Full Line Up For The Spring Open Submissions Festival Announced
News Story
Today the Royal Court Theatre announces the full line up for its second Open Submissions Festival, running from Monday 30 March - Friday 3 April 2026. Selected from more than 3,500 scripts received each year, and launching a new twice-yearly format supported by Character 7, the Festival showcases the most distinctive and exciting new plays received by the Royal Court as part of its year-round, world-wide commitment to open script submissions. .
The plays and writers featured are The Briar Patch by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth, All Adventurous Women Do by Tanja Šljivar, We’re Gonna Kill Billy by Alex Medland, Duppies by Tia‑Renee Mullings, and What’s The F**king Point by ensemble company FlawBored. The plays will be presented in rehearsed readings with professional casts, directed by Danielle Kassarate, Aneesha Srinivasan, Prime Isaac, Mayaan Haputantri and FlawBored’s Josh Roche respectively.
Following the exceptional quality and impact of last year’s pilot - and thanks to generous support from producers of The Night Manager Character 7 - the Open Submissions Festival will now take place twice yearly, in spring and autumn. The expansion will double opportunities for writers to receive paid development support and a critical platform for their work through this programme.
The Open Submissions Festival further strengthens the Royal Court's support for new writing and the promise that anyone, anywhere in the world, can submit a play for equal consideration - central to the Royal Court’s mission since it opened exactly 70 years ago, in April 1956. The week-long Festival champions the best new plays submitted through this channel – while offering industry and audiences a first look at the future of contemporary theatre.