BBC Radio 4 and the Royal Court Theatre have teamed up to mark the theatre’s 70th anniversary with a new audio production of Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children and a curated season of landmark plays from the Royal Court archive. The season showcases seven radio adaptations of pivotal works spanning seven decades, spotlighting the theatre’s influence on contemporary British drama.

The season opens with an audio production of Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children, first staged at the Royal Court in 2016. The play centres on retired nuclear physicists Hazel and Robin, whose former colleague Rose unexpectedly arrives near the damaged power station where they once worked. Emma Fielding stars as Rose, alongside Anastasia Hille as Hazel and Stanley Townsend as Robin. The production is directed by Mary Peate, with sound design by Peter Ringrose, and original music composed by Jon Nicholls.

The Children will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 26 September from 3pm to 4.30pm. Following this, seven archival BBC Radio 4 Extra productions of Royal Court plays will air nightly at 8.30pm, remaining available on BBC Sounds for 28 days. This season offers listeners an opportunity to explore highlights from the Royal Court’s history through radio adaptations.

Playwright Mark Ravenhill curated the selection, which includes John Osborne’s landmark Look Back in Anger (26 September), Arnold Wesker’s Roots (27 September), Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona’s Sizwe Banzi Is Dead (28 September), Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls (29 September), Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good (30 September), debbie tucker green’s Random (1 October), and Charlene James’s Cuttin’ It (2 October).

The archive productions feature acclaimed casts including Ben Whishaw in Don’t Look Back in Anger, David Bradley and David Troughton in Roots, Adetomiwa Edun in Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, Helen McCrory, Siobhan Finneran, Sheila Hancock and Nikki Amuka-Bird in Top Girls, Kate Fleetwood, Adjoa Andoh and Elliot Levey in Our Country’s Good, Nadine Marshall in Random, and Susan Wokoma in Cuttin’ It.

Alison Hindell, commissioner for Radio 4 drama and fiction, emphasised the significance of the collaboration, stating the productions “showcase the breadth, ambition and enduring relevance of great playwriting” and that the BBC is proud to bring these works to a wider audience.

Will Young, executive director at the Royal Court Theatre, called the partnership “an absolute gift,” praising the opening up of the theatre’s archival “treasure trove” and the guidance of Mark Ravenhill through decades of pioneering playwrights. He described the season as “a feast” underscoring the value of a public service broadcaster.

Ravenhill reflected on his personal connection to the Court, which produced his first play, and highlighted the season as “a chance for listeners to share the journey that Royal Court new plays have made in the last seventy years,” noting the emergence of powerful Black and female voices alongside the “swaggering male voice” of Osborne’s landmark work.

This radio season not only revisits important moments in British theatre history but also offers new accessibility to classic and contemporary plays, demonstrating the evolving landscape of performance and the enduring role of the Royal Court as an incubator of theatrical innovation.