The Royal Court Theatre's Youth Board Takes Over The Theatre

Following Open Court in 2013, when the writers had the keys, this time the Royal Court has handed the keys of the building to the theatre's Youth Board and 10 young writers aged 15 - 24. Over the next three weeks they are in charge and they will be tackling the issues that matter to them through theatre, music, installations, talks and workshops.

Open Court is a collaboration with the National Youth Theatre (NYT) as both organisations celebrate 60 years of discovering new talent. NYT actors will be performing in the series of plays by young writers.

Pushing boundaries and taking over the entire building, Open Court will spill off the stage into corridors, offices, rehearsal rooms, the Bar & Kitchen and online.

Many events free.

Open Court App
The Youth Board have partnered with Room One in the creation of an app. Browse the schedule of events, access special extra content, and keep up-to-date with what's happening through notifications. More content will be added throughout the festival.

Open Court the App is available both in the App Store and Play Store.

Commenting on the partnership, Room One Producer Laurence Chater said;
"We're thrilled to be working with the Royal Court and to be bringing our digital expertise to such an innovative and forward-thinking theatre. This app is just the beginning of what we hope will be a longer partnership looking at how new technologies can be used in the theatrical world."

Follow Open Court on Snapchat
Search for Open Court directly (opencourt2016) or just take a Snapchat of the QR code below.

Open Court Cast
The following NYT and Beyond the Court performers have been cast in Sense, Presenting..., Drinking Concrete: The Concept Album and Theatre Through The Windows;

Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, Joshua Asaré, Lisa Marie Ashworth, Josh Barrow, Roxana Bartle, Dior Clarke, Nathan Collins, Georgia Daniels, Tudor Davies, Rosie Dwyer, Yanexi Enriquez-Borges, Lauren Fitzpatrick, Christine Gomes, Mark Hannah, Caleb Hughes, Georgie Jones, Lauren Lyle, Behzad (Bez) Makari, Marika Mckennell, Sarah Milton, Kevin Mumbere, Melina Namdar, Anna Piper, Marc Pouani, Oscar Porter Brentford, Rachel Rajah, Razmik (Raz) Sargsyan, Michael Sookhan, Anna Spearpoint, Humaira Wadiwala, Douglas Wood and Michael Workeye.

Open Court Speakers
Guest speakers for When Will My _______ Stop Limiting Me? are Speech Debelle, an award-winning Hip Hop artist; Ossie Stuart, a diversity consultant specialising in ethnicity and disability; Jennifer Joseph, a Clean Break graduate and actress and members of the Youth Board.

Schools As Exam Factories is a new work exploring the pressures on young people in a system that measures intelligence by exam results.

Chaired by theatre director Lyndsey Turner and featuring guests including Stuart Worden, the principle of The BRIT School in Croydon, a free arts school for 14 to 19 year olds, and Ben Faulkner, deputy head boy at Maiden Erlegh School, this panel discussion considers the pressures on young people in a system that measures intelligence by exam results.

Prefaced by an original piece by Rebecca Porter performed by members of the National Youth Theatre.

Open Court listings information below:

Sense
By Serafina Cusack and Benedikt Päffgen
Directed by Royal Court Trainee Director Grace Gummer
Thursday 21 July - Friday 23 July 2016, 5pm, 7.45pm & 8.30pm
Tickets £7 (£2 under 25)
An intimate promenade experience telling one story of memory and loss. Using each of the five senses to experience the story in different ways; no journey will be the same.

Presenting...
By 10 young writers, aged 17 - 24
Directed by Royal Court Trainee Director Grace Gummer, Associate Director Hamish
Pirie and Artistic Associate Ola Animashawun
Thursday 28 July - Saturday 30 July 2016, 7.45pm
Tickets £7 (£2 under 25)
Debut plays from Young Court's 10 young playwrights with original and diverse stories to tell. Writers include Serafina Cusack, Thomas Fowler, Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu, Mark Hannah, Jasmine Jones, Sarah Milton, Benedikt Päffgen, Rebecca Porter, Sarah Stephenson and Zeyana Yussuf.

Each night will showcase a different set of 3-4 plays, performed by members of the National Youth Theatre.

Drinking Concrete: The Concept Album
By Jasmine Jones, Sarah Stephenson, Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu and Rebecca Porter. Directed by Royal Court Associate Director Hamish Pirie
Thursday 4 August - Saturday 6 August 2016, 5pm, 7.45pm, 8.30pm & 9.30pm
Tickets £7 (£2 under 25)
A spillage of plays, tracks and visuals, telling one story.

Be teased by free installations incorporating music, playwriting and art. Then take a journey around the whole building as the Open Court concept album unfolds through live performances and original compositions.

A unique collaboration between theatre makers, composers and young writers inspired by Kendrick Lamar's album To Pimp A Butterfly.

Knife Edge
By David Watson
The Big House Theatre Company
Monday 1 August (8.30pm) & Tuesday 2 August 2016 (3pm and 8.30pm) Tickets Evening performance £20, Matinee performance £10 Sometimes life cuts deep. Sometimes life needs a slap.

Written by David Watson (Peckham: The Soap Opera, Royal Court; Housed, The Old Vic) and directed by The Big House Artistic Director, Maggie Norris, Knife Edge is a play about fear, food and family that begins with a murder and ends with a feast.

A girl with no name, hungry for life, fights to tell her own story. Immerse yourself in a darkly comic world, and join her on a journey of discovery, culminating in a culinary coming-together of cast and audience.

Please note evening performances include a meal.

One Nighters: Platform Tottenham
Wednesday 3 August 2016, 9.30pm
Free (booking required)
Join us for a showcase of Tottenham's best and brightest talents.

An evening of spoken word, live music and more.

Platform Tottenham is part of Beyond the Court: the Royal Court's three year residency in Tottenham and Pimlico.

Talks: When will my ______ stop limiting me?
Saturday 23 July 2016, 8pm
Free (booking required)
Exploring race, gender, disability, sexuality and class, join the Youth Board for a series of discussions around breaking barriers.
Workshops: YEN prequel/sequel workshop with playwright Anna Jordan

Prequels and sequels are big business in the film industry but could the sequel ever become a trend in theatre?

Join us for a day-long playwriting workshop with Anna Jordan to write your own prequel/sequel to her Bruntwood Prize-winning YEN.
Open to writers under 25.
Workshops: Schools as exam factories
Wednesday 27 July 2016, 6pm
Free (booking required)
Join the Youth Board (ages 15-19) and school teachers for an event exploring the pressures on young people in a system that measures intelligence by exam results.

Young ASD Writers' Workshops
Saturday 23 July, 30 July and 6 August
In collaboration with Turtle Key Arts the Royal Court are working with a select group of young writers with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) as a pilot project for a wider project next year.

These will be closed workshops.

Installations: Stories from my mother
18 July - 6 August 2016
Free
A personal collection of stories from across the world told by mothers to their children. An installation created in collaboration with the Royal Court's International Department and writers from across the world.

Installations: Theatre from the Windows
By Thomas Fowler, Mark Hannah and Sarah Milton.
Directed by Royal Court Trainee Director Grace Gummer
Monday 18 July - Saturday 6 August 2016
Free
A set of three short plays inspired by the sights of Sloane Square.
Take your place at one of our windows, put on your headphones and let the play unfold.

Installations: Death Tariff
Friday 29 July & Friday 5 August 2016
Free
An installation on comparable deaths and disasters. Whose life gets more coverage?