Royal Court Playwright’s Podcast

S10 Ep2: Jack Nicholls talks to Ishy Din

Jack Nicholls is a writer and poet. As a playwright, he has twice been a member of the Royal Court Writers’ Group, with readings of his work staged at the Royal Court and Northern Stage, and one play longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize. After graduating from the BFI Script Lab, he wrote and directed the BFI Network short, “Nettle Day,” a primary school-set folk horror, which premieres soon at the BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying Manchester Film Festival. He was twice one of the winners of the National Poetry Competition, and his poems have been published in Poetry Review, PN Review, The New Statesman, The Rialto, and in The Telegraph as a Poem of the Week, among other magazines. He comes from Cornwall and lives in Manchester, where he works as a tutor and runs the cult comedy night, “Title Fight.” His debut play, The Shitheads is playing in the Royal Court's Theatre Upstairs from 6 Feb - 14 Mar, as part of the 70th Anniversary Season. 

S10 Ep1: Luke Norris talks to Simon Stephens, with 'noush notes' from Anoushka Warden

It strikes me that the working life of playwright and actor Luke Norris may be built on two foundation stones.
I have long been taken by the idea that the county of Essex is a perfect breeding ground for writers and for playwrights in particular. The county that gave us Kenny Emson and Rebecca Prichard, David Eldridge and Sarah Kane is striking for the diversity of its economic and social geography. All kind of people come from and move through Essex. Romford, the Havering town that Norris was born in is the quintessence of the county. A market town for eight hundred years it brings together, in its cauldron of booze and nights out and transport routes and good shopping, exactly that clash and diversity and contradiction that energises a writers imagination. 
This podcast was produced with support from the original Playwrights Podcast team Simon Stephens and Anoushka Warden. 

S9 Ep5: Sophia Chetin-Leuner talks to Susan Wokoma

Sophia Chetin-Leuner is a writer from London.  
Her work for theatre includes THIS MIGHT NOT BE IT, an unflinchingly human look at NHS mental health services, which was short listed for the Women’s Prize for Playwrighting in 2020, followed by a sell-out run at the Bush Theatre in 2024.  
Sophia’s play PORN PLAY, which she begun writing whilst studying in New York, will debut at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in November this year, directed by Josie Rourke and starring One Day’s Ambika Mod.  

S9 Ep4: Nick Payne talks to Susan Wokoma

Nick Payne is a playwright and screenwriter. His award-winning plays have been performed extensively, including to sell out audiences in London’s West End and Broadway.  
 
His latest play The Unbelievers, directed by Marianne Elliot and starring Nicola Walker premieres this October in the Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court Theatre. 

S9 Ep3: Nina Segal and Melanie Wilson talk to Susan Wokoma

Released 2 Sep 2025: Together with director Katie Mitchell, Nina Segal and Melanie Wilson make up the team co-creators behind Cow | Deer, a new experiment in performance, in which using only sound and no words, a quartet of performers and Foley artists evoke the lives of two animals – a cow and a deer.
 

S9 Ep2: Daniel Evans, Jo McInnes, and Madeleine Potter talk to Susan Wokoma

Released 2 September 2025: Daniel Evans, Jo McInnes and Madeleine Potter make up the cast of the original production of Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis, which opened at the Royal Court in the year 2000.  Daniel, Jo and Madeleine, reprised their roles in 4.48 Psychosis here at the Royal Court, 25 years on from its debut, directed by original director James Macdonald. The production ran here until 5 July, before embarking on a run at the RSC.
 

S9 Ep1: Billy Barret, Ellice Stevens, and Frew talk to Susan Wokoma

Released 2 September 2025: Billy Barret, Ellice Stevens and Frew make up the team behind After the Act. Exploring a defining moment in LGBTQ+ history, After the Act played at the Royal Court following an acclaimed national tour, in May 2025.
 

S8 Ep5: Joel Tan talks to Susan Wokoma

Released 4 April 2025: Joel Tan has been described as one of the most exciting Singaporean playwrights of his generation. In Singapore his plays have been produced by leading theatre companies including Checkpoint Theatre and Wild Rice. Recently, his work in the UK includes the Living Newspaper at the Royal Court, as well as Love in the Time of the Ancients, and No Particular Order. Joel's play Scenes from a Repatriation runs at the Royal Court Theatre this April.
 

S8 Ep4: Khawla Ibraheem talks to Susuan Wokoma

Released 27 Feb 2025: Khawla Ibraheem is a playwright, actor and director based in the Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights. She is a regular at many theatres in Palestine and outside of Palestine she has collaborated with many theatres and institutions, including as a fellow at the McDowell, and as an artist in residence at the Sundance Theatre Lab. Khawla's one-woman play, A Knock on the Roof, opens at the Royal Court later this month.

S8 Ep3: Lauren Mooney and James Yeatman talk to Susan Wokoma

Released 30 January 2025: Lauren Mooney and James Yeatman make up the award winning theatre company Kandinsky, who make collaborative new work. Their latest project, More Life, has been developed at the New Diorama, National Theatre Studios and the Royal Court, and will debut at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in February 2025.