31-547: The International Play writing Festival was founded in 1986 by Steve Gooch and Ted Craig and was hosted by the new playwriting theatre, Warehouse Theatre until the Warehouse Theater Company Limited went into administration in May 2012. The Festival acted to ensure its reputation and continuation and is now under the umbrella of a new company, Warehouse Phoenix Limited . The IPF is held in two parts:
62-412: A gallery. Cecil and Clayton yielded management of the theatre to Mrs. John Wood 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 titled Mamma , starring Mrs. John Wood and John Hare, with Arthur Cecil and Eric Lewis . By the end of the century, the theatre was again called
93-501: A modern blood libel 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,
124-485: 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 , while Lewenstein, a former Communist , did not want one of the theatre's new plays to be overwhelmed by its star and did not think much of
155-655: Is also co-founder (with Steve Gooch) of the annual International Playwriting Festival , which takes place yearly. Other productions include Blood Royal by Charles Thomas at the Kings Head Theatre , Islington ; Richard Vincent 's Skin Deep ; Sara Mason's The Kindness of Strangers with Susannah York ;, George Parsons' Being Olivia . and the London revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Rupert Holmes . Also for
186-734: The BRIT School - the Performing Arts and Technology School. "Doing playwrights and the theatre at large a fine service". Jeremy Kingston, The Times 1990. The 2013 IPF was held at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon on the 29th and 30 June 2013 and the selected play "The Road to Nowhere" by Sean Cook was given a full production at the Aschcroft Theatre in Croydon from 2nd to 5 October 2013. Writers discovered by
217-833: The Court Theatre , the New Chelsea Theatre , and the Belgravia Theatre , is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square , 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. The first theatre on Lower George Street, off Sloane Square,
248-636: The Crewe repertory company, and went on to act and direct at Crewe, Richmond , Folkestone , and Harrogate . He served as the resident artistic director at Crewe Theatre for three years, before taking over from Christopher Denys as the new artistic director at the Connaught, Worthing. Since then he has directed theatre productions all over the UK , Europe, the United States , Asia and Australia, including
279-514: The Dickens novel), and On Guard (all in 1871); The Happy Land (1873, with Gilbert Abbott à Beckett ; 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 (1875). By 1878, management of
310-479: The "Royal Court Theatre". Harley Granville-Barker 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. After the war, the interior was reconstructed as a stage theatre by Robert Cromie, and
341-819: 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,
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#1732791148243372-537: 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
403-461: The 400-seat proscenium arch 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 June 1972. Though the main auditorium and the façade were attractive, the remainder of the building provided poor facilities for both audience and performers, and throughout
434-838: The Australian première of The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance ( Melbourne Theatre Company ); and Arthur Miller 's The Last Yankee and Joe Orton 's Entertaining Mr Sloane (Theatro Ena, Cyprus ). From 1985 to 2012, Craig was the Artistic Director of the Warehouse Theatre , Croydon , London, and his productions included The Astronomer's Garden by Kevin Hood (Warehouse Theatre and Royal Court Theatre ), Playing Sinatra by Bernard Kops (Warehouse Theatre and Greenwich Theatre ), Sugar Hill Blues by Kevin Hood (Warehouse Theatre and Hampstead Theatre ). He
465-577: 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 's Look Back in Anger , was a play by one of the Angry Young Men . The director was Tony Richardson . Osborne followed Look Back in Anger with The Entertainer , starring Laurence Olivier as Archie Rice,
496-593: The English Stage Company presented The Ugly One by Marius von Mayenburg at the "Contact International Theatre Festival" in Poland . Artistic Directors have included George Devine (1956–1965), William Gaskill (1965–1972), Lindsay Anderson and Anthony Page (1969–1972), Oscar Lewenstein (1972–1975), Nicholas Wright and Robert Kidd (1975–1977), Stuart Burge (1977–1979), Max Stafford-Clark (1979–1992), Stephen Daldry (1992–1998), Ian Rickson (1998–2006) and Dominic Cooke (2007 to 2012). Vicky Featherstone
527-611: The IPF include: The Festival patron is Thelma Holt CBE. Ted Craig Ted Craig FRSA (born 20 April 1948) is an Australian -born theatre director lately the artistic director of the Warehouse Theatre , South London , England . Craig was born and educated in Melbourne, Australia . He worked in Australian television as a director for four years, as well as an actor (Best Supporting Actor, 1964 Adelaide Festival of Arts). He travelled to England in 1964, where he joined
558-624: The Royal Court Theatre presents a multiplicity of viewpoints." In November 2021, the theatre renamed the lead character of the play Rare Earth Mettle by Al Smith from "Hershel Fink" to "Henry Finn" following criticism of perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes. The Royal Court Theatre also made an apology. In 1999, the theatre was awarded the " Europe Prize Theatrical Realities ". The prize organization stated: [T]he Royal Court Theatre ... has done more than any other institution to promote new writing. Since 1956 it has premiered
589-847: The Warehouse, he commissioned the Dick Barton - Special Agent series (based on the BBC Radio series) and directed all nine episodes. Following the withdrawal of funding by Croydon Council in 2012, the Warehouse Theatre Company was forced into Administration and its future and the Warehouse Theatre building are now at risk. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts . Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre , at different times known as
620-719: The directorship of the Drama Theatre of the Sydney Opera House . His freelance productions have included the Off-Broadway production of Look Back in Anger with Malcolm McDowell (1980, Roundabout Theatre ); Shakespeare's The Tempest , Congreve's Love for Love , Molière's The Misanthrope , Feydeau's The Lady from Maxim's all at the Sydney Opera House; Tarantara, Tarantara! by Ian Taylor (Theatre Royal, Sydney and Australian tour),
651-546: The façade and the intimate auditorium. The architects for this were Haworth Tompkins . 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 , Sarah Kane , Mark Ravenhill , and Roy Williams , among others. Since
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#1732791148243682-445: The first is a competition with entries accepted from all over the world, which are judged by a panel of distinguished theater practitioners. The second is a celebration and a showcase of the selected plays which is performed the following May. The IPF has two international partners - Extra Candoni, Udine, Italy , and Theatro Ena, Nicosia, Cyprus representing Italian and Greek new writing. There are also contributions from students from
713-419: The number of seats was reduced to under 500. The theatre re-opened in 1952, with Oscar Lewenstein as the general manager. In 1954, Lewenstein, together with George Devine , Ronald Duncan and Greville Poke , 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
744-465: The play's author, Jim Allen , denied the accusations and accused the " Zionist lobby " and "the Zionist machine" of stirring up controversy unfairly. Caryl Churchill 's play Seven Jewish Children played at the theatre in 2009. Many Jewish leaders and journalists criticised the play as antisemitic. One called it "a libellous and despicable demonisation of Israeli parents and grandparents" and
775-528: 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 (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 succès de scandale of
806-596: The theatre was shared by John Hare and W. H. Kendal . 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). After that, Arthur Cecil (who had joined the theatre's company in 1881) was co-manager of the theatre with John Clayton . Among other works, they produced a series of Arthur Wing Pinero '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
837-943: The two plays helped to bring about the abolition of theatre censorship in the UK. During the period of Devine's directorship, besides Osborne and Bond, the Royal Court premiered works by Arnold Wesker , John Arden , Ann Jellicoe and N.F. Simpson . Subsequent Artistic Directors of the Royal Court premiered work by Christopher Hampton , Athol Fugard , Howard Brenton , Caryl Churchill , Hanif Kureishi , Sarah Daniels , Errol John , Timberlake Wertenbaker , Martin Crimp , Sarah Kane , Sylvia Wynter , Mark Ravenhill , Martin McDonagh , Simon Stephens , Leo Butler , Polly Stenham and Nick Payne . Early seasons included new international plays by Bertolt Brecht , Eugène Ionesco , Samuel Beckett , Jean-Paul Sartre , and Marguerite Duras . In addition to
868-634: The work of many of the best-known British dramatists: Osborne , Wesker , Pinter , Bond , Barker , Brenton , Hare and Churchill . But this Award is given not so much for the Court's distinguished history as for its championship ... of [a] new generation of challenging, often profoundly disturbing, writers ... like Sarah Kane ( Blasted and Cleansed ), Mark Ravenhill ( Shopping and Fucking ) and Jez Butterworth ( Mojo ) ... [and] presented outstanding plays by young Irish writers such as Conor McPherson and Martin McDonagh . It ... has given voice to
899-477: Was demolished. 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 , 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
930-440: Was the converted Nonconformist Ranelagh Chapel , opened as a theatre in 1870 under the name The New Chelsea Theatre . Marie Litton became its manager in 1871, hiring Walter Emden to remodel the interior, and it was renamed the Court Theatre . Several of W. S. Gilbert 's early plays were staged here, including Randall's Thumb , Creatures of Impulse (with music by Alberto Randegger ), Great Expectations (adapted from
961-464: Was the first female artistic director (2013–2024). David Byrne took over the role in early 2024. In 1987, Ken Loach 's production of Perdition at the Royal Court Theatre was abandoned after protests and commissioned reviews from two historians, Martin Gilbert and David Cesarani . Oxford historian Gilbert said the play was "a travesty of the facts" and "deeply antisemitic ". Loach and