Presenter Interview プレゼンターインタビュー

「劇作家のための劇場」を掲げる
ロイヤルコート劇場のインターナショナル・プログラム
UK
Aim of the International Program at the Royal Court — London’s renowned “writers’ theatre”
Sam Pritchard
From its base in London’s elegant Chelsea neighbourhood, the Royal Court has long been known as the “writers’ theatre.” Since the Italianate building it occupies was acquired by the English Stage Company in 1956, the RC has operated as a non-commercial West End theatre dedicated to cultivating rising talents and consistently presenting the best contemporary plays. Among those over RC’s splendid history have been many great playwrights including John Osborne, Edward Bond, Arnold Wesker, Caryl Churchill, Sarah Kane, Simon Stephens and Martin McDonagh.
Every year, the RC itself premiers about 12 brand-new plays, while also continuously meeting with and supporting writers from the United Kingdom and beyond. Its Literary Office receives some 2,000 new scripts a year and the theatre welcomes and engages in various ways with many of those submitting work. In addition, RC runs a number of Writers Groups where writers can meet and discuss their plays and get feedback both from each other and leading professional writers.
Then in 2019 the RC and the major London-based Kudos film and television production company together started a new writing fellowship.
Meanwhile, the RC is focused on actively developing relationships with writers and artists around the world, and fostering writers’ workshops in many countries through its International Programme*. Two years after Eriko Ogawa, the Artistic Director of the New National Theatre, Tokyo (hereinafter NNTT), visited the RC in 2017, the two theatres launched a new joint collaboration project in which 14 Japanese playwrights which finally became 12 joined the first workshop in Tokyo.
This writer interviewed the RC’s Associate Director (International) Sam Pritchard about the “writer’s theatre” itself, its fundamental policy, and the joint project with NNTT.
Interviewer: Nobuko Tanaka