Royal Court announces new autumn/winter season
This year's autumn/winter season at the Royal Court Theatre has been announced.
The season begins with the return of Minefield by Lola Arias. The production was a sell-out when it opened at the theatre last year, and will return in November 2017 for just ten performances. It follows six Falklands war vets who share memories of their battles.
Ukrainian playwright Natal'ya Vorozhbit's Bad Roads will get its world premiere at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs in November. Translated by Sasha Dugdale, the play is a powerful account of what it is like to be a woman during wartime, from journalists on the frontline to teenage girls at home. Directed by the theatre's artistic director Vicky Featherstone, it will run from 15th November to 23rd December.
The world premiere of Goats by Syrian playwright Liwaa Yazji will open in the Jerwood Downstairs in November. Set in a small Syrian town, the local party leader decides the town should have a goat for each person who has lost their life to the war. It will run form 24th November to 20th December, and will be directed by Hamish Pirie.
American Julia Jarcho will make her Court debut with the UK premiere of Grimly Handsome, her award-winning play about a young woman in a typical American city. It explores the margins of a city and the violent fantasies they inspire. The production, created by Sam Pritchard and Chloe Lamford, runs at The Site (which opened in May as a temporary space) from 6th to 23rd December.
In January, Jerwood Upstairs will host Anoushka Warden's first professional play My Mum's A Tw*t. Directed by Featherstone, the play is one teenage girl's account of losing her mum to a cult. It will run from 8th to 20th January.
Following its UK tour, the Out of Joint and Octagon Theatre Bolton production of Rita, Sue and Bob, Too will open in the Jerwood Downstairs in January 2018. Andrea Dunbar's play is directed by Max Stafford-Clark, and the semi-autobiographical story follows three friends who starts a fling they think they can control. The play premiered at the Royal Court in 1982, and this production will run from 9th to 27th January.
Playwright Simon Longman will make his debut at the Royal Court with Gundog, a play set on a farm in the middle of nowhere as two sisters rally around their family following the death of their mother. Directed by Featherstone, it will open at the Jerwood Upstairs from 31st January and run until 10th March.
A new play by Matilda writer Dennis Kelly will run in the Jerwood Downstairs from February. Girls and Boys is a play about an unexpected meeting at an airport which leads to an intense relationship, and sees the couple settle down, have kids, juggle their and careers before their worlds begin to unravel. It will run from 8th February to 10th March and is directed by Lyndsey Turner (Hamlet, Barbican).
Black Men Walking is a play written by the rapper Testament about a group of men who meet every month to walk through the Peak District. The play, which is a co-production between Eclipse Theatre Company and Royal Exchange Theatre, sees three characters Thomas, Matthew and Richard journey back through history as they wander through the peaks. It is dedicated to the Black Men's Walking Group. Testament's previous work includes Blake Remixed, The Ten Past and WOKE. It will be directed by Dawn Walton and runs from 21st March to 7th April.
As previously announced, later this month John Tiffany will direct the Jim Cartwright play Road, which will star Michelle Fairley and Mark Hadfield. The Ferryman, which opened at the Royal Court in April, is currently running in the West End at the Gielgud Theatre.
Photo credit: Mark Hakansson (Flickr)
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