Theatre503 announces new season including festival exploring power and consent

New writing venue Theatre503 has announced its January to May season, and a new festival of short plays.

The Words Are Coming Now will run from 25 to 27 January 2018 and follows on from the theatre's Top Trumps festival earlier this year, which responded to President Trump's election. This time, the venue will present a series of short plays exploring consent and power in the light of recent events in theatre, film and wider society.

The new season will feature Br'er Cotton by Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm (7 to 31 March 2018). One of the shortlisted plays for last year's Theatre503 Playwriting Award, it is about a disenchanted African American teenage boy in Virginia and will be directed by JMK Award winner Roy Alexander Weise.

The season also features six other new plays including Lucy Foster's modern-day love story Lobster (9 to 20 January 2018), Bel Knight and Clare Hoey's comedy It's Not Cute Anymore (6 to 10 February) – featuring animation, interviews, and filmed flashbacks – and Gold Coast by Louise Gooding (13 to 17 February).

From 20 to 24 February, Tracing Grace by Annie Eves tells of three week-old Grace who was diagnosed with a life-changing condition. Reared (4 to 28 April) by John Fitzpatrick tells of three generations of women under one roof and a baby on the way. And Isaac Came Home from the Mountain (9 May to 2 June) by Phil Ormrod tells of the search for a 'future in the dying heart of England'.