Sloane Square, Chelsea, SW1W 8AS
Tel: 020 7565 5000

Beautiful 400 seat theatre built in 1870 and rebuilt in 1890 on Sloane Square, which has staged only new writing throughout its distinguished history. The Royal Court is the place to go for polemic and political theatre, challenging new writing, and controversial masterstrokes. It was the first established theatre to feature full frontal nudity and nasty swearing.

Over the years this outlet for new writing talent has staged productions by a who’s who of the avante garde, including to name but a few John Osborne, Arnold Wesker, John Arden, Hanif Kureshi, Bertolt Brecht, Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Jean-Paul Sartre, Stephen Daldry and Danny Boyle.

Besides being no stranger to genius and controversy, the theatre has also provided cheap return tickets and standing tickets throughout its long history so that for anything between a quid and a tenner you can sneak in to watch Rosamund Pike in the nude, for instance. These returns are only available on a first come first served basis so get there early, then squander the money you save on a solitary cappuccino in the Square.

Please note that there are two theatres inside the Royal Court. 'Upstairs' is located up the stairs and has a slightly smaller capacity and a commitment to completely new writers.