Royal Court Theatre has announced the complete programme for its Spring Open Submissions Festival, returning from 30 March to 3 April 2026.
The festival showcases five new plays selected from more than 3,500 scripts submitted each year, launching a new twice-yearly format supported by Character 7.
This year’s featured plays are The Briar Patch by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth, All Adventurous Women Do by Tanja Šljivar, We’re Gonna Kill Billy by Alex Medland, Duppies by Tia‑Renee Mullings and What’s The F**king Point? by FlawBored.
Each play will be staged as a rehearsed reading in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs with directors Danielle Kassarate, Aneesha Srinivasan, Prime Isaac, Mayaan Haputantri and Josh Roche.
Following the success of last year’s pilot, and supported by Character 7, the festival will now run twice a year. The expansion doubles opportunities for playwrights to access paid development support and present new work to audiences and industry.
The festival strengthens the Royal Court’s commitment to open submissions, a core principle since the theatre opened 70 years ago. The programme aims to champion distinctive new writing and offer a first look at emerging voices.
Gillian Greer, Associate Playwright and Senior Dramaturg, said: ‘Our inaugural Open Submissions Festival was an enormous success. With Jack Nicholls’ The Shitheads and Rhys Warrington’s Monument both receiving full productions following successful readings, the Open Submissions Festival is fast becoming a key driver for plays making their way to our stages. I am delighted that with the support of Character Seven, we are doubling our efforts with two festivals this year. This programme is ambitious, international and provocative – a testament to the immense playwriting talent in the UK and beyond just waiting to be staged.’
Playwright Jack Nicholls said: ‘Inclusion in the Open Submissions Festival was such an important milestone for me in showing that my work was being taken very seriously – an enormous vote of confidence that boosted my spirits, but also signalled to the wider industry that my work was worth paying attention to.’
Character 7’s Executive Chairman Stephen Garrett said: ‘Our company is driven by a deep belief in the power of great writing and the importance of nurturing talent. So many of the very brilliant writers we work with in film and TV have finessed their craft in theatre that it feels essential to be supporting the Royal Court in this vital initiative.’
Performances run at 7:45pm each evening, coinciding with the Royal Court Theatre’s 70th anniversary on 2 April 2026.
Tickets, priced at £8.50, go on sale to the public at midday today, with Writers’ Card Members receiving a 20 percent discount. A multibuy offer will give a £1.50 reduction per ticket when booking multiple performances.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
