George Devine's 1956 vision of the Royal Court Theatre was a "truly international theatre" and in their early years their repertoire included new plays by writers such as Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, Jean Genet, Arthur Miller, Bertolt Brecht. The royal court theatre's project in India began in January 2001 with a two-week residency organized in collaboration with the British Council in Bangalore. The Royal Court Theatre team, (Elyse Dodgson, Dominic Cooke, and April De Angelis) also travelled to other cities to investigate expanding work.
After a follow-up workshop in November 2001, seven plays were shown as a part of a festival of new writing in Bangalore in 2002. Following the success of project, Phyllida Lloyd and Carl Miller ran a secondary residency in Mumbai in September/October 2002. The same team led the follow up-of this work in September 2003. Five years ago, the British Council commissioned London's royal curt theatre to help meet requests they were receiving from theatre companies around India. The royal court jumped fast the opportunity to work with the most creative minds and talents of India today.
From workshops in 1999 in north and south India, a collaboration of over 30 of the country's best dramatists was seen in Mumbai. Writer's bloc is an apotheosis of these workshops. All 9 new plays come in full performance on the stage of Mumbai, starting from today. Mumbai's leading English language theatre companies are eagerly collaborating for the first time.