A spotlight on Elyse Dodgson and the Royal Court Theatre’s International Playwrights Programme

Elyse Dodgson, Head of the International Department at the Royal Court Theatre, explains how with support and funding from the Genesis Foundation, they are able to nurture emerging talent and develop ground-breaking work with playwrights from all over the world as part of their International Playwrights Programme:

“Over the last two decades the Royal Court has led the way in the development and production of new international plays, facilitating work at grass-roots level and developing exchanges which bring young writers and directors to work with emerging artists around the world. None of this would be possible without the continuous support and commitment of the Genesis Foundation which has made this work possible for nearly two decades.

I can think of no better example of how Genesis’s long term commitment to new international writing can have an impact on young lives than our work in Palestine. The Royal Court has worked in Palestine for more than 17 years and since then we have been involved with dozens of young Palestinian playwrights and theatre artists.

The first residential workshop took place at the Paradise Hotel in Bethlehem in February 1998 and the most recent project, with a whole new generation of writers, took place in Beit Jala in 2013 and 2014. 

Throughout that time many leading UK artists have worked with me in Palestine and have been transformed by the collaboration with local artists. They include Stephen Jeffreys, Phyllida Lloyd, April De Angelis, Mike Bartlett, David Greig, Rufus Norris, Penelope Skinner, Richard Twyman and Sacha Wares. At the same time Palestinian artists have also come to work with us in London as part of the Royal Court International Residency including Raeda Ghazaleh, Imad Farajin and most recently Dalia Taha who first began working on her play Fireworks in the summer of 2013.

We are so proud to present Fireworks by Dalia Taha, as part of International Playwrights: A Genesis Foundation Project in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs from 12 February – 14 March 2015.  I believe this beautiful play, which explores the impact of war on children, is one of the most moving and important international plays we have ever done. Thanks to the Genesis Foundation for always believing in this work!”

Watch a short film about the Royal Court’s International work in Palestine over the past 18 years and the journey to producing Fireworks by Dalia Taha:

 

BBC Arts shine the spotlight on Fireworks as the the BBC’s Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen discusses the geopolitical context of the play. Dalia Taha, director Richard Twyman and designer Lizzie Clachan also discuss the play. Click here to find the article.

To find out more about Fireworks click here.

To go back to the Royal Court Theatre page click here.