The Cane Tickets

Tell me more about the Royal Court.

It’s known in London as the writers’ theatre – a global presence that champions energetic, international writing and producing stories that challenge and provoke the status quo. It has recently brought the likes of The Ferryman to the West End and is also behind such plays as Posh, Hangmen and Jerusalem. The Royal Court has been paving the way for the last sixty years and under Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone, it’s still going strong. It has developed the careers of playwrights such as Samuel Beckett, David Hare, Simon Stephens and Golden Globe and BAFTA winning screenwriter Martin McDonagh (who wrote Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri).

Who is this play written by then? One of the Royal Court’s top playwrights?

Yes, indeed. Mark Ravenhill originally brought Shopping And Fucking to the Royal Court in the 1990s, swiftly followed by Handbag. He has worked with director Vicky Featherstone previously too – they were both involved in new writing company Paines Plough in the late 90s.

Is Vicky Featherstone both artistic director and director?

Absolutely – she was named The Stage’s No.1 most influential theatre maker of 2017, above the likes of Sonia Freedman, Andrew Lloyd Webber or Cameron Mackintosh. During her time at the Royal Court, she has developed plays such as Hangmen and The Ferryman on to be award-winning successes. Before that, she directed Our Ladies Of Perpetual Succour (Vicky used to be Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Scotland).