Royal Court completes 2025 season, with shows starring Nicola Walker and Ambika Mod

Ambika Mod will star in Sophia Chetin-Leuner's Porn Play, directed by Josie Rourke, which sees young academic Ani struggle with her secret addiction to violent pornography.

Nicola Walker and Ambika Mod will take to the stage as part of Artistic Director David Byrne’s 2025 programme of shows at the Royal Court in London.

The theatre has revealed the final six productions that will feature in the season, including four world premieres.

After the Act, by Billy Barrett and Ellice Stevens, will run from 21 May - 14 June, and tells the story of the teachers, pupils and activists who lived through Section 28: a law that banned the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in schools. Nassim Soleimanpour's ECHO will return to the venue for a short run from 27 June - 5 July. The show sees a different performer take to the stage at each show, with no rehearsal time and no idea what’s going to happen next.

The first world premiere is Deaf Republic by Dead Centre and Zoë McWhinney, which looks at the ramifications for a whole town when a deaf boy is killed for disobeying orders he couldn’t hear. It runs from 29 August - 13 September. Cow | Deer (4 September - 11 October), co-created by Katie Mitchell, Nina Segal and Melanie Wilson, is a radical new production that uses only sound and no words.

Marianne Elliott directs Nicola Walker in Nick Payne's The Unbelievers from 10 October - 29 November in a striking portrait of motherhood, faith, and family. This is followed by Sophia Chetin-Leuner's Porn Play, directed by Josie Rourke, which sees young academic Ani struggle with her secret addiction to violent pornography. The show stars One Day's Ambika Mod.

David Byrne said, “The best thing about being Artistic Director at the Royal Court is the opportunity to support playwrights working in every form and texture for the stage. This season is the full feast of what new writing for the contemporary stage looks like now. Every production in this season is an unmissable piece of theatre, each bringing together world-class artists to present electric new work to audiences. Come and join us.”

Book Royal Court shows on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: artwork for Royal Court 2025 season. (Courtesy of production)