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London's Royal Court Theatre has revealed its upcoming season through 2024, which includes the U.K. premiere of Lucas Hnath's Dana H. Deirdre O'Connell will reprise her Tony-winning performance, with Les Waters also returning to direct.
The production will run January 16-March 9, 2024, at the London company's Jerwood Theatre Downstairs. The work centers on a real-life psych ward chaplain, Hnath's mother Dana Higginbotham, held captive by a patient in various Florida motels over five months. The story is told in Higginbotham's own words and voice, with O'Connell meticulously lip-syncing to recorded interviews. The play premiered Off-Broadway at Vineyard Theatre, winning three Obies and two Lortel Awards. The Broadway transfer won Tonys for Best Actress in a Play and Best Sound Design (Mikhail Fiksel).
Also in the theatre's season is Tatenda Shamiso's No I.D., exploring the experience of being a Black trans immigrant in the U.K. Shamiso will star, with direction by Sean Ting-Hsuan Wang and producing by Dylan Marc Verley. The work will play the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs April 18-May 6, with an April 19 opening night.
Tom Fowler's Hope Has a Happy Meal will follow June 3-July 8, also in Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, with a June 9 opening. Lucy Morrison will direct the play, about a woman returning to the People's Republic of Koka Kola to find something she left behind. Michael Wynne's Cuckoo will play the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs July 6-August 19, opening July 12. The dark comedy, to be directed by Vicky Featherstone, follows Doreen and her three daughters as they learn about the safety of home in an increasingly uncertain world. Rabiah Hussain's Word-Play will play Jerwood Theatre Upstairs July 20-August 26, opening July 26. Set in a Downing Street Press Office emergency meeting, the play follows the efforts to right the ship after the Prime Minister has ad-libbed on live TV and gotten into hot water for Islamophobia. Nimmo Ismail will direct.
Also newly announced is Living Archive, an online archive with information from more than 1,600 Royal Court productions dating back to 1956; and Machloket, a project to create a nationwide conversation exploring what it means to be Jewish in the U.K. today.
Tickets for newly announced productions go on sale to supporters beginning March 20, to Friends March 22, and to the general public beginning March 24. Visit RoyalCourtTheatre.com for more details.
