David Byrne, Artistic Director of the Royal Court, recently announced that Vinay Patel (An Adventure), Nina Segal (Shooting Hedda Gabler), Mike Bartlett (Love, Love, Love), and Ryan Calais Cameron (For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy), will join the Royal Court as Associate Playwrights, alongside Gillian Greer (Boy Parts) as Associate Playwright and Dramaturg who joined the organisation earlier in this year.
Vinay Patel said, “The Royal Court is the first place I got into an argument about a play. But that argument helped shift my thinking and knitted a connection with the person who (heavily) disagreed with me. Years later, I adore both that play and that person. The Court made me excited to see work that pushed against my expectations and, in becoming an associate, I hope to support writers in embracing a spirit of progressive provocation as a means to help us find our way to each other.”
Nina Segal said, “Five years ago, I made a show for the Court – created collaboratively with Milli Bhatia and Ingrid Banerjee Marvin – called Dismantle This Room. The work, which took the form of an escape room, questioned how best to effect change within our industry. Participants were asked to make a choice of working inside or outside an institution. As I join the Court now as an Associate Playwright, I am reminded of this question – of where change comes from and how. Alongside David and this brilliant team of playwrights, I’m excited to explore what change is possible – with writers at the heart of the writers’ theatre.”
David Byrne, Artistic Director of the Royal Court said, “One of my first acts as Artistic Director is to bring some exceptional fellow playwrights with me into the artistic leadership behind a simple vision: the writers’ theatre run by playwrights for the benefit of writers everywhere. Even from our electric early conversations, I know that this game-changing team of associates are going to help re-write the rules of what it means to support writers, creating the culture for a new generation of playwrights to thrive.”
Alongside the five being announced recently, the Royal Court launched a national open call to find a sixth and final playwright to complete the team.
