Fill your Christmas stocking at Liverpool's Royal Court

While most theatres do their best to fill their auditoria with school parties and panto-loving families at Christmas, Liverpool's Royal Court has a festive tradition of its own. Well, since Covid anyway...

That tradition is the run of Christmas Stocking Fillers - a season composed of nightly runs of a number of 10-15 minute plays written by local authors.

The latest run - the fifth - comes up from December 4-30, seven short dramas a night, billed as "homegrown entertainment with a cosy, charming, homespun feel."

"The Studio is a place for new writing and independent theatre, and a new tradition began after Covid to celebrate new and emerging writers," explained the theatre's Laura Brown. 

"Written by members of the Royal Court's Stage Write programme, these are seven 10-minute short plays telling a festive story. In the past we've had rampaging Santas, love stories in lifts, aliens, and magical fairies on top of the tree." 

The plays are: Siren Night by Harriet Ball; Day 521 on Solus IV by Ed Connole; Meeting The New One by Jacqui Dunne; Christmas Jumpers by David Ellis; Little Things Like Love by Richard Hunt; The Spirit of Christmas by Ste Mc and CrackerJack by Maxine McCarthy.

They will be performed by four actors - Holly Mimi Bernice, Dominic Carter, Lynn Francis and Jim Kelly - directed by Alex King, who also directs the studio's selling-out-fast production of It’s A Wonderful Life from November 12-28. 

Alex said, "It’s an honour to be working on Stocking Fillers with this fantastic cast and some incredible, wholly original short plays. Stocking Fillers is a perfect addition to Liverpool’s Christmas scene; nobody does Christmas quite like the Court!” 

More info and tickets here