Royal Court Theatre Announces New Spring/Summer 2012 Season

Wednesday 9 November 2011

ROYAL COURT THEATRE: SPRING–SUMMER 2012 SEASON

The Royal Court Theatre announces its spring-summer season 2012 today (Wednesday), which includes new work from returning award-winning writers Bola Agbaje, Mike Bartlett, David Eldridge, Nick Payne and Joe Penhall, new plays from first-time writers Luke Norris and Hayley Squires as part of the Young Writers Festival, a Royal Court debut from Vivienne Franzmann in her second play and co-productions with Tiata Fahodzi and Paines Plough.

• David Eldridge’s IN BASILDON, directed by Dominic Cooke features Linda Bassett, Debbie Chazen, Christian Dixon, Lee Ross, Ruth Sheen and Jade Williams.
• Mike Bartlett’s LOVE LOVE LOVE in a new production, directed by James Grieve in a co-production with Paines Plough.
• Joe Penhall returns to the Royal Court with new play BIRTHDAY, directed by Roger Michell, with Stephen Mangan.
• Nick Payne’s play CONSTELLATIONS, with Rafe Spall, directed by Michael Longhurst.
• The Young Writers Festival 2012 is announced, including full productions of two plays by young playwrights.
• GOODBYE TO ALL THAT by Luke Norris opens the Festival, directed by Royal Court Associate Director Simon Godwin.
• VERA VERA VERA by Hayley Squires closes the YWF, directed by Jo McInnes.
• Bola Agbaje returns to the Royal Court with BELONG in a co-production with Tiata Fahodzi, directed by Indhu Rubasingham.
• Vivienne Franzmann’s second play THE WITNESS, directed by Simon Godwin.
• Katie Mitchell returns to the Royal Court to direct a new project on the environment and its future with scientist Professor Stephen Emmott.

In the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, David Eldridge returns to the Royal Court with family drama In Basildon exploring inheritance in the heart of Essex. A new production of Mike Bartlett’s award-winning play Love Love Love opens in a co-production with Paines Plough, looking at the baby boomer generation as it retires and Joe Penhall takes a no-holds-barred approach to childbirth in Birthday, which follows Haunted Child, which opens in December.

In the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Nick Payne’s fourth play Constellations opens 2012, looking at quantum multiverse theory, love and honeybees. The Young Writers Festival 2012 features two full productions from new writers under 26, as well as a host of readings and extra events, including a morning of shorts by writers aged eight to 15. Luke Norris’ play Goodbye to All That looks at the enduring nature of love and asks if it’s ever too late to start again and Hayley Squires looks at violence, neglect and apathy in the wake of another young soldier’s death in Afghanistan.

Bola Agbaje returns to the Royal Court with the theatre’s first co-production with British African theatre company Tiata Fahodzi. Set between England and Nigera, Belong questions how we define our notion of home. Vivienne Franzmann’s second play The Witness is about a moral dilemma of modern ethics.

Coming up in July 2012, Katie Mitchell will direct a new project with scientist Professor Stephen Emmott, Head of Computational Science at Microsoft Research about the future of the environment.

Tickets for the new season are on sale from today (Wednesday) at 9am online and 10am by phone to Friends and Supporters and on general sale from Monday 14 November at 9am online at 10am by phone. Tickets available online at www.royalcourttheatre.com or from the Box Office on 020 7565 5000.
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs

In Basildon
By David Eldridge
Directed by Dominic Cooke
Thursday 16 February – Saturday 24 March 2012
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Press Night, Wednesday 22 February 2012, 7pm

Love Love Love
By Mike Bartlett
Directed by James Grieve
A co-production with Paines Plough in association with Drum Theatre Plymouth
Friday 27 April – Saturday 2 June 2012
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Press Night, Thursday 3 May 2012, 7pm

Birthday
By Joe Penhall
Directed by Roger Michell
Friday 22 June – Saturday 4 August 2012
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Press Night, Thursday 28 June 2012, 7pm

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs

Constellations
by Nick Payne
Directed by Michael Longhurst
Friday 13 January – Saturday 11 February 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night, Thursday 19 January 2012 7pm

Goodbye to All That
By Luke Norris
Directed by Simon Godwin
Thursday 23 February – Saturday 17 March 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night, Monday 27 February 2012 7pm

Vera Vera Vera
By Hayley Squires
Directed by Jo McInnes
Thursday 22 March – Saturday 14 April 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night: Monday 26 March 2012, 7pm

Belong
By Bola Agbaje
Directed by Indhu Rubasingham
A co-production with Tiata Fahodzi
Thursday 26 April – Saturday 26 May 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night: Wednesday 2 May 2012, 7pm

The Witness
By Vivienne Franzmann
Directed by Simon Godwin
Friday 1 June – Saturday 30 June 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night: Friday 8 June 2012, 7pm

In Basildon
By David Eldridge
Directed by Dominic Cooke
Thursday 16 February – Saturday 24 March
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Press Night, Wednesday 22 February 2012, 7pm

“‘People always get the wrong idea about Essex don’t they?”

Len’s on his death bed and the family gather to say their final farewells. His sisters still aren’t speaking after nearly 20 years, his nephew’s trying for a baby – and a bigger house, while his best mate Ken remembers ‘Bas-vegas’ when it was a village. As the spread is laid out and the ham sandwiches sit next to the wreaths, it’s hard to see who’s hungry and who’s just greedy.

An epic family drama exploring inheritance and the myth of place.

The cast includes Linda Bassett, Debbie Chazen, Christian Dixon, Lee Ross, Ruth Sheen and Jade Williams.

David Eldridge was last at the Royal Court with Under the Blue Sky. His recent credits include Knot of the Heart at the Almeida Theatre, The Stock Da’wa at Hampstead Theatre, The Lady From The Sea for the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky with Robert Holman and Simon Stephens for the Lyric Hammersmith, Market Boy at the National Theatre and Festen at the Almeida and West End.

Artistic Director of the Royal Court Dominic Cooke directs. His recent credits include Chicken Soup with Barley, for which he is shortlisted for an Evening Standard Award and the multi award-winning production of Clybourne Park for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award. Clybourne Park, which won writer Bruce Norris a Pulitzer Prize, opened at the Royal Court in September 2010 to critical acclaim before transferring to the West End. He is currently directing The Comedy of Errors at the National Theatre.

Other credits at the Royal Court include Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Fever, Seven Jewish Children, Wig Out!, Now or Later, Rhinoceros and two plays in Mark Ravenhill’s Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat. His credits elsewhere include Arabian Nights and Noughts and Crosses, both for the RSC, as adapter and director. He won the Olivier award for Best Director and Best Revival for The Crucible.

Director Dominic Cooke
Designer Ian MacNeil
Costume Designer Nicky Gillibrand
Lighting Designer Guy Hoare
Sound Designer Paul Arditti

In Basildon
By David Eldridge
Directed by Dominic Cooke
Thursday 16 February – Saturday 24 March 2012
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs Royal Court Theatre Sloane Square SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.30pm
Saturday Matinees 2.30pm (from 25 February)
Thursday Matinees 2.30pm (from 15 March)
Press Night Wednesday 22 February 7pm
Post-show Talk Tuesday 6 March
Captioned performance Wednesday 21 March
Audio Described Performance Saturday 24 March 2.30pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £28, £20, £12
Mondays all seats £10 (available in advance to friends and Supporters and on the day of the performance from 9am online, 10am in person)
Concessions £5 off top two prices* (available in advance for all performances until Saturday 25 February inclusive and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
25s and under £8* (available on £20 and £12 tickets)
School and HE Groups of 8+ 50% off top two prices (available Tuesday-Friday)
Groups of 6+ £5 off top price (available Tuesday-Friday)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability

Love Love Love
By Mike Bartlett
Directed by James Grieve
A co-production with Paines Plough in association with Drum Theatre Plymouth
Friday 27 April – Saturday 2 June 2012
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Press Night, Thursday 3 May 2012, 7pm

A new production of Mike Bartlett’s play Love Love Love, which won a UK Theatre Award for Best Play will be produced at Royal Court in a new co-production with Paines Plough, directed by their Artistic Director James Grieve.

The play was originally produced in October 2010 by Paines Plough in a co-production with the Drum Theatre Plymouth, where it opened, before embarking on a 14 week national tour.
‘Young people, our age. We’re the moment. Henry’s just that bit too old he can’t understand.’
1967. Kenneth and Sandra meet, and it’s a whole new world.
A fiery relationship is sparked in the haze of the 60s, and charred by today’s brutal realities.
From passion to paranoia, Love, Love, Love takes on the baby boomer generation as it retires, and finds it full of trouble.

Artistic Directors of Paines Plough James Grieve and George Perrin said:

“Following a hugely successful national tour, we are thrilled to be working with the Royal Court to produce Mike Bartlett’s outstanding play in London. Mike’s viciously funny and affectionately tender portrait of the lives and loves of a single family spans 40 years, and paints a vivid picture of our rapidly changing society. It’s a dazzling and important play, and the Royal Court is the perfect home for it.”

Mike Bartlett’s plays at the Royal Court include Cock for which he won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre and which will transfer to New York Off Broadway in Spring 2012, Contractions and My Child. His other plays include 13 at the National Theatre, Earthquakes in London for the National Theatre and Headlong, and Artefacts at the Bush.

James Grieve, Co‐Artistic Director of Paines Plough will direct. His credits include, for Paines Plough: Love, Love, Love by Mike Bartlett, Fly Me to the Moon by Marie Jones, Tiny Volcanoes by Laurence Wilson, Wasted by Kate Tempest, You Cannot Go Forward From Where You Are Right Now by David Watson and The Sound of Heavy Rain by Penelope Skinner. He was formerly co‐founder and Artistic Director of nabokov and Associate Director of the Bush Theatre. For The Bush: The Whisky Taster by James Graham, St Petersburg by Declan Feenan, Psychogeography by Lucy Kirkwood and A Nobody by Laura Dockrill (Sixty-Six Books). For nabokov: Artefacts by Mike Bartlett (nabokov/The Bush, National Tour & Off-Broadway); Kitchen, Bedtime For Bastards and Nikolina by Van Badham. Further credits include the world premieres of Old Street by Patrick Marber (nabokov Arts Club) and The List by David Eldridge (Arcola).

Love Love Love
By Mike Bartlett
Directed by James Grieve
Friday 27 April – Saturday 2 June 2012
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs Royal Court Theatre Sloane Square SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.30pm Saturday Matinees 2.30pm (from 5 May)
Thursday Matinees 2.30pm (from 24 May)
There will be no performance on the May Day Bank Holiday
Press Night Thursday 3 May 7pm
Post-show Talk Thursday 17 May
Captioned performance Tuesday 29 May
Audio Described Performance Saturday 2 June 2.30pm Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £28, £20, £12
Mondays all seats £10 (available in advance to Friends and Supporters and on the day of the performance from 9am online, 10am in person)
Concessions £5 off top two prices* (available in advance for all performances until Saturday 5 May inclusive and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
25s and under £8* (available on £20 and £12 tickets)
School and HE Groups of 8+ 50% off top two prices (available Tuesday-Friday)
Groups of 6+ £5 off top price (available Tuesday-Friday)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability

Birthday
By Joe Penhall
Directed by Roger Michell
Friday 22 June – Saturday 4 August 2012
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
Press Night, Thursday 28 June 2012, 7pm

‘- Men can take the pain
– No you can’t, that’s just the myth they sell you.’
Lisa and Ed are having another baby. Determined to do things differently this time, it’s proving a bumpy ride. This is a whole new birth plan.
Joe Penhall’s audacious new play arrives at the Royal Court kicking and screaming.’

Stephen Mangan plays Ed. He last appeared at the Royal Court in The People are Friendly by Michael Wynne. His previous stage credits include The Norman Conquests at the Old Vic and on Broadway and The Magic Carpet at the Lyric Hammersmith.

Joe Penhall’s latest play Haunted Child will open at the Royal Court in December. Previous plays at the Royal Court include his debut Some Voices, which won him the John Whiting Award and which he later adapted for film, premiering at Cannes in 2000 and Dumb Show in 2004. His other credits include Blue/Orange at the National Theatre, which transferred to the West End and for which he received Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards and Landscape with Weapon at the National Theatre. For film, he most recently adapted The Road by Cormac McCarthy. He also wrote the screenplay for Enduring Love and wrote the BBC 2 detective series Moses Jones.

Roger Michell directs. He most recently directed Nina Raine’s Tribes here in 2010. He started his career here in 1978 as Assistant Director to John Osborne and Samuel Beckett. His recent credits include Rope at the Almeida, Female of the Species in the West End, Betrayal and Old Times at the Donmar Warehouse, Landscape with Weapon, Honour, Blue/Orange, The Homecoming, Under Milk Wood and The Coup at the National Theatre and My Night With Reg at the Royal Court. His television credits include Omnibus, Persuasion, The Buddha of Suburbia, Downtown Lagos and his films include Morning Glory, Venus, Enduring Love, Changing Lanes and Notting Hill.

Director Roger Michell
Designer Mark Thompson
Lighting Designer Hugh Vanstone
Sound Designer John Leonard

Birthday
By Joe Penhall
Directed by Roger Michell
Friday 22 June – Saturday 4 August 2012
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs Royal Court Theatre Sloane Square SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.30pm
Saturday Matinees 2.30pm (from 30 June)
Thursday Matinees 2.30pm (from 26 July)
There will be no performances on Thursday 5 July or Friday 27 July
Press Night Thursday 28 June 7pm
Post-show Talk Tuesday 17 July
Captioned performance Wednesday 25 July
Audio Described Performance Saturday 28 July 2.30pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £28, £20, £12
Mondays all seats £10 (available in advance to Friends and Supporters and on the day of the performance from 9am online, 10am in person)
Concessions £5 off top two prices* (available in advance for all performances until Saturday 30 June inclusive and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
25s and under £8* (available on £20 and £12 tickets)
School and HE Groups of 8+ 50% off top two prices (available Tuesday-Friday)
Groups of 6+ £5 off top price (available Tuesday-Friday)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability

Constellations
by Nick Payne
Directed by Michael Longhurst
Friday 13 January – Saturday 11 February 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night, Thursday 19 January 2012 7pm

‘Let’s go for a drink. I don’t know what I’m doing here anyway. One drink. And if you never want to see me again you never have to see me again.’

One relationship. Infinite possibilities.

Quantum multiverse theory, love and honey. An explosive new play about free will and friendship.

Rafe Spall plays Roland. He last appeared at the Royal Court in DC Moore’s Alaska. His previous stage credits include If There Is I Haven’t Found it Yet at the Bush and John Gabriel Borkman at the Donmar Warehouse. On television, he plays the lead in Pete Versus Life and on film, he appeared in the films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

Nick Payne’s most recent play at the Royal Court was Wanderlust. His credits include One Day When We Were Young for Paines Plough at Sheffield Theatres and If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet at the Bush Theatre. He was the winner of the George Devine Award in 2009.

Director Michael Longhurst’s productions include Remembrance Day at the Royal Court, Stovepipe for HighTide with the National Theatre and Bush Theatre, On The Beach as part of The Contingency Plan at the Bush Theatre, On The Record at the Arcola, dirty butterfly as winner of the Jerwood Directors Award at the Young Vic, 1 In 5 as part of Daring Pairings at Hampstead Theatre and Fringe First Award winner Guardians at the Edinburgh Festival.

Constellations is part of the Royal Court’s Jerwood New Playwrights programme, supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation.

Director Michael Longhurst
Designer Tom Scutt
Lighting Designer Lee Curran

Constellations
by Nick Payne
Directed by Michael Longhurst
Friday 13 January – Saturday 11 February 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs: Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.45
Saturday Matinees 3.30pm (from 21 January)
Thursday Matinees 3.30pm (from 2 February)
Press Night Thursday 19 January 7pm
Post Show Talk Tuesday 7 February
Captioned Performance Wednesday 8 February
Tickets £20 Mondays all seats £10
Concessions £15* (available in advance until Saturday 21 January incl, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10 (avail. Tue-Fri and mats)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability.

YOUNG WRITERS FESTIVAL 2012
23 Feb – 14 April 2012

The Young Writers Festival will return in 2012, showcasing promising young talent from across the UK, featuring two full productions of new plays, as well as a host of readings and special events.

Luke Norris’ play Goodbye to All That looks at the enduring nature of love and asks if it’s ever too late to start again and Hayley Squires looks at violence, neglect and apathy in the wake of another young soldier’s death in Afghanistan.

There will also be staged readings of a new play by Alistair McDowall on 2 and 3 March, Ain’t No Law Against Fish and Chips by Rose Lewenstein on 9 and 10 March, Reflection by Rianna Mitchell-Henry on 30 and 31 March and Where the Shot Rabbits Lay by Brad Birch on 13 and 14 April,

Writers aged 25 and under were asked to submit a full-length play back in Spring 2011 with no restrictions or guidelines on content. Over 300 plays were submitted and each one read by a team of 17 readers, made up of playwrights, directors, Royal Court staff and previous Young Writers Festival winners.

This year, the Young Writers Festival was opened up to a younger age group, accepting submissions from ages eight to 25 in order to uncover stories from the UK’s younger population. Supported by John Lyon’s Charity, the Royal Court worked with 75 young people from 18 schools delivering a six-week writing programme under the tutelage of writers Debbie Tucker Green, EV Crowe and Nick Payne to create a fully-realised play that would be suitable for submission to the Young Writers Festival.

The young people’s plays will be performed in Saturday Shorts on 17 March, with seven short plays from the eight-11 age group and three plays from 12-15 age group. Rianna Mitchell- Henry’s play Reflection, written when she was 17 as part of the schools’ workshops, will have a full reading on 30 and 31 March.

There will also be a host of events and workshops around this year’s festival, including storytelling workshops for children, spoken word nights and live music in the bar, live talks with young writers events, an end-of-festival Literary Ball and the 100 word play, which invites anyone to write a very short play which will be displayed around the Royal Court during the festival.

Since its inception in 1973, the Royal Court Young Writers Festival has become one of the premier showcases of young writing talent from across Britain, launching writers such as Simon Stephens (winner of the 2005 Olivier award for Best Newcomer), Christopher Shinn (nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 2008), Bola Agbaje (winner of the Olivier Award in 2008), Leo Butler, Andrea Dunbar, DC Moore, Michael Wynne and Chloe Moss.

The most recent Young Writers Festival in 2009 produced Alia Bano’s play Shades, which went on to win the Most Promising Playwrights Award at the Evening Standard Award and Critics’ Circle Awards.

The Young Writers Festival is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and is in partnership with the European Commission Representation in the UK, with additional support from the Dr. Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation.

YWF EVENTS AND READINGS LISTINGS 2012

A New Play
by Alistair McDowall
2 & 3 March at 6pm.
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Tickets £8 available through the Box Office 0207 565 5000 or online www.royalcourttheatre.com

Ain’t No Law Against Fish and Chips
by Rose Lewenstein
9 & 10 March at 6pm
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Tickets £8 available through the Box Office 0207 565 5000 or online www.royalcourttheatre.com

Reflection
by Rianna Mitchell-Henry
30 & 31 March
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Tickets £8 available through the Box Office 0207 565 5000 or online www.royalcourttheatre.com

Where the Shot Rabbits Lay
by Brad Birch
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
13 and 14 April
Tickets £8 available through the Box Office 0207 565 5000 or online www.royalcourttheatre.com

The Art of the 100 Word Play
Saturday 3 March, Afternoon
The Wilson at the Royal Court Theatre
Workshop for adults on writing a short play. Introduction to the basics of dramatic story-telling. Fun and interactive Session.
Free but ticketed. Bookable through Ruth Hawkins ruthhawkins@royalcourttheatre.com

Music Nights in the Royal Court Café Bar
Friday 16th March, 10.30pm til late
Free Entry

Storytelling Workshop for Children
Saturday 17 March
The Wilson at the Royal Court Theatre
2.30pm – 5pm
Storytelling with Nick Payne for 8-11 year olds. Creative and interactive dramatic storytelling workshop. Bookable through Ruth Hawkins ruthhawkins@royalcourttheatre.com

Spoken Word Night
Wednesday 28 March
Royal Court Café Bar
10.15 til late
Free Entry

End of Festival Literary Ball
Saturday 14 April
Royal Court Café Bar
10.15pm until late
Royal Court writers meet to tell a story, a story with songs, songs we all know, songs we can dance along to. Over two days, they will write this story and perform it for one night only.
Free Entry

In Conversation with Luke Norris
6pm Thursday 1 March 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Free but ticketed. Bookable though the Box Office 0207 565 5000 or www.royalcourttheatre.com

In Conversation with Hayley Squires
6pm Thursday 29 March 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Free but ticketed. Bookable though the Box Office 0207 565 5000 or www.royalcourttheatre.com

Goodbye to All That
By Luke Norris
Directed by Simon Godwin
Thursday 23 February – Saturday 17 March 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night, Monday 27 February 2012 7pm

‘I want you to remember something, David: if you remember only one thing I’ve ever told you, remember this every day – morning, noon and night – you do what you want with your life. Exactly what you want. Break heads if you need to and hearts if you have to, but whatever you do don’t do what I did. Don’t waste yourself.’

Frank has been married for forty years. Three years ago he fell in love.

This taut and tender new play asks if it’s ever too late to start again.

Luke Norris is an actor, appearing at the Royal Court earlier this year in Aleksey Scherbak’s Remembrance Day. He attended Royal Court playwriting groups, before entering the Young Writers Festival. This is his first play.

Simon Godwin will direct. Recently appointed full-time Associate Director at the Royal Court, his credits here include The Acid Test by Anya Reiss and Wanderlust by Nick Payne. His other credits include Faith Healer and Far Away at Bristol Old Vic, The Winter’s Tale for Headlong and the Nuffield Theatre Southampton, Mister Heracles at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. As Associate Director of the Royal and Derngate Theatres in Northampton under Artistic Director Rupert Goold, Simon directed seven main stage shows.

Director Simon Godwin
Designer Tom Piper
Lighting Designer Matt Drury
Sound Designer Alex Caplen

Goodbye to All That
By Luke Norris
Directed by Simon Godwin
Thursday 23 February – Saturday 17 March 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Monday-Saturday 7.45pm (except Friday 2, Friday 9, Saturday 3 and Saturday 10 March at 8.30pm)
Saturday Matinee 3.30pm (from 3 March)
Thursday Matinee 3.30pm (8 & 15 March)
Press Night Monday 27 February 7pm
Post-show talk Tuesday 6 March
Captioned Performance Tuesday 13 March
Tickets £20 Monday all seats £10
Concessions £15* (available in advance until Saturday 3 March incl, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
Pay What You Like Night: Friday 24 February. Tickets available in person from 10am on the day.
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10 (avail. Tue-Fri and mats)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability.

Vera Vera Vera
By Hayley Squires
Directed by Jo McInnes
Thursday 22 March – Saturday 14 April 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night: Monday 26 March 2012, 7pm

‘Bobby’s dead and you’re still breathing. That’s a fucking walking talking tragedy that is.’

The boy who comes back from a war far away in a wooden box is glorified and called a hero. As the funeral plans are made on an estate in a small Kent town, his siblings squabble over who he was. Maybe the fanfare isn’t needed for this heroic martyr.

Vera Vera Vera is new play about fighting. Hayley Squires is a bracing new voice, clear eyed and loud, looking at violence, neglect and apathy.

Hayley Squires is an actor. This is her first play and her first submission to the Royal Court.

Director Jo McInnes most recently directed Red Bud at the Royal Court, as well as appearing in Wastwater by Simon Stephens as an actor. Her directorial credits also include The Verdict in 2007 on BBC1 and the world premiere of Marine Parade by Simon Stephens at the Brighton Festival.

Director Jo McInnes
Designer Tom Piper
Lighting Designer Stephen Andrews
Sound Designer David McSeveney

Vera Vera Vera
By Hayley Squires
Directed by Jo McInnes
Thursday 22 March – Saturday 14 April 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Monday-Thursday 7.45pm
Friday 23 March 7.45pm
Friday 30 March and 13 April 8.30pm
Saturday 24 March and 7 April 7.45pm
Saturday 31 March and 14 April 8.30pm
Saturday Matinees 3.30pm (from 31 March)
Thursday Matinees 5 April and 12 April 3.30pm
There will be no performances on Good Friday or Easter Monday.
Press Night Monday 26 March 2012 7pm
Post-show talk Tuesday 3 April
Captioned performance Friday 13 April
Tickets £20 Monday all seats £10
Concessions £15* (available in advance until Saturday 31 March incl, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
Pay What You Like Night: Friday 23 March. Tickets available in person from 10am on the day.
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10 (avail. Tue-Fri and mats)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability.

Belong
By Bola Agbaje
Directed by Indhu Rubasingham
A co-production with Tiata Fahodzi
Thursday 26 April – Saturday 26 May 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night: Wednesday 2 May 2012, 7pm

Bola Agbaje returns to the Royal Court with her new play Belong: a co-production with Tiata Fahodzi and the first play to be produced under the company’s new Artistic Director Lucian Msamati.

‘Supporters keh. Forget this country. How many year have you lived here?… Your English is better than the Queen’s and they still call you…’

Election lost, speeches made and controversy stirred – Kayode’s hiding. He’s not even answering the door to the cleaner, and Rita is not going to start getting out the Hoover in her designer heels. Escaping the political heat in London, he flees to Nigeria – a British MP and a self-made man. Once there, he gets caught up in a whole new power game.

Bola Agbaje’s satirical new play questions our notion of home.

Bola Agbaje’s most recent play at the Royal Court was Off the Endz in 2010. Her debut play Gone Too Far was performed at the Royal Court in 2007 as part of the Royal Court’s Young Writers Festival, and won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement and was also nominated for Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Awards. She is currently working with UK production company Poisson Rouge and the UK Film Council to turn the play into a feature film. Her other work includes Playing the Game, as part of the Women, Power and Politics season at the Tricycle and Detaining Justice at the Tricycle Theatre.

Director Indhu Rubasingham’s previous credits at the Royal Court include Disconnect, Free Outgoing, Sugar Mummies, Lift Off and Clubland. She directed Bola’s play Detaining Justice at the Tricycle. Further credits include Ruined (Almeida); The Great Game, Women, Power and Politics season, and Fabulations (Tricycle); a new adaptation of ¬Wuthering Heights (Birmingham Rep and on tour); The Ramayana and Tanika Gupta’s
Waiting Room (National Theatre); and Yellowman (Liverpool Everyman/Hampstead Theatre). She is due to direct a new production of Stones in his Pockets at the Tricycle in 2012.

Belong
By Bola Agbaje
Directed by Indhu Rubasingham
A co-production with Tiata Fahodzi
Thursday 26 April – Saturday 26 May 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Saturday matinees 3.30pm (from 5 May)
Thursday 17 May and 24 May 3.30pm
There will be no performance on May Day Bank Holiday
Press Night Wednesday 2 May 7pm
Post-show talk Wednesday 9 May
Captioned performance Thursday 24 May
Tickets £20 Monday all seats £10
Concessions £15* (available in advance until Saturday 5 May incl, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10 (avail. Tue-Fri and mats)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability.

The Witness
By Vivienne Franzmann
Directed by Simon Godwin
Friday 1 June – Saturday 30 June 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night: Friday 8 June 2012, 7pm

‘Sometimes when I think of going back. I feel like I could run there. It’s like I’m being called back. I know it sounds ridiculous. And sometimes I don’t give a shit about any of it and I just want to stack shelves for the rest of my life.’

Captured in an award-winning shot Alex was rescued from Rwanda and adopted by the man behind the lens. Back from uni and returning to where she was raised the distance between father and daughter stretches taut. In the dark room of a Hampstead home a long hidden secret is slowly exposed in a flash of revelation.

Vivienne Franzmann’s new play is a piercing and dark thriller of modern morals.

This is Vivienne Franzmann’s second play. Her first play Mogadishu opened at the Royal Exchange, Manchester last year to critical acclaim, winning the Bruntwood Playwriting Competition and the George Devine Award in 2010.

Simon Godwin will direct. This season he is also directing Goodbye to All That as part of the Young Writers Festival. His credits here also include The Acid Test by Anya Reiss and Wanderlust by Nick Payne. His other credits include Faith Healer and Far Away at Bristol Old Vic, The Winter’s Tale for Headlong and the Nuffield Theatre Southampton, Mister Heracles at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. As Associate Director of the Royal and Derngate Theatres in Northampton under Artistic Director Rupert Goold, Simon directed seven main stage shows.

The Witness is part of the Royal Court’s Jerwood New Playwrights programme, supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation.

Director Simon Godwin
Designer Lizzie Clachan
Lighting Designer Oliver Fenwick
Sound Designer Carolyn Downing

The Witness
By Vivienne Franzmann
Directed by Simon Godwin
Friday 1 June – Saturday 30 June 2012
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Monday – Saturday 7.45pm
Saturday matinees 3.30pm (from 9 June)
Thursday matinees 21 June and 28 June 3.30pm
There will be no performances on the Spring or Jubilee Bank Holidays
Press Night Friday 8 June 7pm
Post-show Talk Tuesday 26 June
Captioned performance Wednesday 27 June
Tickets £20 Monday all seats £10
Concessions £15* (available in advance until Saturday 9 June incl, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10 (avail. Tue-Fri and mats)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability.

Notes to Editors

Coutts is the Principal Sponsor of the Royal Court Theatre

Coutts is the UK private banking arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland. 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 managing the finances of many of today’s top writers, actors and musicians, but also through our arts sponsorship programme and we are delighted to support The Royal Court and its diverse range of ground-breaking performances.

Constellations by Nick Payne and The Witness by Vivienne Franzmann are 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.

The Jerwood Charitable Foundation 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 their funding is to allow artists and arts organisations to thrive; to continue to develop their skills, imagination and creativity with integrity. They work with artists across art forms, from dance and theatre to literature, music and the visual arts. For more information visit www.jerwoodcharitablefoundation.org

The Young Writers Festival is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and is in partnership with the European Commission Representation in the UK, with additional support from the Dr. Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation.

The Young Writers Festival developmental workshops with European playwrights have also been supported by the European Commission Representation in the UK.

The Young Writers Festival Development Phase has been supported by John Lyon’s Charity.

Belong is a co-production with Tiata Fahodzi

Founded in 1997 by actor/director Femi Elufowoju, jr. and now led by Lucian Msamati as Artistic Director, Tiata Fahodzi – Theatre of the Emancipated – has become the UK’s leading British African Theatre company, creating world-class theatre which reflects, celebrates and challenges the cultural experiences of Africans. Serving an all-inclusive British audience, it commissions and develops new writing as well as reinterpreting African and European classics. It pioneers new modes of engagement between artists and audiences, rooted in the various traditional African theatre forms.

Tiata Fahodzi was co-nominated with Soho Theatre for an Olivier Award in 2010 for Oladipo Agboluaje’s Iya-Ile (a co-production with Soho Theatre). Recent productions also include Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange (Arcola), Roy Williams’ Joe Guy, Oladipo Agboluaje’s The Estate (both on tour and at Soho) and Tiata Delights, a regular festival of performed readings of new plays.

Love Love Love is a co-production with Paines Plough in association with Drum Theatre Plymouth

Paines Plough commission and produce the best playwrights and tour their plays far and wide. Paines Plough was founded in 1974 over a pint of Paines bitter in the Plough pub. Since then they have produced more than 100 new productions by world renowned playwrights like Stephen Jeffreys, Abi Morgan, Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill, Dennis Kelly and Mike Bartlett. Those plays have all been toured to hundreds of places from Manchester to Moscow to Maidenhead.

Under Artistic Directors James Grieve and George Perrin, Paines Plough is producing more work, in more places than ever before. The 2011 Programme sees 11 productions touring to 37 towns and cities across the UK and internationally.

For further information please contact Anna Evans in the Royal Court Press Office on
020 7565 5063 or e-mail annaevans@royalcourttheatre.com.