Purpose transfers from Broadway for performances from 16 January to 27 February 2027.
Tobias Menzies and Juliet Stevenson star in The Apology and The Briar Patch respectively.
Jessie Buckley makes her Royal Court debut in Afterbirth in January 2028.
New voices and familiar faces take centre stage in the London theatre’s latest programme.
London’s theatre calendar is filling up, and the Royal Court has given audiences plenty to add to their diaries. The Royal Court Theatre has revealed the first part of its 2027 season, bringing together a Broadway transfer, new playwrights and stars including Tobias Menzies and Juliet Stevenson. There is also an early look ahead to 2028, when Jessie Buckley will make her Royal Court debut.
Opening the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs programme, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Purpose arrives from Broadway from 16 January to 27 February 2027. Winner of the 2025 Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, it follows three generations of the influential Jasper family as a snowstorm forces them to confront the tensions behind their public image. Phylicia Rashad directs the Steppenwolf Theatre Company production, with five original Broadway cast members joined by Kalyne Coleman.
From 19 March to 24 April 2027, The Apology brings Complicité back to the Royal Court. Written by and starring V, formerly known as Eve Ensler, the creator of The Vagina Monologues, the production imagines an encounter with her late father to confront the abuse she suffered as a child. Tobias Menzies stars alongside V, with Simon McBurney directing and Es Devlin designing the set.
Juliet Stevenson takes the lead in The Briar Patch from 14 May to 26 June 2027. Written by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth and directed by Artistic Director David Byrne, the thriller centres on Dara, whose struggles with memory become more unsettling when a family friend is arrested and scandal spreads through her community.
The smaller Jerwood Theatre Upstairs opens its programme with We’re Gonna Kill Billy, running from 18 February to 27 March 2027. Alex Medland’s professional debut combines comedy with environmental activism, following four teenage girls who kidnap a billionaire’s grandson to stop a marina development threatening local wildlife. Aneesha Srinivasan directs.
Georgie Dettmer’s War Face follows from 22 April to 1 May 2027. Created with serving and retired soldiers, the production brings veterans and actors together to explore lives shaped by military service, with Jess Edwards directing.
Benjamin Kuffuor’s Working Men then runs from 4 June to 10 July 2027. The George Devine Award-winning play follows a quantity surveyor, building contractor and project manager whose visit to a council estate develops into a day with lasting consequences.
Looking further ahead, Nina Segal’s Afterbirth will run Downstairs from 15 January to 26 February 2028. Jessie Buckley stars in the world premiere, directed by Maria Aberg, which explores the upheaval of life after childbirth.
The announcement covers the opening part of the Royal Court Theatre 2027 programme. Tickets for all newly announced productions go on general sale at 12pm UK time on Wednesday 4 November 2026.
Where: Royal Court Theatre, 50-51 Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AS
Contact: https://royalcourttheatre.com