Royal Court Theatre Reveals Full Line Up For The Spring Open Submissions Festival

The Royal Court Theatre has announced the full line up for its second Open Submissions Festival, running from Monday 30 March - Friday 3 April 2026.  Selected from more than 3,500 scripts received each year, and launching a new twice-yearly format supported by Character 7, the Festival showcases the most distinctive and exciting new plays received by the Royal Court as part of its year-round, world-wide commitment to open script submissions. .

The plays and writers featured are The Briar Patch by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth, All Adventurous Women Do by Tanja Šljivar, We're Gonna Kill Billy by Alex Medland, Duppies by Tia‑Renee Mullings, and What's The F**king Point by ensemble company FlawBored. The plays will be presented in rehearsed readings with professional casts, directed by Danielle Kassarate, Aneesha Srinivasan, Prime Isaac, Mayaan Haputantri and FlawBored's Josh Roche respectively.

Following the exceptional quality and impact of last year's pilot - and thanks to generous support from producers of The Night Manager Character 7 - the Open Submissions Festival will now take place twice yearly, in spring and autumn. The expansion will double opportunities for writers to receive paid development support and a critical platform for their work through this programme.

The Open Submissions Festival further strengthens the Royal Court's support for new writing and the promise that anyone, anywhere in the world, can submit a play for equal consideration - central to the Royal Court's mission since it opened exactly 70 years ago, in April 1956. The week-long Festival champions the best new plays submitted through this channel – while offering industry and audiences a first look at the future of contemporary theatre.

Gillian Greer, Associate Playwright and Senior Dramaturg commented: ‘Our inaugural Open Submissions Festival was an enormous success. With Jack Nicholls' The Shitheads and Rhys Warrington's Monument both receiving full productions following successful readings, the Open Submissions Festival is fast becoming a key driver for plays making their way to our stages. I am delighted that with the support of Character Seven, we are doubling our efforts with two festivals this year. This programme is ambitious, international and provocative - a testament to the immense playwriting talent in the UK and beyond just waiting to be staged.'

Playwright Jack Nicholls, whose play The Shitheads featured in the 2025 Festival before securing a full production as part of the Royal Court's 2026 season, said: ‘Inclusion in the Open Submissions Festival was such an important milestone for me in showing that my work was being taken very seriously - an enormous vote of confidence that boosted my spirits, but also signalled to the wider industry that my work was worth paying attention to.'

Character 7's Executive Chairman Stephen Garrett said: ‘Our company is driven by a deep belief in the power of great writing and the importance of nurturing talent.  So many of the very brilliant writers we work with in film and TV have finessed their craft in theatre that it feels essential to be supporting the Royal Court in this vital initiative.'

The festival runs from Monday 30th March until Friday 3rd April 2026, with each performance starting at 7:45pm in the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs. The Royal Court Theatre marks its 70th anniversary on Thursday 2nd April 2026. For more information or to submit a script through the Royal Court's Open Submissions programme, please visit the Royal Court Theatre's website.

Tickets will cost £8.50  and go on-sale to the public at midday today, Monday 2nd March 2026, via its website and Box Office.

Writers' Card Members will have exclusive access to 20% off tickets to this event. All tickets will be eligible for a multibuy offer: when buying tickets for more than one performance, there will be a discount of £1.50 per ticket. (Not to be used in conjunction with any other offer).