The Royal Court Theatre and The Queer House announce Queer Upstairs

Published on Mon 27 Sep 2021

The Royal Court Theatre and The Queer House announce Queer Upstairs, script-in-hand performances of new work by nine writers in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs.

Nine new pieces of work, read script-in-hand, will be presented across three evenings in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs on 4, 5 and 6 November 2021 at 7.30pm.

Queer Upstairs includes new pieces of work from Enxi Chang, Jamal Gerald, Mika Onyx Johnson, Lauren John Joseph, Nemo Martin, Pete MacHale, mandla rae, Amelia Stubberfield and Yaz Zadeh.

The writers have been working together over a period of five months, through group and individual sessions with writers Travis Alabanza, Hester Chillingworth, Nazareth Hassan and Mark Ravenhill. Making a queer space and holding conversations about the ancestors, forms and images that define their writing has led these artists to create these new pieces of work.

Commenting on the project Char Boden, Co-Artistic Director at The Queer House said;

“We are so happy to have been a part of bringing this group of incredible writers together at the Royal Court. The writers’ previous works have already made a huge contribution to the canon of queer performance work and so to have the chance to be close to whatever this group helps them to create is a privilege.”

Queer Upstairs will run at the Royal Court Theatre on 4, 5 and 6 November 2021 at 7.30pm and is co-produced by the Royal Court Theatre and The Queer House.

Jane Fallowfield, Literary Manager at the Royal Court Theatre added;

“We are delighted to be working with Queer House, a leading force for the discovery and development of LGBTIQ+ theatre makers. This partnership and the imaginations of our lead artists have enabled us to create a space for 9 writers to begin new pieces of work, emboldening each other and reimagining our space in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs.”

Tickets for Queer Upstairs are on sale now. Audiences can purchase one ticket for £8 and all three for £20.

Read the full press release here.