Royal Court Theatre presents

Scenes from a Repatriation

By Joel Tan

Scenes from a Repatriation Top / Details / The Company
Fri 25 Apr - Sat 24 May 2025 £15 - £30 Book Now

‘All of human history? It’s basically people taking things from each other’   

A 1000-year-old statue of the Boddhisattva Guan Yin lives in The British Museum.  

When it emerges that the statue was stolen from its original home, the museum attempts to deflect both the public response and controversial repatriation claims from the Chinese government.   

As statesmen scheme and grease their palms, beneath the statue witches dance, a cleaner prays, and spirits weep. Guan Yin’s gaze falls over the broken shards of human life from empires old and new.  

Joel Tan’s shape-shifting play unfolds the statue’s journey from China to Britain and back again, stirring up centuries of ghosts. Directed by experimental theatre-makers emma + pj (Ghosts of the Near Future, Barbican), Scenes from a Repatriation questions who can claim cultural artefacts – and why.  

A Royal Court Theatre commission.  

Joel is this year’s recipient of the Jerwood New Playwright accolade. The Royal Court Theatre’s Jerwood New Playwright Programme is supported by Jerwood Foundation.

Post-show Talk Tues 6 May

A conversation with writer Joel Tan. This event is free with a ticket to that evening’s performance.

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs

Monday – Friday: 3pm and 7.45pm

Saturdays: 2pm and 6.45pm

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Access Performances

Babes in Arms Performance: Tues 6 May, 3pm

Age UK & Captioned Performance: Tues 13 May, 3pm

Captioned Performance: Tues 13 May, 7:45pm

Chilled Performance: Sat 24 May, 2pm

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Fri 25 Apr 7.45pm

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Sat 26 Apr 6.45pm

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Mon 28 Apr 7.45pm

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Tue 29 Apr 7.45pm

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Wed 30 Apr 7.00pm

Press Night

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Thu 1 May 7.45pm

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Fri 2 May 7.45pm

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Sat 3 May 2.00pm

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Sat 3 May 6.45pm

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Tue 6 May 3.00pm

These performances are intended for adults with babies under 12 months old. For More information, see the Access page on our website.

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Tue 6 May 7.45pm

Post-Show Talk

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Wed 7 May 7.45pm

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Thu 8 May 7.45pm

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Fri 9 May 7.45pm

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Sat 10 May 2.00pm

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Sat 10 May 6.45pm

Mon 12 May 7.45pm

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Tue 13 May 3.00pm

These performances are in partnership with Age UK, promoting access to theatre for older people. For more information, contact our Box Office Team. This performance will also be Captioned.

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Tue 13 May 7.45pm

This performance will be Captioned with a Familiarisation Tour at 7:15pm. For more information, see the Access page on our website.

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Wed 14 May 7.45pm

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Thu 15 May 7.45pm

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Fri 16 May 7.45pm

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Sat 17 May 2.00pm

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Sat 17 May 6.45pm

Mon 19 May 7.45pm

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Tue 20 May 7.45pm

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Wed 21 May 7.45pm

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Thu 22 May 3.00pm

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Thu 22 May 7.45pm

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Fri 23 May 7.45pm

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Sat 24 May 2.00pm

This performance will br Chilled with a Familiarisation Tour at 1:30pm. For more information, see the Access page on our website.

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Sat 24 May 6.45pm