Further Shows Are On Sale For the Bush Theatre's 50th Year

Currently celebrating 50 years of discovering and developing new writing, directors, creatives, and acting talent, the Bush Theatre has recently had further cause for celebration winning Olivier and Critic's Choice awards for their co-production with Papatango of Igor Memic's Old Bridge, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for new writing for Benedict Lombe's Lava and Off West-End awards for Lava, Old Bridge, and Overflow as well as audience and critical acclaim for its recent productions of Tyrell Williams' Red Pitch and Beru Tessema's House of Ife.

The Shepherd's Bush venue continues its history of shining a light on unheard voices and reflecting issues in the community and today releases tickets for the second part of its 50th birthday season.

The Bush Theatre's Artistic Director Lynette Linton said,

'We've begun our 50th birthday season at the Bush on a roll and the heart-warming reactions to our work by audience and industry alike reaffirms our promise to create debate, to broaden horizons, and to entertain. As we prepare to bring 'Favour', our co-production with Clean Break of Ambreen Razia's moving, beautifully written story of the women in a working-class Muslim family, to the world, I'm delighted we're putting on sale more brilliant new plays. Plays which I'm sure will delight our audiences just as they've delighted us in developing them'

Paradise Now!

by Margaret Perry

Directed by Jaz Woodcock-Stewart

2 December 2022 - 21 January 2023

Monday - Saturday at 7.30 pm

Wednesday matinees - 14, 21 Dec & 4, 11, 18 Jan at 2.30pm

Saturday Matinees - 10, 17 Dec & 7, 14, 21 Jan at 2.30pm

Relaxed Performances - 17 Dec at 2.30pm & 12 Jan at 7.30pm

Captioned performances - 15 Dec at 7.30pm & 7 Jan at 2.30pm

Audio-described performances - 22 Dec at 7.30pm & 14 Jan at 2.30pm

Press Night - 8 Dec at 7pm

Ready to change your life?

Start your journey to greatness and join the biggest pack of girlbosses and SHE-ros you'll ever meet with Paradise!

Gabriel's been low lately. To be honest, she's been low since the 80s. Her sister Baby works two jobs to support them. That's how it is. How it's always been.

Gabriel's never been up to much, that's what everyone says. But what if there is someone who believes in her? A whole community of women to lift her up towards the life she's always wanted?

Paradise Now! is the brand-new play by Margaret Perry (Collapsible) about ambition, exploitation, and kinship in a world that wants to keep us strangers. A new Bush Theatre commission.

Tickets priced from £20 (concessions available) can be booked at bushtheatre.co.uk or at the Box Office on 020 8743 5050.

Sleepova

By Matilda Feyia??aya?? Ibini

24 February - 8 April 2023

Monday - Saturday at 7.30pm

Wednesday matinees - 8, 15, 22, 29 March & 5 Apr at 2.30pm

Saturday matinees - 4, 11, 18, 25 Mar & 1, 8 Apr at 2.30pm

Relaxed Performances - 11 Mar at 2.30pm & 30 Mar at 7.30pm

Captioned performances - 16 Mar at 7.30pm & 25 Mar at 2.30pm

Audio described performances - 18 Mar at 2.30pm & 23 Mar at 7.30pm

Press Night - 1 Mar at 7pm

'We don't get to choose when we become women, y'know?'

Join Rey, Elle, Shan, and Funmi. Armed with sugary snacks, school gossip, and secret questions they can only ask each other, their sleepovas are pretty much a sacred space for them.

As each year tugs them further into adulthood and life doesn't pan out quite as they imagined, they struggle to hold on to a friendship that they swore would last a lifetime. Sleepova is an ode to black women, their boundless spirits, and wild dreams. A new Bush Theatre commission from Matilda Feyia??aya?? Ibini (Little Miss Burden).

Tickets priced from £20 (concessions available) can be booked at bushtheatre.co.uk or at the Box Office on 020 8743 5050.

August In England

Written and performed by Lenny Henry

Directed by Lynette Linton and Daniel Bailey

28 April - 10 June 2023

Monday - Saturday at 7.30 pm

Wednesday matinees - 10, 17, 24, 31 May, and 7 Jun at 2.30 pm

Saturday Matinees - 6, 13, 20, 27 May and 3, 10 Jun 2.30pm

Relaxed Performances - 13 May at 2.30pm & 1 Jun at 7.30pm

Captioned performances - 18 May at 7.30pm & 27 May at 2.30pm

Audio-described performances - 20 May at 2.30pm & 25 May at 7.30pm

Press Night - 4 May at 7 pm (please note date change from 3 May)

'You never allow me tell my story. I been trying to tell it someone and nobody listenin'

Charming, flawed, and with the gift of the gab, we all know a man like August Henderson. Between his three kids, devoted wife-to-be, and part-ownership of a fruit and veg shop, he is proud of the life he has built since landing in his beloved West Bromwich.

So, when faced with deportation to a country he has no memory of, he isn't prepared to go quietly. Listen up, he is ready to tell his own story.

Poignant and hilarious in equal measure, August in England gives insight into the lives impacted by the injustice of the Windrush scandal.

Written and performed by Lenny Henry in his playwriting debut, the celebrated actor and comedian brings his vast talents onto the stage in this intimate one-man show. Co-directed by the Bush Artistic Director, Lynette Linton (House of Ife, Sweat, Chiaroscuro), and Associate Artistic Director, Daniel Bailey (Red Pitch, The High Table).

Tickets priced from £20 (concessions available) can be booked at bushtheatre.co.uk or at the Box Office on 020 8743 5050.

Bush Retrospectives

26 May, 14 Oct, 10 Nov 2022 & 19 Jan, 13 Apr 2023 at 7pm

A series of five rehearsed readings celebrating and reflecting on plays that premiered at the Bush over the past 50 years, including plays by Jonathan Harvey, Jack Thorne, and Cush Jumbo.

The Bush has been producing world-class new writing, telling bold stories, and making great theatre for 50 years. Bush Retrospectives will offer the opportunity to experience afresh five plays from the venue's varied and dynamic history. Each rehearsed reading will be followed by a panel discussion including the writer of one of the plays from the Bush's current season.

May: Beautiful Thing by Jonathan Harvey

26 May at 7 pm

The first event on 26 May focuses on Jonathan Harvey's Beautiful Thing, which premiered at the Bush in 1993. Jonathan will be joined in conversation by Waleed Akhtar, writer of new play The P Word, which will have its world premiere this September at the Bush.

Written at a time when homophobia was commonplace and Section 28 and HIV/AIDS made daily headlines, the Bush put a young, gay Liverpool playwright centre stage. Beautiful Thing later transferred to the West End, was made into a feature film, and discovering its extraordinary writing and message of hope has been a rite of passage for many in the LGBTQ+ community and beyond. The show will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2023.

The reading will be directed by Lucy Waterhouse (Associate Director on Witness for the Prosecution).

October: Independence by Mustapha Matura

14 Oct at 7 pm

The rehearsed reading of Mustapha Matura's 1979 play Independence will be followed by a panel discussion where Ingrid Selberg, Mustapha's widow, will be joined by Beru Tessema, writer of House of Ife, currently playing at the Bush in its critically acclaimed world premiere directed by Lynette Linton.

Mustapha Matura was a Trinidadian playwright, writing plays about the West Indian experience in London. He co-founded the Black Theatre Co-operative (now NitroBeat).

November: 2nd May 1997 by Jack Thorne

10 Nov at 7 pm

The rehearsed reading of BAFTA and Olivier Award-winner Jack Thorne's 2009 play will be followed by a panel discussion where Jack will be joined by Matilda Feyia??aya?? Ibini, writer of Sleepova, which will have its world premiere at the Bush in February 2023.

A smouldering play about escaping the past, seizing the present, and owning the future, as the Tories are defeated New Labour after 18 years in power, 2nd May 1997 tells three deeply personal stories which emerge from the euphoria and despair. The 2009 original cast included Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Hugh Skinner, and Linda Broughton.

January: When I Was A Girl I Used to Scream and Shout by Sharman MacDonald

19 Jan 2023 at 7 pm

When I Was A Girl I Used to Scream and Shout was Sharman MacDonald's first play. Set in 1950s Scotland, it charts the sexual misadventures and misconceptions of Fiona, growing up with her repressive mother and best friend Vari. Sharman MacDonald won the Evening Standard Drama Award for the Most Promising Playwright in 1984.

This rehearsed reading will be followed by a panel discussion where Sharman will be joined by Margaret Perry, writer of Paradise Now!, which has its world premiere this December at the Bush.

April: Josephine and I by Cush Jumbo

13 Apr 2023 at 7 pm

The rehearsed reading of Cush Jumbo's 2013 international hit play will be followed by a panel discussion where Cush will be joined by Anoushka Lucas, writer of Elephant, which has its world premiere at the Bush this October.

Cush Jumbo's debut play brought to life the contemporary legacy of jazz sensation and political activist Josephine Baker. Performed with live music and dance, the original Bush production directed by Phyllida Lloyd transferred to The Public Theatre, New York, in 2015.

Josephine and I won Cush Jumbo the Evening Standard Emerging Talent Award and received an Olivier Award nomination.

Tickets priced from £20 (concessions available) can be booked at bushtheatre.co.uk or at the Box Office on 020 8743 5050.

Elephant

By Anoushka Lucas

24 October - 12 November

Monday - Saturday at 8 pm

Wednesday matinees - 26 Oct & 2, 9 Nov at 3pm

Saturday Matinees - 29 Oct & 5, 12 Nov at 3pm

Relaxed Performance - 29 Oct at 8 pm

Captioned performance - 2 Nov at 8pm

Audio-described performance - 9 Nov at 8 pm

Press Night - 25 Oct at 7 pm

'The men with the Piano look up the narrow staircase of our little flat and they turn to Dad, light their fags, and say; "We might have to take the windows out".'

A piano came through the sky and landed in Lylah's council flat, just for her. As she pours over the keys and sound floods into all the rooms, Lylah falls in love.

At school, Lylah can't ask questions - she's got to be good, good, good, or else she'll lose her scholarship. At home she can't ask questions; her cousins say she talks weird, and her parents are distracted.

So she asks her piano: Where did you come from? Why are you here? And their shared history tumbles into the light.

Part gig, part piano lesson, part journey through Empire - Elephant is a powerful new play from Anoushka Lucas (currently playing Laurey in Oklahoma! at the Young Vic). A new Bush commission, Elephant first appeared as part of the Bush's Protest series, a response to the murder of George Floyd.

Tickets priced from £12 (concessions available) can be booked at bushtheatre.co.uk or at the Box Office on 020 8743 5050.

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