In these shifting and perplexing times, the Royal Court
will turn its attention towards today’s headlines,
tomorrow’s inheritance, and the shockwaves of our
recent past. Our programme for the next six months
will tackle head on what it means to be alive now,
with the legacy of the last century on our shoulders.
2009 is a year of anniversaries for Germany, marking both the
20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and 60 years since the
foundation of the Federal Republic. The Royal Court will present British
theatre’s first marking of these momentous occasions in Off The Wall:
a season of new plays about Germany, which includes work by Mark
Ravenhill and German writer Marius von Mayenburg, who had great
success here last year with The Ugly One.
I’m also thrilled to present a season of work by the actor and playwright
Wallace Shawn. Wallace is a daringly inventive, experimental
playwright who explores how we live with our consciences in the
relatively affluent West. In late spring, we will revive two of his classics,
The Fever and Aunt Dan and Lemon, alongside an extraordinary new
play, directed by the legendary André Gregory, and a series of readings
of Wallace’s earlier work.
A key part of our commitment to writers is the Royal Court’s tradition
of attracting the very finest actors to our stages. Rarely has this
commitment been more apparent than in the remarkable triumvirate of
actresses – Clare Higgins, Jane Horrocks and Miranda Richardson –
who will join us in our Wallace Shawn season. Audiences will also be
treated to the exceptional talents of Mark Rylance, who appears in
Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem, and the Treadaway twins in Mark Ravenhill’s
Over There.
I am delighted to announce the return of young playwright Polly Stenham
with her second play, Tusk Tusk, developed for the Royal Court, and
the arrival of two very exciting new talents in Alia Bano and Molly Davies,
both graduates of our peerless Young Writers Programme. Alia and
Molly’s plays will headline our Young Writers Festival from January
2009, under the guidance of the Festival’s patron, the remarkable
comedy writer and actress Ruth Jones.
We look forward to welcoming you to the Royal Court.
Dominic Cooke, Artistic Director
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