Royal Court Theatre unveils 70th Anniversary Season

Next year, the Royal Court Theatre will mark its 70th anniversary with an electric programme that honours the past, celebrates the present, and shapes the future of theatre.

12 productions across the entire year have been unveiled across the venue's two historic stages, alongside new national projects and partnerships. On the season, Artistic Director David Byrne said: "The Royal Court is turning 70 with the most thrilling season we could imagine. On our stages and far beyond, we’re throwing a legendary, year-long party and you’re all invited.”

2026 will open in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs with the world premiere of Luke Norris' romantic drama, Guess How Much I Love You?. It follows the story of an expectant couple who wait in a hospital room as the future they had planned unravels. It's a story of impossible choices and enduring love, running from January 16 to February 21, 2026. Bookending the programme will be Ryan Calsis Cameron's Zambian space race epic The Afronauts, a true(ish) story of the Zambian Space Program from the creator behind the recent West End productions of For Black Boys.. and Retrograde.

As well as those European premieres of Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor is the Villain, playing in London from 20 March, directly from its smash-hit run on Broadway. Directed by Tony Award-winner Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain is a story about girlhood, power, and questioning the narratives we've been taught. You can read more about John Proctor is the Villain here.

In the summer, Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph’s Archduke brings an alternative take on the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in a new production directed by Lyndsey Turner.

There are some brilliant revivals to look ahead to with Tilda Swinton returning to the stage after more than three decades to reprise her role in Man to Man whilst Gary Oldman stars in Krapp's Last Tape - offering London audiences the opportunity to catch the celebrated production at York Theatre Royal during the spring.

The Upstairs programme for the Royal Court Theatre will present a variety of debut plays, original voices and bold new stories received through open script submissions. Audiences can look ahead to prehistoric cannibalism in Jack Nicholls’ The Shitheads, to digital voyeurism in Georgie Dettmer’s Are You Watching?; ancestral conjure in Joy Nesbitt’s Blood of my Blood and Welsh community politics in Rhys Warrington’s Monument.

If that's not enough, there's also Palestinian-Isaeli writer-performer Yousef Sweid and Isabella Sedlak’s Between The River and The Sea. A personal story of family, fear, and imagining a future beyond borders, this play comes to the Royal Court following international acclaim, originally produced by the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin.

Beyond the stage, the Royal Court Theatre also reveals a collaboration with BBC Radio 4 about a new production of Lucy Kirkwood's The Children and new investment in UK-wide playwriting is launching with the Jerwood Royal Court Commissioning Scheme.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Tuesday 4 November.