The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the ...

, London, England. In 1956 it was acquired by and remains the home of the English Stage Company, which is known for its contributions to contemporary theatre and won the Europe Prize Theatrical Realities in 1999.

History

The first theatre

The first theatre on Lower George Street, off Sloane Square, was the converted Nonconformist Ranelagh Chapel, opened as a theatre in 1870 under the name The New Chelsea Theatre.

Marie Litton Marie Litton (1847 – 1 April 1884) was the stage name of Mary Jessie Lowe,Walter Emden to remodel the interior, and it was renamed the Court Theatre. The Happy Land - Illustrated London News, March 22, 1873

The Happy Land - Illustrated London News, March 22, 1873

Several of W. S. Gilbert's early plays were staged here, including ''

Randall's Thumb ''Randall's Thumb'' is a play by W. S. Gilbert that premièred in 1871 at the opening of Marie Litton's Royal Court Theatre in London. Its plot, based on a short story that Gilbert had published the year before, relates how the forger Randall b ...

'', ''

Creatures of Impulse ''Creatures of Impulse'' is a stage play by the English dramatist W. S. Gilbert, with music by the composer-conductor Alberto Randegger, which Gilbert adapted from his own short story. Both the play and the short story concern an unwanted and i ...

'' (with music by

Alberto Randegger Alberto Randegger (13 April 1832 – 18 December 1911) was an Italian-born composer, conductor and singing teacher, best known for promoting opera and new works of British music in England during the Victorian era and for his widely used textbook o ...

), ''Great Expectations'' (adapted from the Dickens novel), and ''On Guard'' (all in 1871); ''

The Happy Land ''The Happy Land'' is a play with music written in 1873 by W. S. Gilbert (under the pseudonym F. Latour Tomline) and Gilbert Arthur à Beckett. The musical play burlesques Gilbert's earlier play, ''The Wicked World''. The blank verse piece op ...

'' (1873, with

Gilbert Abbott à Beckett Gilbert Abbott à Beckett (9 January 1811 – 30 August 1856) was an English humorist. Biography He was born in London, the son of a lawyer, and belonged to a family claiming descent from Thomas Becket. He was educated at Westminster School an ...

; Gilbert's most controversial play); ''The Wedding March'', translated from ''Un Chapeau de Paille d'Italie'' by Eugène Marin Labiche (1873); ''The Blue-Legged Lady'', translated from ''La Dame aux Jambes d'Azur'' by Labiche and Marc-Michel (1874); and ''

Broken Hearts ''Broken Hearts'' is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts styled "An entirely original fairy play". It opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 9 December 1875, running for three months, and toured the provinces in 1876. It wa ...

'' (1875). By 1878, management of the theatre was shared by John Hare and

W. H. Kendal William Hunter Kendal (16 December 1843 – 7 November 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager. He and his wife Madge starred at the Haymarket in Shakespearian revivals and the old English comedies beginning in the 1860s. In the 1870s ...

. Further alterations were made in 1882 by Alexander Peebles, after which its capacity was 728 (including stalls and boxes, dress circle and balcony, amphitheatre, and gallery).''Social history: Social and cultural activities, A History of the County of Middlesex''
Volume 12: Chelsea (2004), pp. 166–76. Date accessed: 22 March 2007. After that,

Arthur Cecil Arthur Cecil Blunt (1 June 1843 – 16 April 1896), better known as Arthur Cecil, was an English actor, comedian, playwright and theatre manager. He is probably best remembered for playing the role of Box in the long-running production of ''Cox a ...

(who had joined the theatre's company in 1881) was co-manager of the theatre with John Clayton.Knight, Joseph, rev. Nilanjana Banerji
"Cecil, Arthur (1843–1896)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 7 October 2008, Among other works, they produced a series of

Arthur Wing Pinero Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (24 May 185523 November 1934) was an English playwright and, early in his career, actor. Pinero was drawn to the theatre from an early age, and became a professional actor at the age of 19. He gained experience as a supp ...

's farces, including ''The Rector'', ''The Magistrate'' (1885), ''The Schoolmistress'' (1886), and ''Dandy Dick'' (1887), among others. The theatre closed on 22 July 1887 and was demolished.

The current theatre: 1888–1952

The present building was built on the east side of Sloane Square, replacing the earlier building, and opened on 24 September 1888 as the New Court Theatre. Designed by Walter Emden and

Bertie Crewe William Robert 'Bertie' Crewe (1860 – 10 January 1937) was one of the leading English theatre architects in the boom of 1885 to 1915. Biography Born in Essex and partly trained by Frank Matcham, Crewe and his contemporaries W.G.R. Sprague an ...

, it is constructed of fine red brick, moulded brick, and a stone facade in free Italianate style. Originally the theatre had a capacity of 841 in the stalls, dress circle, amphitheatre, and a gallery. Cecil and Clayton yielded management of the theatre to

Mrs. John Wood Mrs. John Wood (6 November 1831 (baptised 28 November), Liverpool – 11 January 1915, Birchington-on-Sea), born Matilda Charlotte Vining, was an English actress and theatre manager. Biography Born into a theatrical family, Matilda Charlotte ...

and Arthur Chudleigh in 1887, although Cecil continued acting in their company (and others) until 1895. The first production in the new building was a play by

Sydney Grundy Sydney Grundy (23 March 1848 – 4 July 1914) was an English dramatist. Most of his works were adaptations of European plays, and many became successful enough to tour throughout the English-speaking world. He is, however, perhaps best remembe ...

titled ''Mamma'', starring

and John Hare, with

and Eric Lewis. By the end of the century, the theatre was again called the "Royal Court Theatre".

Harley Granville-Barker Harley Granville-Barker (25 November 1877 – 31 August 1946) was an English actor, director, playwright, manager, critic, and theorist. After early success as an actor in the plays of George Bernard Shaw, he increasingly turned to directi ...

managed the theatre for the first few years of the 20th century, and George Bernard Shaw's plays were produced at the New Court for a period. It ceased to be used as a theatre in 1932, but was used as a cinema from 1935 to 1940, until World War II bomb damage closed it.

The English Stage Company

After the war, the interior was reconstructed as a stage theatre by Robert Cromie, and the number of seats was reduced to under 500. The theatre re-opened in 1952, with

Oscar Lewenstein Silvion Oscar Lewenstein (18 January 1917 – 23 February 1997)Robert Murph"Lewenstein, (Silvion) Oscar (1917–1997)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. was a British theatre and film producer, who helped create some of the leadin ...

as the general manager. In 1954, Lewenstein, together with

George Devine George Alexander Cassady Devine (20 November 1910 – 20 January 1966) was an English theatrical manager, director, teacher, and actor based in London from the early 1930s until his death. He also worked in TV and film. Early life and education ...

, Ronald Duncan and

Greville Poke Greville John Poke (19 August 1912 – 4 March 2000) was an arts administrator and a founding member of the English Stage Company. He served as the Honorary Secretary of the English Stage Company from 1954 to 1973 and chairman from 1973 to 1978. ...

, founded the English Stage Company (ESC) with a mission to present plays by young and experimental dramatists and "the best contemporary plays from abroad". Devine served as the first artistic director of the ESC, while Poke was its Honorary Secretary. The ESC purchased the Royal Court in 1956 and began to produce adventurous new and foreign works, together with some classical revivals. The new company's third production in 1956,

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play ''Look Back in Anger'' tra ...

's '' Look Back in Anger'', a play by one of the Angry Young Men. The director was Tony Richardson. Osborne followed ''Look Back in Anger'' with ''

The Entertainer An entertainer is a person who entertains (singer, actor, comedian, etc.) The Entertainer may refer to: Music Songs * "The Entertainer" (rag), a 1902 classic piano rag written by Scott Joplin *"The Entertainer", rearrangement of the Joplin rag by ...

'', starring

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...

as Archie Rice, a play the actor effectively commissioned from the playwright. The artistic board of the ESC initially rejected the play, although they soon reversed that decision. Two members of the board opposed ''The Entertainer'': Duncan disliked Osborne's work, according to the biographer John Heilpern,

Heilpern, John John David Heilpern (8 April 1942 – 7 January 2021) was a British theatre critic, journalist, and author who worked both in the United Kingdom and the United States. He was a contributing editor to '' Vanity Fair'' (where he wrote the "Out To ...

''John Osborne: A Patriot for Us''
London: Vintage, 2007

006 Alec Trevelyan (006) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film ''GoldenEye'', the first film to feature actor Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Trevelyan is portrayed by actor Sean Bean. The likeness of Bean as Alec T ...

p.216
"'It's me, isn't it?'"
'' The Guardian'', 6 March 2007 (extract) while Lewenstein, a former

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

,Murphy, Robert
"Lewenstein, (Silvion) Oscar (1917–1997)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' did not want one of the theatre's new plays to be overwhelmed by its star and did not think much of the play. In the mid-1960s, the ESC became involved in issues of censorship. Their premiere productions of Osborne's '' A Patriot for Me'' and '' Saved'' by

Edward Bond Edward Bond (born 18 July 1934) is an English playwright, theatre director, poet, theorist and screenwriter. He is the author of some fifty plays, among them '' Saved'' (1965), the production of which was instrumental in the abolition of the ...

(both 1965) necessitated the theatre turning itself into a "private members club" to circumvent the Lord Chamberlain, formally responsible for the licensing of plays until the

Theatres Act 1968 The Theatres Act 1968 abolished censorship of the stage in the United Kingdom, receiving royal assent on 26 July 1968, after passing both Houses of Parliament.succès de scandale'' of the two plays helped to bring about the abolition of

theatre censorship The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the British Royal Household. It is concerned with matters such as protocol, state visits, investitures, garden parties, royal weddings and funerals. For example, in April 2005 it organised the w ...

in the UK. During the period of Devine's directorship, besides Osborne and Bond, the Royal Court premiered works by Arnold Wesker,

John Arden John Arden (26 October 1930 – 28 March 2012) was an English playwright who at his death was lauded as "one of the most significant British playwrights of the late 1950s and early 60s". Career Born in Barnsley, son of the manager of a glass f ...

, Ann Jellicoe and

N.F. Simpson Norman Frederick Simpson (29 January 1919 – 27 August 2011) was an English playwright closely associated with the Theatre of the Absurd. To his friends he was known as Wally Simpson, in comic reference to the abdication crisis of 1936. Ea ...

. Subsequent Artistic Directors of the Royal Court premiered work by

Christopher Hampton Sir Christopher James Hampton ( Horta, Azores, 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' based on the novel of the same name and the film ...

Athol Fugard Athol Fugard, Hon. , (born 11 June 1932), is a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright. He is best known for his political and penetrating plays opposing the system of apart ...

Howard Brenton Howard John Brenton FRSL (born 13 December 1942) is an English playwright and screenwriter. While little-known in the United States, he is celebrated in his home country and often ranked alongside contemporaries such as Edward Bond, Caryl Chur ...

Caryl Churchill Caryl Lesley Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is a British playwright known for dramatising the abuses of power, for her use of non- naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes.

, Hanif Kureishi, Sarah Daniels, Errol John, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Martin Crimp,

Sarah Kane Sarah Kane (3 February 1971 – 20 February 1999) was an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. She is known for her plays that deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture—both physical and psychological� ...

, Sylvia Wynter, Mark Ravenhill,

Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh (; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright, screenwriter, producer, and director. Born and brought up in London, he is the son of Irish parents. He is known as one of the most acclaimed modern playwrights whose ...

, Simon Stephens,

Leo Butler Leo Butler (born 1974 in Sheffield) is a British playwright. His plays have been staged, among others, by the Royal Court, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Almeida Theatre. His plays have been published by Bloomsbury A & C Black. His 2001 ...

Polly Stenham Polly Stenham (born 16 July 1986) is an English playwright known for her play ''That Face'', which she wrote when she was 19 years old. Background Stenham was born and raised in London. She attributes her love of theatre to her father as he to ...

and Nick Payne. Early seasons included new international plays by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

Eugène Ionesco Eugène Ionesco (; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco inst ...

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Marguerite Duras. In addition to the 400-seat

proscenium arch A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

Theatre Downstairs, the much smaller studio Theatre Upstairs was opened in 1969, at the time a 63-seat facility. '' The Rocky Horror Show'' premiered there in 1973. The theatre was

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in June 1972. royalcourttheatre

Though the main auditorium and the façade were attractive, the remainder of the building provided poor facilities for both audience and performers, and throughout the 20th century the stalls and understage often flooded. By the early 1990s the building had deteriorated dangerously, and the theatre was threatened with closure in 1995. The Royal Court received a grant of £16.2 million from the National Lottery and the Arts Council for redevelopment, and beginning in 1996, under the artistic directorship of Stephen Daldry, it was completely rebuilt, except for the façade and the intimate auditorium. The architects for this were

Haworth Tompkins Haworth Tompkins is a British architecture studio, formed in 1991 by architects Graham Haworth (b. 1960) and Steve Tompkins (b. 1959). Based in London, the studio works throughout the public, private and subsidised sectors at a wide spectrum, f ...

. The theatre reopened in February 2000, with the 380-seat Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, and the 85-seat studio theatre, now the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs. Since 1994, a new generation of playwrights debuting at the theatre has included

Joe Penhall Joe Scott Penhall (born 1967) is an English-Australian playwright and screenwriter, best known for his award-winning stage play ''Blue/Orange'', the award-winning West End musical ''Sunny Afternoon'' and creating the Netflix original series '' ...

, Mark Ravenhill, and Roy Williams, among others. Since the 1990s the Royal Court has placed an emphasis on the development and production of international plays. By 1993, the British Council had begun its support of the International Residency programme (which started in 1989 as the Royal Court International Summer School), and more recently the Genesis Foundation has also supported the production of international plays. The theatre received a 1999 International Theatre Institute award. In May 2008, the English Stage Company presented ''The Ugly One'' by Marius von Mayenburg at the "Contact International Theatre Festival" in Poland. Artistic Directors have included

Ian Rickson Ian David Rickson (born 1963) is a British theatre director. He was the artistic director at the Royal Court Theatre in London from 1998 to 2006.

(1998–2006), Max Stafford-Clark,

Stuart Burge Stuart Burge (15 January 1918 – 24 January 2002) was an English stage and film director, actor and producer. The son of H. O. Burge, by his marriage to K. M. Haig, Burge was educated at Eagle House School, Sandhurst, and Felsted School, Essex ...

Robert Kidd The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, Nicholas Wright, Lindsay Anderson, Anthony Page, and William Gaskill. From 2007 to 2012, the theatre's Artistic Director was

Dominic Cooke Dominic Cooke (born 1966) is an English director and writer. Early life Born in Wimbledon, south London, Cooke was brought up seeing a lot of theatre as a teenager from free theatre tickets provided by the Inner London Education Authority. ...

and the deputy artistic director was Jeremy Herrin. Vicky Featherstone, the first female artistic director, previously founding head of the National Theatre of Scotland, replaced Cooke as Artistic Director in April 2013.

Antisemitism controversies

In 1987, Ken Loach's production of ''

Perdition Perdition may refer to: * Hell in Christianity Music * '' Perdition City'', an album by Norwegian band Ulver * '' The Perdition EP'', an album by Norwegian band Enslavement of Beauty * "Perdition", a song from the album ''In Consequence'' by Gree ...

'' at the Royal Court Theatre was abandoned after protests and commissioned reviews from two historians, Martin Gilbert and

David Cesarani David Cesarani (13 November 1956 – 25 October 2015) was a British historian who specialised in Jewish history, especially the Holocaust. He also wrote several biographies, including ''Arthur Koestler: The Homeless Mind'' (1998). Early life ...

. Oxford historian Gilbert said the play was "a travesty of the facts" and "deeply

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

". Loach and the play's author, Jim Allen, denied the accusations and accused the " Zionist lobby" and "the Zionist machine" of stirring up controversy unfairly.

's play ''

Seven Jewish Children ''Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza'' is a six-page, 10-minute play by British playwright Caryl Churchill, written in response to the 2008-2009 Israel military strike on Gaza, and first performed at London's Royal Court Theatre on 6 February ...

'' played at the theatre in 2009. Many Jewish leaders and journalists criticised the play as antisemitic.Symons, Leon
"Outrage over 'demonising' play for Gaza,"
''The Jewish Chronicle'', 12 February 2009Goldberg, Jeffrey
"The Royal Court Theatre's Blood Libel"
''Atlantic Monthly'' 9 February 2009Healy, Patrick

''New York Times'', 17 February 2009 One called it "a libellous and despicable demonisation of Israeli parents and grandparents" and a modern

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...

drawing on old antisemitic myths. Michael Billington in '' The Guardian'' described the play as "a heartfelt lamentation for the future generations" and contended that the play, though controversial, is not antisemitic. Another ''Guardian'' writer viewed ''Seven Jewish Children'' as historically inaccurate and harshly critical of Jews. The Royal Court denied the accusations, saying: "In keeping with its philosophy, the Royal Court Theatre presents a multiplicity of viewpoints." In 2021, the theatre produced

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a C ...

's play ''Rare Earth Mettle'', which addresses environmental and social "damage inflicted by powerful tech industries", and features a rapacious, ultra-wealthy villain reportedly based on Elon Musk; although Musk is not Jewish, the name of the supervillain was the Jewish-sounding "Hershel Fink." The Royal Court Theatre first apologized for "unconscious bias" in choosing "an antisemitic name", then, after the "unconscious bias" claim was criticized, it issued an "unreserved apology." The name "Hershel Fink" was used despite concerns having been raised with director Hamish Pirie earlier in the production process, and despite the theatre's association with the anti-racism organization Sour Lemons, which is intended to identify and dismantle systemic racism in its productions. The character's name was eventual changed to "Henry Finn".

Europe Theatre Prize

In 1999, the theatre was awarded the V Europe Prize Theatrical Realities. The prize organization stated:

e Royal Court Theatre ... has done more than any other institution to promote new writing. Since 1956 it has premiered the work of many of the best-known British dramatists:
Osborne Osborne may refer to: * Osborne (name) Places Australia * Osborne, South Australia (disambiguation), places associated with the suburb in the Adelaide metropolitan area * Osborne, New South Wales, a rural community in the Riverina region Can ...
, Wesker, Pinter, Bond,
Barker Barker may refer to: Occupations * Barker (occupation), a person who attempts to attract patrons to entertainment events * Barker (coachbuilder), a builder of horse-drawn coaches and later of bodywork for prestige cars * a person who strips tanbar ...
,
Brenton Brenton is an English place name and surname. The surname Brenton indicates that one's ancestors came from a place called Brenton near Exminster, Devon, south West England, the original meaning of which was "Bryni's homestead". Bryni was an Old Eng ...
,
Hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...
and
Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
. But this Award is given not so much for the Court's distinguished history as for its championship ... of new generation of challenging, often profoundly disturbing, writers ... like
Sarah Kane Sarah Kane (3 February 1971 – 20 February 1999) was an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. She is known for her plays that deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture—both physical and psychological� ...
('' Blasted'' and ''
Cleansed ''Cleansed'' is the third play by the English playwright Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1998 at the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs in London. The play is set in a university which (according to the blurb of the published script) is op ...
''), Mark Ravenhill (''
Shopping and Fucking ''Shopping and Fucking'' (sometimes billed as ''Shopping and F**king'') is a 1996 play by English playwright Mark Ravenhill. It was Ravenhill's first full-length play. It received its first public reading at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 19 ...
'') and Jez Butterworth (''
Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...
'') who graphically express their horror at the moral emptiness and crude materialism of the world they have inherited. Their plays are filled with images of violence, but behind the violence lies an anger and confusion at the difficulty of existing in a post-Marxist, post-Christian, post-Utopian society. ... Under the direction first of Stephen Daldry and now of
Ian Rickson Ian David Rickson (born 1963) is a British theatre director. He was the artistic director at the Royal Court Theatre in London from 1998 to 2006.
, it has staged coproductions with companies such as Out of Joint and Théâtre de Complicité (including a sensational revival of Ionesco's '' The Chairs''). It has presented outstanding plays by young Irish writers such as Conor McPherson and
Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh (; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright, screenwriter, producer, and director. Born and brought up in London, he is the son of Irish parents. He is known as one of the most acclaimed modern playwrights whose ...
. It ... has given voice to a new generation of young writers whose moral anger, urban despair and political disillusion have sent shockwaves throughout the whole of Europe.

Notable productions since the 1950s

1950s

* '' Look Back in Anger'' by

, directed by Tony Richardson, music for songs by

Tom Eastwood Thomas Hugh Eastwood (12 March 1922 – 25 October 1999) was a British composer. He was born in Hawley, Hampshire, the son of General Sir Thomas Ralph Eastwood and Lady Mabel Vivian Temperley Eastwood. His grandmother was Ellinor Hall Smyth (mar ...

, starring

Kenneth Haigh Kenneth William Michael Haigh (25 March 1931 – 4 February 2018) was an English actor. He first came to public recognition for playing the role of Jimmy Porter in the play ''Look Back in Anger'' in 1956 opposite Mary Ure in London's West End ...

(1956) * ''

'' by

, directed by Tony Richardson, starring

(1957)

1960s

* ''The Knack'' by Ann Jellicoe (1962) * '' Exit the King'' by

, directed by

, starring

Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (194 ...

(1963) * '' A Patriot for Me'' by

(1965) * '' Saved'' by

, directed by William Gaskill (1965)

1970s

* '' Owners'' by

(1972) * '' The Rocky Horror Show'' with music, lyrics and book by

Richard O'Brien Richard Timothy Smith. known professionally as Richard O'Brien, is a British-New Zealand actor, writer, musician, composer, and television presenter. He wrote the musical stage show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' in 1973, which has remained in conti ...

, directed by Jim Sharman (1973) * '' Not I'' by

(1973) * '' Class Enemy'' by Nigel Williams (1978) * ''

Bent Bent may refer to: Places * Bent, Iran, a city in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran * Bent District, an administrative subdivision of Iran * Bent, Netherlands, a village in the municipality of Rijnwoude, the Netherlands * Bent County, Colo ...

'' by Martin Sherman (1979)

1980s

* ''The Arbor'' by Andrea Dunbar, directed by Max Stafford-Clark (1980) * ''Insignificance'' by Terry Johnson (1982)The play was later adapted as a film. Sinyard, Neil. ''The Films of Nicolas Roeg'', Charles Letts & Co. (1991 ), p. 97 * '' Top Girls'' by

(1982) * '' Road'' by Jim Cartwright (1986) * ''

Our Country's Good ''Our Country's Good'' is a 1988 play written by British playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker, adapted from the Thomas Keneally novel ''The Playmaker''. The story concerns a group of Royal Marines and convicts in a penal colony in New South Wales, ...

'' by Timberlake Wertenbaker, adapted from the

Thomas Keneally Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel ''Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, wh ...

novel ''

The Playmaker ''The Playmaker'' is a novel based in Australia written by the Australian author Thomas Keneally. In 1789 in Sydney Cove, the remotest penal colony of the British Empire, a group of convicts and one of their captors unite to stage a play. Gover ...

'' (1988)

1990s

* '' Death and the Maiden'' by Ariel Dorfman, directed by

Lindsay Posner Lindsay Steven Posner (born 6 June 1959)"Lindsay Posner ...

, starring Juliet Stevenson (1991) * ''

Hysteria Hysteria is a term used colloquially to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that ...

'' by Terry Johnson, directed by Phyllida Lloyd (1993) * '' My Night with Reg'' by Kevin Elyot, directed by

Roger Michell Roger Michell (5 June 1956 – 22 September 2021) was a South African-born British theatre, television and film director. He was best known for directing films such as ''Notting Hill (film), Notting Hill'' and ''Venus (2006 film), Venus'', as ...

(1994) * '' Blasted'' by

, directed by James Macdonald (1995) * ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' by Jez Butterworth, directed by

Ian Rickson Ian David Rickson (born 1963) is a British theatre director. He was the artistic director at the Royal Court Theatre in London from 1998 to 2006.

(1995) * ''

Shopping and Fucking ''Shopping and Fucking'' (sometimes billed as ''Shopping and F**king'') is a 1996 play by English playwright Mark Ravenhill. It was Ravenhill's first full-length play. It received its first public reading at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 19 ...

'' by Mark Ravenhill, directed by Max Stafford-Clark (1996) * '' The Weir'' by Conor McPherson (1997) * ''

Cleansed ''Cleansed'' is the third play by the English playwright Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1998 at the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs in London. The play is set in a university which (according to the blurb of the published script) is op ...

'' by

, directed by James Macdonald (1998)

2000s

* '' Dublin Carol'' by Conor McPherson, directed by

Ian Rickson Ian David Rickson (born 1963) is a British theatre director. He was the artistic director at the Royal Court Theatre in London from 1998 to 2006.

, starring Brian Cox (2000) * ''

4.48 Psychosis ''4.48 Psychosis'' is the final play by British playwright Sarah Kane. It was her last work, first staged at the Royal Court's Jerwood Theatre Upstairs on 23 June 2000, directed by James Macdonald, nearly one and a half years after Kane's deat ...

'' by

, directed by James Macdonald (2000) * ''

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References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * *
History of the theatre

* (Includes a detailed comparison of the Royal Court and a theater in New York City that was influenced by it; also includes discussion of Royal Court plays that the Chelsea presented, including ''Saved'', ''Total Eclipse'', and ''The Contractor'')

External links

*
English Stage Company/Royal Court Theatre Archive
at the Victoria & Albert Museum
English Stage Company Correspondence Collection
at the Harry Ransom Center * '' The Guardian'', 21 July 2009
The Royal Court Upstairs marks 40 years of scaling new heights
{{Authority control 1870 establishments in England Theatres completed in 1888 Grade II listed theatres Grade II listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Theatre companies in London Theatres in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Producing house theatres in London