Tag: Royal Court Jerwood Theatre

Cast announced for Rabiah Hussain’s Word-Play at the Royal Court Theatre

Issam Al Ghussain, Kosar Ali, Simon Manyonda, Sirine Saba and Yusra Warsama will head the cast of Word-Play, a new show from Rabiah Hussain.

Directed by Nimmo Ismail, the show explores the top-down structures of language and their far-reaching, long-lasting consequences. It will take place at the Royal Court Theatre’s Jerwood Theatre Upstairs from July 20-August 26, 2023.

In the Downing Street Press Office an emergency meeting has been called. The Prime Minister has been ad-libbing on live TV (again) and his words are going viral. There is a flurry of accusations, and demands for an apology; but as the team debate what to do next, it’s already too late. His words have found their way to dinner parties, bus journeys and newspaper columns across the nation – and not everyone is angry.

Word-Play is designed by Rosanna Vize, with lighting design by Jamie Platt. The composer and sound designer is XANA, the movement director is Ken Nakajima and the casting director is Isabella Odoffin. The voice coach is Emma Woodvine, the assistant director is Aneesha Srinivasan and the associate designer is Alys Whitehead. 

The play was developed whilst Hussain was on attachment as part of the Royal Court Theatre and Kudos Writing Fellowship in 2019.

There will be a post-show talk with Hussain on Wednesday, August 2, 2023.

Royal Court attracts Michael Wynne’s Cuckoo

Cuckoo, a dark comedy by Michael Wynne, is coming to the Royal Court Theatre.

Staged in partnership with Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, the Royal Court’s artistic director Vicky Featherstone directs Michelle Butterly, Emma Harrison, Sue Jenkins and Jodie McNee.

Wynne was born in Birkenhead and the production is set in the writer’s hometown with an all-Scouse cast. 

Cuckoo runs at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from Thursday, July 6 to Saturday, August 19, 2023, before transferring to Liverpool Everyman  from Wednesday September 6 to Saturday 23, 2023.  

Cuckoo is designed by Peter McKintosh, with lighting design by Jai Morjaria and sound design by Nick Powell. 

Doreen and her two grown up daughters sit at the table – eating fish and chips, distracted by their phones. Upstairs, 17–year-old Megyn has locked herself in her grandmother’s bedroom and refuses to come out. And no one is entirely sure why… 

Wynne’s dark comedy explores the safety of home and the different ways we cope in our increasingly uncertain world. 

The playwright will host a post-show talk on Tuesday, July 18, 2023.

He said: “Cuckoo follows three generations of a matriarchal family as they try to live their lives in what can feel like difficult and crazy times. They’re dealing with financial insecurity, economic decline, all pervasive technology and the potential impact of climate change – amongst other things.

“I was interested in exploring how different generations discuss issues and how having opposing opinions has become much more fraught – even within close families. 

“The last few years have taken their toll on all of us and I came across this term historical narcissism. It forces us to question whether this really is the worst period of modern times, or if it’s just the way we’re living our lives – with news flashes pinged to us at all hours etc … or are we lacking in perspective?”

“This might sound quite heavy but fundamentally it’s a comedy about a family trying to get on with their lives and each other.”

Clockwise from top left: Michelle Butterly, Emma Harrison, Sue Jenkins and Jode McNee. 

Royal Court hosts Wynter’s Black Superhero

Pose and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story star Dyllón Burnside will make his London debut as the star of Black Superhero.

Danny Lee Wynter’s new play will run at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from March 14-April 29.

Directed by co-artistic director designate of the RSC Daniel Evans, the cast also includes Ben Allen, Dominic Holmes, Eloka Ivo, Danny Lee Wynter, Ako Mitchel and Rochenda Sandall.

Wynter’s debut play is described as a brutal, unflinching and funny portrait of one man’s life spiraling out of control, in an age where our idols are Kings and our superheroes Gods.

Wynter said: “I feel lucky to have this extraordinarily accomplished group of artists come together to tell this story about a messy, funny, complicated, often savage group of queer friends who drive a man towards his own journey of healing and self acceptance. I wanted to write a big, epic story that asks difficult questions about who and where we are.

“Black Superhero is a love letter to the theatre. A subversion of the historical notion that a black, gay man – both in art and the world – is merely an adjunct, a side-note, an unserious man or a source only of amusement. He can, of course, be fun, but he’s also many other things; things the world has made him; things he has learnt to be for his own survival. I wanted to place him front and centre at the heart of the kind of narrative that many of us brown boys who like men have, for the most part, been culturally starved of since we entered the world. I have tried to present his myriad flaws, his fears, his sensuality, his intimate desires. To celebrate him, and those like him, by ultimately allowing him to own all of it; by becoming the hero of his own story.”