Mark Ravenhill News

A series of rapid political responses, Cutting the Tightrope: the divorce of Politics from Art brings together award-winning playwrights with radically different voices to form an urgent response to the creeping repression of the arts. 

Written by Mark Ravenhill and directed by Erica Whyman, Ben & Imo tells the story of the composition of Benjamin Britten’s (Samuel Barnett) Gloriana with musical assistant Imogen Holst (Victoria Yeates) over a period of nine months in the coast town of Aldeburgh. The play is based on Ravenhill’s BBC Radio 3 presentation, Imo and Ben.

Check out photos from The London 50-Hour Improvathon: The Wedding Party here!

Life With Oscar comes to the Arcola Theatre in April. In a frenetic on-stage exorcism, actor and filmmaker Nick Cohen relives his rollercoaster journey from South London to Sunset Boulevard. Performances run 2 – 20 April.

Playwright Mark Ravenhill joins the cast of The London 50-Hour Improvathon: The Wedding Party, featuring top improvisers.

IAN MCKELLEN, TOHEEB JIMOH & RICHARD COYLE star in Robert Icke's production of PLAYER KINGS, adapted from Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2.

Samuel Barnett and Victoria Yeates will make their Royal Shakespeare Company debuts to play, respectively, Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst in the Company’s forthcoming production of Ben and Imo, written by Mark Ravenhill and directed by Erica Whyman.

WGGB presents its annual awards for the encouragement of new writing in London on Friday 1 December 2023.

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has announced that the chosen 37 Plays selected as part of its nationwide playwriting project, will receive script-in-hand readings across the UK throughout the Autumn of 2023. Learn more about the lineup of plays here!

The King’s Head Theatre charity has announced they will be closing their home of 53 years on 13 August 2023, and moving into a custom-built new theatre immediately behind the existing venue in Islington Square, with an opening date and programme to be announced.

Indie theatre outfit Virginia Plain Theatre will present a long overdue revival of Philip Ridley's chocolate-coated post-apocalyptic fairy tale, The Pitchfork Disney at Meraki Arts Bar. The Pitchfork Disney is directed by Victor Kalka (Chef, Radiant Vermin) and stars indie theatre mainstays Jane Angharad and James Smithers (Albion, Gundog) as orphaned twins Presley and Haley.

Erica Whyman has announced details of her final season of work as Acting Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) ahead of her stepping down this month. 

The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced details of the final 37 Plays selected for its nationwide playwriting search: an ambitious new initiative open to anybody from anywhere in the UK.

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and Theatre Partners announce the Judging panel for the nationwide playwriting competition 37 Plays: an ambitious and ground-breaking new initiative open to anybody from anywhere in the UK. More than 2,000+ plays were submitted and have been read by a panel of 24 readers recruited from across the UK. 

Mercury Theatre, led by Executive Director Steve Mannix, Executive Producer Tracey Childs and Creative Director Ryan McBryde, has announced four new associate companies who will partner with the venue for a period of three years.

WGGB presents its annual awards for the encouragement of new writing in London on Wednesday 22 February 2023.

Vicky Featherstone has announced she will step down later this year when the search for a new Artistic Director is complete and once they have taken up post. 

Join National Youth Theatre and some of Britain's leading voices for a world-first all-night West End youth takeover at the iconic Duke of York's Theatre on 10 February 2023. 

Islington's King's Head Theatre has announced The Takeover, where four guest Artistic Directors have been given the opportunity to curate and programme their own seasons’ from the end of March to August 2023. 

As the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) celebrates the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's First Folio in 2023, the Company today announced the opening of submissions for its new nationwide playwriting competition 37 Plays: an ambitious and ground-breaking new initiative open to anybody from anywhere in the UK.