Directed by Ramin Gray, Stephens’ play concerns a British soldier who returns from British-controlled southern Iraq to find, according to production notes, an England "confused by its role in a distant war." Stephens, whose previous play On the Shore of the Wide World transferred from Manchester’s Royal Exchange to London’s National Theatre, has said his latest work was influenced by two momentous events in London last year: the announcement on July 6 that the city will host the Olympic Games in 2012 and the following day’s terrorist attacks in the capital.

The cast of Motortown is lead by Daniel Mays, who played the son in Mike Leigh’s film Vera Drake and has previously been seen at the Royal Court in Ladybird, Just a Bloke and The One With the Oven.

Gray’s last production for the Royal Court was Way to Heaven by Spanish playwright Juan Mayorga. Gray also recently directed David Greig’s The American Pilot for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s New Writing season.