Jez Butterworth's new comedy Jerusalem will grace the Downstairs stage later in 2009. His debut play Mojo was staged at the Court in 1995. Jerusalem, his forth play, is described as a "contemporary vision of life in our green and pleasant land" and will star Mark Rylance as a "modern-day Pied Piper". Next year is a big one for Butterworth, with the two major productions in prominent venues. Before Jerusalem opens in July, the Almeida will stage Butterworth's suburban comedy Parlour Song.

Polly Stenham's first play That Face, written when she was 19, was initially staged in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Court before transferring to the Duke Of York's Theatre in the West End earlier this year (making her the youngest playwright in over four decades to have a play staged in a West End theatre). The Court will unveil her second play Tusk Tusk, a study of three siblings in crisis, in March, again in the Upstairs theatre.

In addition to this triptych, from April to June the theatre will celebrate the work of New York playwright Wallace Shawn. The Court will stage three of his plays alongside a series of readings. Shawn himself will star in Grasses of a Thousand Colours, his first new play in 10 years, an account of a scientist's love life, that will also feature Miranda Richardson. André Gregory (from My Dinner with Andre) will direct.

Before that, the theatre's artistic director Dominic Cooke will direct two further Shawn plays: The Fever, starring Clare Higgins as a traveller who falls ill, and Aunt Dan and Lemon which is set to star Jane Horrocks.

Completing the Royal Court lineup, the theatre's young writers festival will be headlined by plays from Alia Bano (Shades) and Molly Davies (A Miracle). Ruth Jones, of Gavin and Stacey fame, is the patron of the scheme.

For further details see RoyalCourtTheatre.com

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from the archive Rope Dr Marigold And Mr Chops 2009: The London Theatre Top 10 FEATURE