 50% off top two prices (available Wednesday-Saturday), plus matinees)
Groups of 6+ £5 off top price (available Wednesday-Saturday)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability

A Royal Court Theatre and Center Theatre Group co-commission
Adler & Gibb
Written and directed by Tim Crouch
Friday 13 June – Saturday 5 July 2014
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Press Night, Thursday 19 June 2014, 7pm

You’d like that, would you, your most private, pinkest, tenderest – small bird, small bird, small fragile – stolen from you, slammed down onto the slab, the block, poked at and paraded.’

The children swing their legs on the chairs. The student delivers the presentation. The older woman stands with the gun. The young couple arrives at the house. The house is returning to nature. A movie is being made. The truth is being plundered. But the house is still lived in and the spirit to resist is strong.

Adler & Gibb tells the story of a raid – on a house, a life, a reality and a legacy.

The play takes Tim Crouch’s fascination with form and marries it to a thrilling story of misappropriation.

Janet Adler and Margaret Gibb were conceptual artists working in New York at the end of the last century. They were described by art critic Dave Hickey as the ‘most ferociously uncompromising voice of their generation’. With Adler’s death in 2004, however, the compromise began.

The production is directed by Tim Crouch with Karl James and Andy Smith, and designed by Lizzie Clachan.

Tim Crouch’s credits at the Royal Court include The Author, which toured across the UK and abroad throughout 2010 and 2011. Other credits include what happens to the hope at the end of the evening, co-written with Andy Smith, in which Tim also performed at the Almeida Festival, I, Cinna (The Poet) as part of the RSC’s World Shakespeare Festival, at the Swan Theatre. He edited and directed The Taming Of The Shrew and King Lear for the RSC’s Young People’s Shakespeare Project. His other credits include I, Malvolio, My Arm, England and An Oak Tree, which won an Obie Award. As a director, his credits include King Lear and The Taming of the Shrew for the RSC’s First Encounters: Shakespeare for Young Audiences.

Adler and Gibb is a co-commission with Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles

Listings Information:

Adler & Gibb
by Tim Crouch
Friday 13 June – Saturday 5 July 2014
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.30pm
Saturday matinees (from 21 June) 2.30pm
Thursday matinee (from 26 June) 2.30pm
Captioned Performance Wednesday 2 July
Audio Described Performance Saturday 5 July 2.30pm
Press Night Thursday 19 June, 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £20 Mondays all seats £10
Concessions £15 (available in advance until Saturday 21 June, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10 (avail. Wed-Sat and mats)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability.

A Royal Court Theatre, Clean Break and Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester
co-production
Pests
by Vivienne Franzmann
directed by Lucy Morrison
Thursday 27 March – Saturday 3 May 2014
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night, Wednesday 2 April 2014

“Share equal da child-care? When done you get so fuckin’ middle- class? What, you gonna get a nanny next? Gonna start quaff quaffin’ red wines an’ chattin’ shit ’bout dem rocketin’ house prices?”

Pink loves Rolly. Rolly loves Pink. And Pink loves getting bombed off her face. Sisters from the same nest. Both trapped in a tiny rotting world. Both cuffed to a past that refuses to release them. One wants out. The other needs her in. Trouble is that when you complete each other, you’re nothing on your own.
The production is directed by Lucy Morrison.

Vivienne Franzmann made her Royal Court debut in 2012 with The Witness. Her other credits include Mogadishu at the Royal Exchange Manchester and the Lyric Hammersmith for which she won the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting and was awarded the George Devine Award in 2010 as well as receiving the Pearson Playwright Bursary for the Royal Court in 2012. Vivienne was Resident Playwright at Clean Break. As part of the development process for Pests, she undertook a number of residencies in women’s prisons, secure mental health and community settings.

Lucy Morrison, Head of Artistic Programme for Clean Break, directs. At the Royal Court, her credits include Product, (also at Traverse and European tour). For Clean Break, she has directed and developed Billy the Girl by Katie Hims at Soho Theatre, Little on the inside by Alice Birch at Almeida Festival and Latitude 2013, it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now by Lucy Kirkwood at the Arcola Theatre, This Wide Night by Chloë Moss at Soho Theatre / Theatre Live Newcastle / Plymouth Drum Theatre. Lucy originated and commissioned the Charged and Re-Charged seasons at Soho Theatre in which she directed Fatal Light by Chloë Moss and Doris Day by E.V. Crowe. Alongside heading up Clean Break’s Artistic Programme, Lucy was Artistic Director of the Almeida Festival 2013. She was formerly Literary Manager of Paines Plough, where she worked with many of the country’s most exciting playwrights including Dennis Kelly, Abi Morgan, Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill and Jack Thorne.

Commissioned by Clean Break and Royal Exchange Theatre, Pests is a co-production with Clean Break and Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester.

Pests is part of the Royal Court’s Jerwood New Playwrights programme, which aims to discover and support the next generation of world class playwrights, supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation

Listings Information:

Pests
by Vivienne Franzmann
directed by Lucy Morrison
Thursday 27 March – Saturday 3 May 2014
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.45pm
Saturday matinees (from 5 April) 3pm
Thursday matinees (from 24 April) 3pm
Captioned Performance Tuesday 29 April
Press Night Wednesday 2 April
Age Guidance 16+
Tickets £20 Mondays all seats £10
Concessions £15 (available in advance until Saturday 5 April, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10 (avail. Wed-Sat and mats)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability.

A Royal Court Theatre and Headlong co-production
The Nether
by Jennifer Haley
directed by Jeremy Herrin
Thursday 17 July – Saturday 9 August
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Press Night, Thursday 24 July, 7pm

“I’ve read the studies. No one has been able to draw a conclusive correlation between virtual behaviour and behaviour in-world.”

The Nether offers complete freedom – a virtual wonderland that provides total sensory immersion. Just log in, choose an identity and indulge your every desire.

But when a young detective uncovers a disturbing brand of entertainment, she triggers an interrogation into the darkest corners of imagination.

Winner of the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, The Nether is both an intricate crime drama and a haunting sci-fi thriller that explores the consequences of making dreams a reality.

Age Guidance 18+ Contains adult content and language and scenes of a disturbing nature.

The Nether premiered in Spring 2013 by the Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles.
Jennifer Haley’s credits include Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Breadcrumbs at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, and Sustainable Living, written in the 2011-2012 CTG Writers’ Workshop and featured at the Ojai Playwrights Conference. Her play Froggy is in development with The Banff Centre and American Conservatory Theater.

Jeremy Herrin directs. The Nether will be the first play he directs for Headlong since taking over as Artistic Director in September 2013. Jeremy was Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre from 2009 until 2012, where his credits included No Quarter, Hero, Haunted Child, The Heretic, Kin, Spur of the Moment, Off the Endz, The Priory, Tusk Tusk, The Vertical Hour and That Face, which transferred to the West End. In December, he will direct the world premiere of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodie_s in two parts for the RSC. Other recent credits include _This House at the National Theatre, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Director, Uncle Vanya and South Downs at Chichester Festival Theatre which transferred to the West End, Absent Friends in the West End and The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare’s Globe.
The Nether is a co-production with Headlong.

Listings Information:

The Nether
by Jennifer Haley
Directed by Jeremy Herrin
Thursday 17 July – Saturday 9 August
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.30pm
Saturday Matinees 2.30pm (from 26 July)
Thursday Matinees 2.30pm (from 31 July)
Press Night Thursday 24 July
Captioned Performance Wednesday 6 August
Audio Described Performance Saturday 9 August 2.30pm
Age Guidance 18+ Contains adult content and language and scenes of a disturbing nature.
Tickets £32, £22, £16, £12
Mondays all seats £10 (available in advance to Friends and Supporters subject to availability and on the day of the performance from 9am online)
Concessions £5 off top two prices* (available in advance for all performances until 26 July inclusive and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
25s and under £10 (limited availability)
School and HE Groups of 8+ 50% off top two prices (available Wednesday-Saturday), plus matinees)
Groups of 6+ £5 off top price (available Wednesday-Saturday)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability

A Royal Court Theatre and Birmingham Repertory Theatre co-production
Khandan (Family)
by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti
directed by Roxana Silbert
Wednesday 11 June – Saturday 28 June 2014
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night, Thursday 12 June, 7pm

“You know I was born twice. Once when I came out of my mother. And then when a 747 landed at Heathrow Airport in 1969″‘

The Gill family living room. Culture clashes, sibling rivalries and endless cups of chah.

_Widowed matriarch Jeeto has a strong sense of her past and principles. She’s spent her life working hard and making sacrifices for her children. But eldest son Pal, isn’t following in her footsteps.

He’s struggling with his role at the head of their expanding household. Crumbling under the weight of his father’s legacy, the family business is put at risk and the last remaining link to their roots in the Punjab is in jeopardy.

A warm and funny new play about tradition and ambition.

The production is directed by Roxana Silbert.
Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s credits include Behsharam (Shameless) and Behzti (Dishonour), which won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Behud (Beyond Belief) opened at Soho Theatre in 2010 in a co-production with Belgrade Theatre, Coventry. On screen, her credits include Everywhere And Nowhere and EastEnders and she also writes regularly for The Archers.

Roxana Silbert is Artistic Director of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, where her credits include Tartuffe. Her other credits for the RSC (where she was Associate Director) include Dunsinane (and National Theatre of Scotland), A Life of Galileo, Measure for Measure, Richard III and A Soldier in Every Son. She directed Orphans by Dennis Kelly at Birmingham Rep, before playing at the Traverse during the Edinburgh Fringe where it won a Fringe First award before transferring to Soho Theatre. Roxana was Artistic Director of Paines Plough from 2005 to 2009 and previously worked at the Traverse Theatre as Literary Director and the Royal Court as Associate Director.

Khandan (Family) is a co-production with Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Listings Information:

Khandan
by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti
directed by Roxana Silbert
Wednesday 11 June – Saturday 28 June 2014
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.45pm
Saturday matinees (from 14 June) 3pm
Thursday matinee (from 19 June) 3pm
Captioned Performance Wednesday 25 June
Press Night Thursday 12 June 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £20 Mondays all seats £10
Concessions £15 (available in advance until Saturday 14 June, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10 (avail. Wed-Sat and mats)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability.

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.

The Big Idea continues in 2014 with events and debates inspired by Abi Morgan’s The Mistress Contract, Simon Stephens’ Birdland, and Jennifer Hayley’s The Nether. Further details will be announced later in the year.

AlixPartners support The Big Idea at the Royal Court Theatre
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.

Jerwood New Playwrights is a longstanding partnership between the Jerwood Charitable Foundation and the Royal Court. Each year, Jerwood New Playwrights supports the production of three new works by emerging writers, all of whom are in the first 10 years of their career. The Royal Court carefully identifies playwrights whose careers would benefit from the challenge and profile of being fully produced either in the Jerwood Downstairs or Jerwood Upstairs Theatres at the Royal Court.

The Jerwood Charitable Foundation supports the Jerwood New Playwrights programme and is dedicated to imaginative and responsible revenue funding of the arts, supporting emerging artists to develop and grow at important stages in their careers. The aim of its funding is to allow artists and arts organisations to thrive; to continue to develop their skills, imagination and creativity with integrity. It works with artists across art forms, from dance and theatre to literature, music and the visual arts. For more information visit www.jerwoodcharitablefoundation.org

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.

Pests is a co-production with Clean Break and Manchester Royal Exchange

Theatre company Clean Break produces ground-breaking plays with women writers and actors at the heart of its work. Founded in 1979 by two women prisoners, the company’s award-winning plays hit a collective nerve, humanising some of the most difficult conversations within our society. Recent productions include Billy the Girl by Katie Hims (Soho Theatre), Little on the inside by Alice Birch (Almeida Festival), Charged, written by six of the UK’s foremost contemporary playwrights (Soho Theatre), it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now by Lucy Kirkwood (Arcola) and This Wide Night by Chloë Moss (Soho Theatre). The company also runs an education programme for women affected by the criminal justice system.

The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester is one of the leading theatres in the UK. Producing a repertoire of up to twelve productions a year in its 750 seat permanent theatre in the round and the 100 seat Studio, we are passionate about what our theatre can offer. We aim to present great writing in quality productions that tell intimate and epic stories that entertain, provoke and inspire. We collaborate with some of the most innovative and original theatre makers in this country. We work in partnership with different communities to help them express themselves creatively. We train, develop and mentor future generations of theatre artists and make our building a place for people to meet talk work and relax in the heart of the vibrant city of Manchester. www.royalexchange.co.uk

Khandan is a co-production with Birmingham Rep

Birmingham Repertory Theatre is one of Britain’s leading producing theatre companies and in 2013 celebrated its centenary. Roxana Silbert recently joined The REP as Artistic Director taking the theatre forward into the next 100 years of its remarkable history.
The theatre’s programme includes many premieres from new versions of the classics to contemporary writing. The commissioning and production of new work lies at the core of The REP’s programme and over the last 15 years the company has produced more than 130 new plays.

The Nether is a co-production with Headlong Theatre

Headlong is one of the UK’s leading theatre companies, dedicated to making exhilarating, risk-taking and provocative new work and collaborating with the most exciting and adventurous theatre artists in the country. Productions include 1984 which is currently on tour, Chimerica (Almeida/West End),The Seagull (UK Tour), The Effect and Earthquakes in London at the National Theatre, Decade at St Katharine Docks and the multi award-winning ENRON at the Royal Court, in the West End and on Broadway. In September 2013 Jeremy Herrin was appointed Artistic Director of Headlong.