Richard Bean among writers in Theatre503's festival exploring consent and power

Theatre503 has announced the lineup for its series of short plays exploring consent, power and recent events around sexual harassment in theatre, film and wider society.

After the success of the venue's Top Trumps festival which took place last January (in response to the 2016 US election), the south London theatre's 2018 festival, entitled The Words Are Coming Now, will feature commissions spread across three days.

The line-up will be composed of established writers including April de Angelis (After Electra, Jumpy), Richard Bean (One Man Two Guvnors, Young Marx), Chris Bush (A Dream, TONY! The Blair Musical) and Dipika Guha (American Gods).

De Angelis's piece will explore the sexual politics of academia, while Bean's satire will touch upon the minefield of corporate dating. Bush's short play will discuss the concept of 'speaking out', and who gets to talk when. Performed by an ensemble cast, the shows will be directed by Ailin Conant, Chino Odimba, Cressida Brown and the venue's artistic director Lisa Spirling.

The venue has also invited new and emerging writers to contribute, with six texts being developed for the festival. These emerging writers include Fergus Church, Amy Evans, Kevin Forde, Patrick Russell, Elise Van Lil and Deidan Williams. Each performance will be accompanied by a post-show discussion curated by writer and journalist Natasha Tripney.

The Words Are Coming Now will run from 25 to 27 January at Theatre503.