The Royal Court Theatre has announced the first part of its 2027 season: one Broadway transfer and six world premieres, including a look ahead to 2028.
Royal Court Artistic Director David Byrne said: “Three years since I became Artistic Director of the Royal Court, and coming out of our 70th anniversary year, this is the most thrilling season we could imagine bringing together. I almost can’t believe it’s ours - but of course it is, because this extraordinary set of knotty, original, adventurous new plays couldn’t be truly at home anywhere else.”
The Jerwood Theatre Downstairs programme features:
● The European premiere of 2025 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner PURPOSE by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, transferring from Broadway. PURPOSE is a family drama centred on a Black American political dynasty, and welcomes the Steppenwolf Theatre Company to London, directed by Phylicia Rashad (16 January - 27 February 2027).
● Internationally-renowned theatre company Complicité return to the Court with the world premiere of THE APOLOGY, written by and starring Tony-winner V, formerly known as Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues) as herself, alongside Emmy Award-winner Tobias Menzies (The Crown) in an autobiographical reckoning with sexual violence, justice and atonement, directed by Complicité Artistic Director Simon McBurney, with set design by Es Devlin (19 March - 24 April 2027).
● The world premiere of THE BRIAR PATCH, a domestic thriller about losing trust in the people closest to you by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth, starring Olivier Award winner Juliet Stevenson (The Doctor) and directed by Royal Court Artistic Director David Byrne (14 May - 26 June 2027).
● Oscar winner Jessie Buckley (Hamnet, Cabaret) makes her Royal Court debut in the world premiere of AFTERBIRTH, a story about the disorienting reality of life after birth by Royal Court Associate Playwright Nina Segal, directed by Maria Aberg, designed by Rosanna Vize (The Other Place), playing from 15 January - 26 February 2028.
The Jerwood Theatre Upstairs features:
● WE’RE GONNA KILL BILLY, a comedic eco-thriller and the professional debut of playwright Alex Medland, winner of the Concord Theatricals Unpublished Playwright Award, directed by Royal Court Associate Director and Olivier Award nominee Aneesha Srinivasan, and supported as a case study partnership with ReStage and NT Green Store towards reducing the environmental impact of production (18 February - 27 March 2027).
● WAR FACE reunites Stage Debut Award-winner Georgie Dettmer and director Jess Edwards for a new play created with serving and retired soldiers in collaboration with the Chelsea Pensioners and co-produced with Orange Juice Productions, while Dettmer is also named 2027 Jerwood New Playwright, supported by Jerwood Foundation in its 50th anniversary year (22 April - 1 May 2027).
● WORKING MEN, a new play by Benjamin Kuffuor about a routine site visit that becomes a defining day for a declining council estate, receiving its world premiere following acclaim as winner of the George Devine Award (4 June - 10 July 2027).
