The Cane, Royal Court Theatre

Over 20 years since the incendiary premiere of Shopping and Fucking, Mark Ravenhill finally returns to the Royal Court Theatre with a new play that promises to be just as timely and provocative.

The Cane premieres as part of a new season 'exploring power and control, identity and gender, and the major failure of the echo-chamber of liberalism'

Instead of spearing consumer culture, Ravenhill turns his ferocious talents to issues of control and comeuppance. We follow Edward, an apparently beloved school master retiring after 45 years of teaching. But instead of a celebratory send off, Edward is confronted with a riot. Students are fighting back, attacking his home, and provoking a slew of uncomfortable questions.

Director Vicky Featherstone describes The Cane as 'a brilliant play about the consequences of control and how we will no longer remain silenced after years of normalised power games.'

With Ravenhill's mastery of the blackest, boldest comedy, brace yourself for a play that rips away at propriety and politeness to interrogate a troubling and widespread abuse of power.