Royal Court Theatre News

59E59 Theaters will welcome the return of The Shop with the US premiere of I AM THE WIND, written by Jon Fosse, translated by Simon Stephens, and directed by Paul Takacs. I AM THE WIND begins performances on Thursday, January 9 for a limited engagement through Sunday, January 26. Press opening is Thursday, January 16 at 7:30 PM.

Sheffield Theatres will welcome Tom Edden as Fagin in Artistic Director Daniel Evans' production of Lionel Bart's Oliver!. The production runs from today 29 November 2013 until Saturday 25 January 2014 at the Crucible Theatre.

Theatre503, the new writing powerhouse that has launched the careers of playwrights Dennis Kelley and Katori Hall, as well as being the smallest unfunded theatre in the UK to win an Olivier Award for Best New Play, continues to break new ground by unveiling The Theatre503 Playwriting Award.

The team behind the critically acclaimed West End revival of Philip Ridley's Mercury Fur are to present the UK premiere of Superior Donuts by the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright Tracy Letts. Directed by Ned Bennett and produced by The Trick (formerly known as Greenhouse Theatre Company) and Sarah Stribley Productions, Superior Donuts will run in The Little at Southwark Playhouse from Tuesday 11 February - Saturday 8 March.

On December 2nd, Believe Theatrical will host the first public reading of Rebecca Gilman's screenplay adaptation of Blue Surge at the Pater Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42nd Street. Michael Walker (Price Check) will direct the stellar NYC cast to be led by Rachel Brosnahan (House of Cards) and to include Jayce Bartok (The Cake Eaters), Phil Burke (Hell on Wheels) and Kate White (Fall to Rise), Autumn Dornfeld (Law & Order), Katy Wright-Mead (The Knick) and Patrick James Lynch (Peter & The Star Catcher) among others.

Following its hit production Other People's Money, Shattered Globe Theatre will continue its 2013-14 season with Timberlake Wertenbaker's six-time Tony Award-nominated and Olivier Award-winning drama OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD, directed by Roger Smart, playing January 9 - February 22, 2014 at its new artistic home Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are available at www.theaterwit.org, in person at the Theater Wit Box Office or by calling (773) 975-8150. The press performance is Sunday, January 12, 2014 at 3 pm.

The critically-acclaimed FURIOUS THEATRE COMPANY will present the second show of their 2013-2014 season, in association with, and direct from its critically-acclaimed run at the ARTISTS REPERTORY THEATRE in Portland, the rolling U.S. premiere of FOXFINDER written by Dawn King and directed by Damaso Rodriguez. FOXFINDER will feature Furious members, Sara Hennessey and Shawn Lee as well as Amanda Soden and Joshua Weinstein and will preview on Wednesday, January 8, Thursday, January 9 and Friday, January 10 at 8pm and will open on Saturday, January 11 at 8:00pm and run through Sunday, February 2 at the Pasadena Playhouse Carrie Hamilton Theatre, 39 S. El Molino Ave. in Pasadena.

Theatre Renegade will be holding a book launch and performance of its next installment of their Courting Drama series today, November 23 at the Bush Theatre.

fiji land, directed by Alice Malin and designed by Ruth Hall with lighting by Tom Wickens and sound by Max Pappenheim, will feature Stephen Bisland, Jake Ferretti,and Matthew Trevannion at The Little at Southwark Playhouse. Press performance: Friday, 17 January at 7.30pm. The show runs 15 January - 8 February 2014.

Anna Jordan is today, Friday 22 November, announced as the winner of the £16,000 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting for her play, Yen.

This winter, Barry McCarthy (King Lear, Almeida; Notes on a Scandal; Fox Searchlight) reprises his role as Father Christmas in the Lyric Hammersmith and Pins and Needles sell-out smash hit. This first ever stage adaptation of the festive classic by eminent children's author Raymond Briggs returns to the Lyric studio for an extended run.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has announced the publication of Teddy Ferrara by Christopher Shinn, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-finalist, Dying City. This gripping new drama inspired by real events received its world premiere at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in winter 2013.

Actress and director Kathy Burke has come up with a cast for her revamp of playwright Mary O'Malley's 1977 play ONCE A CATHOLIC. Burke will direct the production at the Tricycle Theatre, beginning tonight, November 21.

The UK premiere of Claudia Dey's acclaimed play comes to The Little starring Sinead Matthews (A Time to Reap, Royal Court; The Changeling, The Glass Menagerie, Young Vic; The Master & Margarita, Complicite at Barbican and on tour; Women of Troy, The Mandate, National; The Wild Duck, Donmar), Vinette Robinson (Hamlet, Young Vic; Measure for Measure, National Theatre; Speaking Like Magpies, RSC; Tender Napalm, Southwark Playhouse; Sherlock) and Dylan Smith (Private Lives with Kim Cattrall, Toronto and Broadway; Zadie's Shoes, Finborough; Golden Swords, Shakespeare's Globe; Total Recall, 300, Eastenders).

Theatre Renegade will be holding a book launch and performance of its next installment of their Courting Drama series this Saturday, November 23 at the Bush Theatre.

St. Ann's Warehouse will present the American Premiere of Kate Tempest's Brand New Ancients, which garnered considerable critical acclaim and the prestigious Herald Angel Award at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Tempest is also the first winner under 40 of the Ted Hughes Poetry Award. Brand New Ancients, which will run from January 10 - 19, continues the St Ann's Warehouse tradition of introducing American audiences to exceptional theater artists and companies from across the pond, including Kneehigh, Enda Walsh, Stephen Hoggett, John Tiffany, and Daniel Kitson, who first recommended Tempest to St. Ann's Artistic Director, Susan Feldman. A co-production with Battersea Arts Centre on Tour, Brand New Ancients will run for eight performances at St. Ann's Warehouse in DUMBO (29 Jay Street, Brooklyn).

Jeremy Herrin announces his plans as Artistic Director of Headlong with new work from some of theatre's most exciting and original voices; Anya Reiss, Jennifer Haley, Jack Thorne and Duncan Macmillan, who will be joining the company as a Literary Associate.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are delighted to announce the 38th Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, running February 26-April 6, 2014. This year's Festival program will feature (in order of opening):

That Face, the debut play from award-winning playwright Polly Stenham, will have its first London revival at the Landor Theatre from today 12 November to Sunday 1 December (press night Thursday 7 November).