Royal Court Theatre

History

Opened in 1870 under the name The New Chelsea Theatre, it was awarded in 1871 the name Court Theatre. The current theater was rebuilt in 1888 as the New Court Theatre.

From 1904 to 1907, under the joint leadership of John Eugene Vedrenne and Harley Granville - Barker, there was an important stimulus not only to the establishment of playwrights such as George Bernard Shaw, but also to promote the repertory system.

1932 converted to a cinema in 1940 was bombed, it was reopened as a theater in 1952. Since 1956, the seat of the English Stage Company, it was until 1965 under the artistic direction of George Devine, from then until 1972 under the William Gaskill.

The Royal Court Theatre has developed alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre to the main British subsidy theater, in particular for the avant-garde contemporary drama and a predominantly intellectual middle-class audience. For example, Samuel Beckett's one-act play experienced playoff here in 1957 its premiere. But even classics came to the performance, along with new productions were forgotten pieces.

The English Stage Company promoted especially young writers and their first works, including John Osborne with the premiere of Look Back in Anger in 1956, Harold Pinter, Athol Fugard, Arnold Wesker, David Storey, Edward Bond, Caryl Churchill, Howard Brenton and Christopher Hampton.

In 1969, the Studio Theatre stage upstairs was opened with 60 seats to complement the repertoire and to enable young writers the performance. In this way, authors such as Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill, Mick Mahoney and Rebecca Gilman could be promoted. Since 1973, regular events of the Young Writers Festival. 1996 saw the establishment of a department for international cooperation with innovative playwrights and theater practitioners.

The management of the Royal Court Theatre from 1992 to 1998 was in the hands of Stephen Daldry. From 1998 to 2006 Ian Rickson directed the theater, which was renovated and modernized from 1997 to 2000. In 2007, Dominic Cooke line.