The international reputation of British theatre, especially over the last half-century, has depended heavily on new writing. A healthy theatre needs a strong classic tradition. But that quickly becomes stale unless accompanied by the exploration of current social issues and behaviour-patterns. Thanks to the existence of a number of theatres devoted specifically to new writing, led by London's Royal Court, Britain can proudly claim to have a large number of living dramatists. They inevitably work in other media as well. But their existence means that they use the theatre as a means of taking the moral temperature of the society. And their survival has ensured British theatre's global renown.

Michael Billington, The Guardian