Written by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti and Directed by Michael Buffong, A Kind of People ‘is set amidst a contemporary British community, and asks how it’s possible to get on when the odds are stacked against you’. Starring Richie Campbell, Thomas Coombes, Claire-Louise Cordwell, Asif Khan, Petra Letang, Amy Morgan and Manjinder Virk, the production will premiere at the Royal Court Theatre from 5th December and runs until 18th January 2020.

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There’s more than just euphemism to unpack in Ellie Kendrick’s Hole at the Royal Court. Featuring an electric line up of actors, burlesque babes and music artists- fierce, fabulous women are aplenty. Running at 60 minutes, Kendrick’s writing debut bubbles with rage and spits in the eye of patriarchy.

Courtesy of The Other Richard.

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Courtesy of Stephen Cummiskey.

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On entering the Jerwood upstairs theatre one is first struck by Fly Davis‘ tongue in cheek set design: a tasteless boudour of pink satin, lace curtains and an intimate thrust staging in which the audience are also lit. The pre-show soundtrack of squelchy synth, hits a downmarket wine bar tone, the only thing missing is a bowl of car keys. It is dated, it is provincial, it is oh so British and it sets the tone perfectly.

Courtesy of Manuel Harlan.

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‘Has anyone ever told the truth?’ asks Liwaa Yazji in her weighty political drama Goats, translated for the Royal Court by Katharine Halls. And if it’s truth we’re after this play is as chaotic as it is vital, but Hamish Pirie’s direction seems to flounder and distract from the content of the piece.

Courtesy of Johan Persson.

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Bad Roads is not really a play. Rather, it is a sequence of scenes sewn together into one fragmentary meditation on the brutalities of war. The text’s background is the Donbass region of Ukraine, following the 2014 revolutionary movement that ousted President Yanukovych; its foreground, the effect of war on the female subject, in all its complex, brutalising, all-consuming force.

Courtesy of Helen Murray.

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Yellow Earth are a theatre company renowned for their championing of diverse voices from the East Asian community. In their 22nd year, they continue to blaze the trail, broadening the range of characters represented on stage. Having worked with original Yellow Earth founding member Kumiko Mendl to develop her piece, ‘Zen’, Joyce Lee discusses how she’s crafted the show, the importance of speaking out about mental health and whether there are enough strong female protagonists represented on stage…

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From Friday 24th until Saturday 30th December, Liwaa Yazji’s Goats will make its debut at the Royal Court Theatre. Initially performed as a stage reading which was a part of As Told From the Inside: Stories from Syria and Lebanon last year, the topical play is translated by Katherine Halls and directed by Royal Court Associate Director Hamish Pirie.

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Being a woman is not always easy and with the inability to talk about many topics, masturbation is a secretive revelation within the world of women. What feels like adult story time, settling down to a tale read by virginal monologue reader and performer Stuart Goldsmith, MANWATCHING claims a power and with great power comes great responsibility, discussing the female orgasm and many fantasies in its wake.

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