Royal Court Theatre

The Royal Court Theatre stands on the east side of Sloane Square in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Built in 1888 in free Italianate style, it replaced an earlier theatre that had opened in 1870. The façade is of fine red brick and stone, while the interior was rebuilt in 1996 except for the auditorium and façade. The theatre now houses two spaces: the 380-seat Jerwood Theatre Downstairs and the 85-seat Jerwood Theatre Upstairs. It was Grade II listed in 1972 and has long been a centre for new writing. The theatre is the home of the English Stage Company, founded in 1954 to stage contemporary and experimental plays. In 1956 it produced John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger, directed by Tony Richardson, which became a landmark of modern drama. The Royal Court also premiered works by George Bernard Shaw, Arnold Wesker, Caryl Churchill and Martin McDonagh. In 1965 it staged Edward Bond’s Saved, a play that helped end theatre censorship in Britain. The theatre won the Europe Prize Theatrical Realities in 1999. Visitors find a Grade II-listed façade and a modern interior with two contrasting theatres. The Jerwood Theatre Downstairs seats 380 and presents large-scale new plays. The Jerwood Theatre Upstairs seats 85 and hosts intimate studio productions. Both spaces sit behind the preserved 19th-century frontage on a busy square in central London.