Royal Court Theatre News

From the pioneers of British improvised theatre and creators of the award-winning international smash hit Showstopper! The Improvised Musical and Ken Campbell's School Of Night, Extempore Theatre brings the spooky The Society of Strange to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from the 18th - 30th August.

Extempore Theatre presents The School of Night: Rhapsodes at the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe from the 5th - 17th August. From the minds that pioneered improvised theatre in the UK and created the award-winning international smash hit Showstopper! The Improvised Musical comes their most challenging and impressive improv show yet.

A father sacrifices the life of his eldest daughter for the common good - having her snatched away during a TV ad break. It's the kind of thing that can really mess up a family. Mother turns against father. Son turns against mother. Sister turns against sister. Maybe you've heard the myth, but not like this.

ALLIE, a new dark comedy written and performed by Edinburgh born actor Ruaraidh Murray, will be Murray's first ever two-hander alongside Edinburgh born actress Megan Shandley. This will premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at the Gilded Balloon, tonight 5 - Monday 31 August 2015.

Center Theatre Group and Playwrights Horizons have announced casting for "The Christians," a new play written by Lucas Hnath ("A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney," "Isaac's Eye," "Death Tax"). 

In a new production commissioned by the Finborough Theatre and originally seen as a staged reading as part of Vibrant - A Festival of Finborough Playwrights, the European premiere of This Heaven by Nakkiah Lui runs at the Finborough Theatre, playing Sunday and Monday evenings and Tuesday matinees from Sunday, 30 August 2015 (Press Night: Monday, 31 August 2015 at 7.30pm).

Atlantic Theater Company has announced complete casting for the first production of its 30th anniversary season, the New York revival of multiple Obie Award winner Caryl Churchill's landmark play Cloud Nine, directed by Obie Award winner James Macdonald.

The Royal Court Theatre will be joining Paines Plough's EARLIER/LATER Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme at Roundabout @ Summerhall with Manwatching, an explicit insight into heterosexual female desire.

Metta Theatre today announces the world premiere of Mouthful, the centrepiece of their 10th anniversary celebrations. Mouthful is a darkly comic and at times heartbreaking response to the global food crisis through six brand new plays from six of the world's leading dramatists - Lydia Adetunji, Bola Agbaje, Clare Bayley, Inua Ellams, Neil LaBute and Pedro Miguel Rozo. The playwrights, with support from a Wellcome Trust Arts Award, have teamed up with six world-renowned scientists - Professors Tim Benton, Kamal Bawa, Suzanne Filteau, Ilkka Hanski, Molly Jahn and Tim Lang to collaborate on this politically provocative and theatrically imaginative production.

TOTTENHAM'S OWN is a celebration of work made by the local community and will include workshops and performance nights for home grown talent in the Tottenham area.

Evie Hone and Lizzie Wells will join Anna-Louise Knight and Lara McDonnell in the title role of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical from Tuesday 15 September 2015. Joining the four actresses will be Michael Begley (Mr Wormwood), Miria Parvin (Miss Honey) and Rebecca Thornhill (Mrs Wormwood). Craige Els will continue in the role of Miss Trunchbull.

The Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival is delighted to announce that it has just received one of the largest awards to an arts festival this year, £300,000 from the UK-based T.S. Eliot Trust. This major new funding over three years secures the Festival's future for Enniskillen and Northern Ireland.

In a new production commissioned by the Finborough Theatre and originally seen as a staged reading as part of Vibrant -- A Festival of Finborough Playwrights 2013, the world premiere of We Know Where You Live  by Steven Hevey, the award-winning Playwright-on-Attachment at the Finborough Theatre, runs at the Finborough Theatre, playing nine Sunday and Monday evenings from Sunday, 2nd August 2015 (Press Night: Monday, 3rd August 2015 at 7.30pm).

Mandeep Dhillon and Jalleh Alizadeh will take leading roles in the stage premiere of Meera Syal's much-loved novel, Anita And Me which opens at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on 9 October (press night Tuesday 13 October).

The Contemporary American Theater Festival at Shepherd University has announced its newest quintet of plays to be presented this summer in rotating repertory. Ed Herendeen, the founder and producing director of the Theater Festival, has selected from the sea of scripts, five new plays from five celebrated playwrights: Johnna Adams, Sheila Callaghan, Steven Dietz, Barbara Hammond, and Michael Weller.

The complete cast and creative team have been announced for The Comedy of Errors as The Old Globe's 2015 Summer Shakespeare Festival continues the Globe's 80th Anniversary festivities as part of the Balboa Park Centennial Celebration.

Pear Theatre Artistic Director Diane Tasca has announced details of the company's line-up for its 2015-16 season, the first in its new state-of-the-art theatre located at 1110 La Avenida, Mountain View. The ambitious season launches with a world premiere romantic comedy, and includes works by Tracy Letts, Amy Freed, Chekhov, Katori Hall, and Nina Raine. For subscriptions ($100-$212) and more information the public may visit www.thepear.org or call 650-254-1148.

Producers Howard Panter and John Frost gleefully announced that the author of The Rocky Horror Show, Richard O'Brien, would join the production at certain special performances during the Melbourne season, playing the role of the Narrator. O'Brien can be seen at performances tonight, June 30, and July 1, 2, 5 (5.30pm only), 7, 8 and 9.

Since its first appearance at the Royal Court Theatre in June 1973, Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show has become the world's favourite Rock N' Roll musical. It has been performed worldwide for over 40 years in over 30 countries and has been translated into more than 20 languages. Director Christopher Luscombe created a stunning new production to celebrate the 40th Anniversary and this critically acclaimed version of the classic show is back by popular demand, and comes to Edinburgh on 28 March - 2 April 2016.