Royal Court Writers’ Card: A beacon of hope for playwrights

On a wet, muggy day in the middle of August, I huddled with a few dozen other playwrights inside the iconic Roundabout – a pop-up theatre venue run by Paines Plough – to attend their Edinburgh Writers Hub. Organised in collaboration with Playwrights’ Studio Scotland, with writers based all over the UK in attendance, the overarching feeling soon became clear: we feel wrung out. We’re scared. We’re losing hope. Some of us are having to step away all together.

Increasing isolation and disconnection

So, as a playwright and theatre maker I felt a glimmer of hope return when I saw the Royal Court’s David Byrne announce The Writers’ Card membership – a free support offer for playwrights at any stage in their career. It poses a new way of building relationships with writers in a time of increasing isolation and disconnection.

Billed not as a scheme or programme, but a new way of building a community, the membership will focus on providing both practical support – writing space, £1 refreshments, free script printing – and support for the craft and career aspects of playwrighting. This will include regular lunches with Royal Court staff, workshops and events, free post-show drinks discussions, one-to-one surgeries and online events.

Alongside, there’s a significant change to the submissions policy, including a new Open Submissions Festival, highlighting the most promising new work coming through the system.

One step forwards, five steps back

Since the 1950s, the Royal Court has prided itself on being a writers’ theatre, giving voice to the early work of some of the UK’s most iconic playwrights. It remains one of the few theatres to accept open submissions.

But with the country limping from crisis to crisis, and with increasing strain on arts organisations and the individuals working in them, even companies that prioritise relationships with artists are find it challenging.

When one-off schemes, age-restricted initiatives and positive conversations suddenly stonewall into months of silence, and when the crisis in funding makes it much less possible to initiate projects, writers increasingly feel they are taking one step forward and five steps back into their day jobs.

It makes us question even trying to contribute our voices. Or, as one writer lamented recently: “I sometimes feel I’m in an emotionally abusive relationship with 30 buildings around the country.” Those who are marginalised or vulnerable are at even greater risk of having their voices silenced and their societal identities erased.

Meanwhile, venues and companies are having to make difficult decisions to balance artistic integrity with financial stability, tackling ageing buildings and concerns for safety of staff and artists. Everyone is up against it.

What is needed is solidarity

David Byrne’s statement doesn’t gloss over any of this reality. After first offering an apology to playwrights, his statement went on: “Isolation is everywhere. Many playwrights are confined to their bedrooms, their desk, often their bed… seemingly endless rejection closes the doors on even the most basic of opportunities.

“The open routes that once filled stages with new talent feel blocked. Not just that the money isn’t enough (it’s not), but the time and energy it takes even to try is running out.”

This acknowledgement and validation is crucial. Often there’s a sense that artists who aren’t seeing their work in the world just need to hustle more or try harder. It’s a pervasive form of gaslighting that is damaging and eroding.

For those juggling additional things like disability, or lack of proximity to theatre ‘hot spots’, it’s even worse. Similarly, it’s difficult for venues and organisations constantly hearing they’re not doing enough, despite working round the clock.

It can easily push people into defence mode, further widening the gap between those making the work, and those with the power and infrastructure to put that work in front of a paying audience.

It creates division when what is needed is solidarity. Byrne demonstrates this spirit of solidarity when he thanks fellow theatres and new writing companies who have offered him guidance and insight in getting to this point.

Playwrights’ responses

I was curious to know what my fellow playwrights thought of Byrne’s announcement, particularly those outside London, who have often had to relocate to afford to live and write.

Playwright Jo Clayton went through the open submissions at the Court and will be part of their writers’ group in 2025. “The Royal Court Writers’ Card is such an exciting offering for all of us trying to make meaningful connections and improve our craft. It can be such a lonely and dispiriting path and having those opportunities will be invaluable to so many of us.”

Naomi Westerman, also a playwright, hopes the scheme can help repair damaged relationships, and be a catalyst for further change: “The Royal Court has always positioned itself as the writers’ theatre, but a lot of playwrights (especially early-career, or working class, or those not living in London) have never felt it was a place for them, and this has been especially true over the past couple of years as the Court has struggled with antisemitism scandals.

“As a Jewish, working-class writer, I never felt welcome and perhaps wasn’t always welcome. David Byrne made a commitment to writers from day one, and with this new Writers’ Card he’s showing that he’s putting his money where his mouth is.

“Yet, this new Writers’ Card is still quite focused on writers living in London or who can easily travel to Sloane Square, and the industry desperately needs to do more to support writers across the UK. I hope the Writers’ Card is a success, but more than that I hope that other theatres across the country copy Byrne’s decision to take practical steps to support playwrights.”

An invitation to connect

I’m acutely aware there is no single answer to the complexities of the breakdown in relationship between artist and venue. The Court has been very open about this, viewing the changes as a first step, an opportunity for growth, an invitation to connect, and a promise to keep listening.

It’s impossible to separate the ability to embrace radical change, risk and learning, with the privilege of being a long-established, prestigious and regularly-funded venue in the heart of the capital. I wonder if this model is one that smaller regional venues could follow for inspiration, or whether they would even be able to consider.

Despite this, I remain hopeful. I have signed up for a membership and, while it isn’t practical for me to attend the in-person events, I feel bolstered into dusting off one of those many competition-shortlisted scripts that have been lingering in a drawer untouched for a few years, as a result of the inertia of the new writing landscape.

This offer feels honest. For me, the Writers’ Card is a clear demonstration that writers are welcome, wanted and – probably most importantly – that theatre cannot work without them.