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The English Stage Company at the Royal Court opened in 1956 as a subsidised theatre producing new British plays, international plays and some classical revivals.

The first artistic director George Devine aimed to create a writers’ theatre, ‘a place where the dramatist is acknowledged as the fundamental creative force in the theatre and where the play is more important than the actors, the director, the designer’. The urgent need was to find a contemporary style in which the play, the acting, direction and design are all combined. He believed that ‘the battle will be a long one to continue to create the right conditions for writers to work in’.

Devine aimed to discover hard-hitting, uncompromising writers whose plays are stimulating, provocative and exciting’. The Royal Court production of John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger in May 1956 is now seen as the decisive starting point of modern British drama and the policy created a new generation of British playwrights. The first wave included John Osborne, Arnold Wesker, John Arden, Ann Jellicoe, N F Simpson and Edward Bond. Early seasons included new international plays by Bertolt Brecht, Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Jean-Paul Sartre and Marguerite Duras.

The theatre started with the 400-seat proscenium arch Theatre Downstairs, and in 1969 opened a second theatre, the 60-seat studio Theatre Upstairs. Some productions transfer to the West End, such as Terry Johnson’s Hitchcock Blonde, Caryl Churchill’s Far Away and Conor McPherson’s The Weir. Recent touring productions include Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis (US tour) and Ché Walker’s Flesh Wound (Galway Arts Festival). The Royal Court also co-produces plays which have transferred to the West End or toured internationally, such as Conor McPherson’s Shining City (with Gate Theatre, Dublin), Sebastian Barry’s The Steward of Christendom and Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and Fucking (with Out of Joint), Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen Of Leenane (with Druid), Ayub Khan Din’s East is East (with Tamasha).

Since 1994 the Royal Court’s artistic policy has again been vigorously directed to finding and producing a new generation of playwrights. The writers include Joe Penhall, Rebecca Prichard, Michael Wynne, Nick Grosso, Judy Upton, Meredith Oakes, Sarah Kane, Anthony Neilson, Judith Johnson, James Stock, Jez Butterworth, Marina Carr, Phyllis Nagy, Simon Block, Martin McDonagh, Mark Ravenhill, Ayub Khan Din, Tamantha Hammerschlag, Jess Walters, Ché Walker, Conor McPherson, Simon Stephens, Richard Bean, Roy Williams, Gary Mitchell, Mick Mahoney, Rebecca Gilman, Christopher Shinn, Kia Corthron, David Gieselmann, Marius von Mayenburg, David Eldridge, Leo Butler, Zinnie Harris, Grae Cleugh, Roland Schimmelpfennig, Chloe Moss, DeObia Oparei, Enda Walsh, Vassily Sigarev, the Presnyakov Brothers, Marcos Barbosa, Lucy Prebble, John Donnelly, Clare Pollard, Robin French, Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, Rob Evans and Laura Wade. This expanded programme of new plays has been made possible through the support of A.S.K. Theater Projects and the Skirball Foundation, The Jerwood Charity, the American Friends of the Royal Court Theatre and (in 1994/5 and 1999) in association with the National Theatre Studio.

In recent years there have been record-breaking productions at the box office, with capacity houses for Joe Penhall’s Dumb Show, Conor McPherson’s Shining City, Roy Williams’ Fallout and Terry Johnson’s Hitchcock Blonde.

The refurbished theatre in Sloane Square opened in February 2000, with a policy still inspired by the first artistic director George Devine. The Royal Court is an international theatre for new plays and new playwrights, and the work shapes contemporary drama in Britain and overseas.

INTERNATIONAL PLAYWRIGHTS

Since 1992 the Royal Court Theatre has placed a renewed emphasis on the development of international work and a creative dialogue now exists with theatre practitioners all over the world including Brazil, Cuba, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Palestine, Russia and Spain. All of these development projects are supported by the Genesis Foundation and the British Council.

The Royal Court has produced new International plays through this programme since 1997. Recent work includes My Name is Rachel Corrie, At the Table and Almost Nothing by Marcos Barbosa, Push Up by Roland Schimmelpfennig, Ladybird by Vassily Sigarev and Terrorism by the Presnyakov Brothers.

WAY TO HEAVEN is produced by the Royal Court International Department:

Associate Director Elyse Dodgson

International Administrator Chris James

International Associate Tiffany Watt-Smith