The Stage

Royal Court to present ‘unplugged’ plays in Elephant and Castle shop

Published Tuesday 2 February 2010 at 14:40 by Natalie Woolman

The Sloane Square-based Royal Court Theatre is to present a six-month season in a disused shop in Elephant and Castle shopping centre, opening next month.

The season marks the beginning of the Royal Court’s Theatre Local project, which has taken three years to plan and aims to take plays into new locations and new communities. Bloomberg has committed to sponsoring the programme for three years and has supplied £100,000 for the project.

Launching Theatre Local, Royal Court artistic director Dominic Cooke said he believed it would be the first time a major theatre has engaged in such an experiment.

He said: “It’s really about looking at how in the theatre we can reach beyond our buildings and make new relationships with new audiences and take our best work to the heart of the community.

Cooke added: “There are many, many people who are willing to engage with the theatre but don’t like the idea of going to a theatre building - find it intimidating, find it not in their orbit. There are number of people who just will not come to Sloane Square and we feel those people should have the opportunity to connect with the best of our work.”

He also said the new space would give Royal Court practitioners an opportunity to explore the relationship between audiences and performers.

A revival of Debbie Tucker Green’s play Random, which was first performed at the Royal Court in 2008, will open the season on March 3. It will be followed by transfers of three shows playing in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs in the Royal Court this season - Disconnect, The Empire and Spur of the Moment.

Cooke said the performances would be “unplugged”, with minimal sets given the space restrictions of the venue, which will seat 70 to 80 people.

The Royal Court staged Oxford Street by Levi David Addai in Elephant and Castle shopping centre as a pilot in 2008.