Hidden agendas

Guardian Unlimited Arts: "The Royal Court has arguably been the engine that has driven British theatre for the past 50 years, a contention more widely recognised abroad than at home. Back in the 1980s, when the Arts Council was threatening to withdraw the Court's funding, I was at a festival in Louisville, Kentucky. Within hours, the delegates had signed a petition protesting at this insult to Britain's most internationally renowned theatre. But, as Ian Rickson hands over directorship of the Court to Dominic Cooke, it is worth asking what this terracotta Chelsea icon means to us today, and where its future lies."