By Grace Hatchell
I have a complaint to make to the Royal Court Theatre.
Nearly 4,000 scripts.
Four. Thousand.
I know Theatre Village has a postal theme, but there are limits to what one woman can reasonably be expected to carry in a satchel.
Still, having staggered metaphorically up the garden path with the lot of them, I’ve discovered something rather exciting at the bottom of the bag.
Five new plays.
The Royal Court Theatre, in partnership with Character 7, has announced the full line-up for its third Open Submissions Festival, taking place from Monday 14 September until Friday 18 September 2026 as part of the theatre’s 70th anniversary season.
The five plays have been selected from nearly 4,000 scripts received through the Royal Court’s Open Submissions programme each year.
And this is precisely the sort of thing I want to shout about.
New plays need somewhere to begin
We spend a lot of time at Theatre Village championing new work.
Because before there’s a West End transfer, an Olivier nomination or a great big poster outside a theatre, somebody has to sit down and write page one.
Then somebody has to read it.
And crucially, somebody has to say: let’s give this a chance.
The Royal Court’s Open Submissions Portal is open throughout the year to playwrights writing in English anywhere in the world. Every submitted play is promised a read and response from a member of the Artistic Team.
The festival, supported by independent production company Character 7, now appears in the Royal Court programme twice a year.
And there’s evidence that these readings can lead somewhere rather exciting.
Jack Nicholls’ The Shitheads and Rhys Warrington’s Monument both appeared as readings in the first Open Submissions Festival in 2025 before being programmed as full productions at the Royal Court. The Shitheads subsequently received an Olivier nomination, while Monument opens this December.
Noga Flaishon’s Memoriam has taken another route, with a production opening at Southwark Playhouse Borough later this year.
That’s why initiatives like this matter.
A reading isn’t necessarily the end result.
Sometimes it’s the beginning.
So, who’s escaped from my satchel this time?
Aunties in the USSR
First out is Aunties in the USSR by Rebecca Banatvala, directed by Mayaan Haputantri and presented on Monday 14 September.
It’s 1985. Ratti and her best friend Bachi are members of the Zoroastrian Ladies Committee for Socialist Justice. Following an election defeat, Ratti takes Bachi from Leytonstone to the USSR with a mission: scatter her late husband’s ashes in Red Square.
Naturally, it all goes perfectly smoothly.
Except for the caviar smugglers.
And the dancing bears.
And the KGB.
Oh, I like these women already.
It’s described as a joyful new comedy, and Rebecca comes with an interesting writing and acting background. Her debut full-length play A Piece of My Liver was shortlisted for the Tony Craze Award, while her acting credits include work at the National Theatre, Orange Tree and RSC, alongside television appearances in Vigil, The Syndicate and Love, Death & Robots.
The Nine of Swords
Tuesday brings The Nine of Swords by Dublin playwright Eoghan Quinn, directed by Aaliyah McKay.
A solar eclipse is descending over Dublin, but tattoo artists Nika and Sean and receptionist Clo are carrying on with another day at the studio.
As the light disappears, however, the three begin confronting the lives they’ve created and what might be waiting for them next.
By darkness, choices have been made that can’t be undone.
It’s described as darkly comic and unsettling, which are two words that tend to make my little Theatre Village ears prick up.
Eoghan’s play visions premieres at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre in October, while special occasion is currently in development at the Almeida Theatre. His previous work also includes The Jesus Trilogy and colic at Dublin Theatre Festival.
The Honour Table
Wednesday 16 September belongs to Selorm Adonu’s The Honour Table, directed by Aneesha Srinivasan.
Three years after their father’s death, the Frimpong siblings come together for their annual memorial dinner.
This year, Godwin brings an offer.
An MBE.
Accepting it could secure the future of The Root, the organisation their father founded, but the family must decide whether the price attached to it is one they’re prepared to pay.
Selorm is an award-winning writer, actor, poet and entrepreneur whose screen work includes Curfew, Prisoner, Casualty and Doctor Who. He made his Royal Court stage debut in G and has toured in the one-man show Please Do Not Touch.
His BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying short film Man To Man, which he wrote and appears in alongside David Harewood, has also screened internationally and picked up multiple awards.
My Son, the Guillotine
Now there’s a title that’ll make you stop sorting the post.
Sam Ward’s My Son, the Guillotine, directed by Danielle Kassaraté, arrives on Thursday 17 September.
Ben hasn’t been home for three years.
Then, late one night, he unexpectedly appears at his parents’ door. His politician mother understandably wants to know what he’s doing there.
By morning, it becomes apparent this isn’t exactly a social call.
The play explores history, disillusionment and what it actually takes to change the world.
Sam’s Everything I’m Thinking, All of the Time was shortlisted for both the George Devine Award and Verity Bargate Award, while we were promised honey! received five-star reviews from the Scotsman and Financial Times before transferring to Soho Theatre and touring nationally and internationally.
And here’s a particularly familiar Theatre Village destination: his As Far As We Know was at Summerhall during the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
See? Everything eventually ends up back in Edinburgh with me.
Theertham
Finally, on Friday 18 September, there’s Theertham by Nayantara Nayar, directed by Nico Rao Pimparé.
As drought tightens its grip on a community, a diviner discovers an extraordinary source of water beneath a widow’s garden.
Then people discover there might be money to be made from it.
Because of course they do.
As the water is exploited for profit, ghosts from the past begin rising to the surface. The story moves between two generations of women.
Nayantara is a playwright and researcher based between the UK and India and an Associate Artist at HighTide. Her work combines playwriting and research, exploring subjects including ecological crisis, South Asian geopolitics, memory and urban development.
She also completed a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia examining water crisis and theatre – which makes Theertham particularly fascinating when you know the work sitting behind it.
This is where theatre starts
Gillian Greer, the Royal Court’s Associate Playwright and Senior Dramaturg, describes this year’s selection as “dark, difficult, political, theatrical and funny” and says the programme demonstrates how much new writing is waiting to be given a platform.
That’s the bit I keep coming back to.
Waiting to be given a platform.
There are thousands of writers sitting at kitchen tables, on trains, in bedrooms and probably pretending to work somewhere while secretly adjusting Act Two.
Most of those plays don’t arrive with famous names attached.
They don’t have reviews.
They don’t have awards.
They’re simply new.
And somebody has to be willing to open the first page.
That’s something we’ll always get behind at Theatre Village.
The Open Submissions Festival runs from Monday 14 September until Friday 18 September in the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, with performances beginning at 7.45pm. Tickets cost £8.50, with discounts available for Writers’ Card Members and people booking multiple performances.
Five writers. Five plays. Five opportunities for an audience to encounter something before anyone quite knows what it might become.
And somewhere behind them, another few thousand scripts waiting patiently for their turn.
Just don’t ask me to deliver them.
My shoulder’s gone.
What’s on | Royal Court Theatre
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