Artistic director Dominic Cooke has announced the autumn season at the Royal Court in London, his penultimate season before leaving the post, which includes new work from established writers and second plays from more recent Court writers.
James Macdonald will direct a new play from Caryl Churchill, Love and Information, describes as a "fast moving kaleidoscope" in which more than a hundred characters try to make sense of what they know. It will run at the Theatre Downstairs from 6 September to 13 October.
Lucy Kirkwood will be making her Royal Court debut with her play NSFW, directed by Simon Godwin, a sharp new comedy that looks at power games and privacy in the media and beyond. This will also play Downstairs from 25 October to 24 November.
Martin Crimp returns to the Court with In the Republic of Happiness in which a family Christmas is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Uncle Bob. This will play Downstairs over Christmas from 6 December to 19 January, directed by Dominic Cooke.
Moving Upstairs, Tarell Alvin McCraney's new play Choir Boy set in an all-boys, all-black American prep school will be directed by Cooke and co-produced with the Manhattan Theatre Club, running from 4 September to 6 October.
Ian Rickson returns to the Court to direct Jez Butterworth's The River set in a remote cabin on the cliffs between a man, a woman and a moonless night. It will run Upstairs from 18 October to 17 November.
Taking us up to Christmas will be Hero by E V Crowe, directed by Jeremy Herrin, about a gay primary school teacher, which will run from 23 November to 22 December.
Cooke said, "A new play by Caryl Churchill is a major cultural event. To have that joined by the latest work from Martin Crimp and Jez Butterworth in the same season is a rare and thrilling prospect.
"These are writers who have reshaped the theatrical landscape and challenged us to imagine ourselves in new ways. Their new plays are as startlingly original as anything they’ve written. Each writer has a long history with the Royal Court and I’m honoured to be welcoming them back this season.
“These plays are joined by three equally exciting voices from the next generation"