MISS MYRTLE'S GARDEN Cast and Creatives Revealed at the Bush Theatre

Miss Myrtle's Garden will open at the Bush Theatre, London on 31 May.  This world premiere production, written by Danny James King, is directed by Bush Theatre's Artistic Director, Taio Lawson. The cast is Michael Ahomka-Lindsay, Mensah Bediako, Diveen Henry, Gary Lilburn, and Elander Moore.

Danny James King said, ‘Miss Myrtle is a unique theatrical character at the centre of the action on stage. She is an elderly, first-generation Jamaican woman who invites the audience into her inner world; however, it soon becomes apparent that, due to her dementia, she is not the most reliable narrator. Her world is disrupted by her Queer grandson and his partner's arrival and then further rattled by the neighbourhood drunk and ghosts from the past. The play features five characters from very different backgrounds who are forced to find common ground amongst the weeds in Miss Myrtle's garden. As they face emotions and challenges that so many of us share, it becomes clear to them that what they have in common is far more interesting than what divides them.'

The play draws on themes including dementia, same sex relationships, and the importance of access to outside space for all. The disparity of this access is stark, with Black people nearly four times as likely to have no access to a garden as white people, and those in unskilled and semi-skilled jobs, casual workers, and the unemployed being almost three times as likely to be without a garden as those in professional or managerial positions.

Miss Myrtle is a sharp-tongued woman with an unkempt garden in a rapidly changing neighbourhood. To top it off, her grandson Rudy and his ‘close friend' Jason need a place to stay, and local drunk Eddie keeps relieving himself against her garden wall. 

Rudy is pushing for answers about the past, but Myrtle doesn't want to be troubled by duppies - she just wants some peace and quiet. As her brain starts to fight against her, far more complicated questions about grief, love, and understanding demand to be confronted, but she's running out of time. Writer Danny James-King is a London-based writer who got his start in theatre before moving into film. His first play, Bounty, was runner-up at the Alfred Fagon Awards and was given a rehearsed reading at The Kiln the following year.  Before becoming a full-time writer, Danny worked in a number of different roles and spent a lot of time in The House of Commons, where he assisted various MPs and met several high-profile figures, including Jeremy Corbyn, David Cameron, and The Dalai Lama. He spent 2016 in New York, where he worked at Out Magazine during one of the country's most contentious elections. There he gained experiences which informed his creative voice and changed the trajectory of his career path. His time in New York inspired a stint of stand-up comedy. After opening for comedians such as Nish Kumar, Catherine Bohart, Larry Dean, and STEPHEN BAILEY, he decided to concentrate on his career as a writer, rather than a performer. Director Taio Lawson is Bush Theatre's Artistic Director and the Genesis Fellow / Associate Director at the Young Vic. He was previously Associate Director of Kiln Theatre and has held Resident Director roles at Sheffield Theatres, the Almeida, and on the West End run of Hamilton. Selected Director credits include: an unfinished man (The Yard Theatre), NW Stories (Kiln Theatre), HOME Digital (Young Vic Theatre), Macbeth (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Hang (Sheffield Theatres), White Devil (East 15 Acting School), Home - Installation(Young Vic Theatre). In 2026, Taio will direct Seagulls, a sharp contemporary Black British retelling of Chekhov's The Seagull, for Kiln Theatre, which he has co-written with Dipo Baruwa-Etti.Taio is also a trustee for PiPA (Parents and Carers in the Performing Arts), the organisation committed to amplifying the voices of everyone with caring responsibilities in the performing arts, to change mindsets and working practices alike.  Michael Ahomka-Lindsay plays Rudy.  Michael trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he was recipient of the ALW Foundation Scholarship.  Michael's theatre credits include Herbert in More (MTFest), Olunde in Death and the King's Horseman (Sheffield Theatre), Jonathan in Reverberation (Bristol Old Vic); Clifford Bradshaw in Cabaret (Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre); Jack Kelly in Disney's Newsies(Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre); David Heard in Choir Boy (Bristol Old Vic); Emmett Forrest in Legally Blonde (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Benjamin “Benny” Coffin III RENT (Hope Mill Theatre); Paul Stephenson in To the Streets (China Plate & Birmingham Hippodrome) and Maugrim in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (UK/Ireland Tour). His radio appearances include Michael in Scratch That: Highlife Romance(Theatre Peckham). His short film appearances include Craig in Fart Car; Chris in The Cosmic Order; Shahbaz inShielders and Jerome in Demons.

Mensah Bediako plays Melrose.  Mensah's London theatre includes Master Harold and the Boys (National Theatre), One Man Two Guvnors (Haymarket), Clybourne Park (Wyndhams), Piaf (Vaudeville), The Harder They Come (Barbican), Tobias and the Angel (Young Vic), Floyd Collins (Southwark Playhouse), Showboat (Royal Albert Hall), Strike! (Southwark Playhouse), The View from Nowhere (Park Theatre) and On the Ropes (Park Theatre). Regional Theatre includes Much Ado About Nothing (RSC), Driving Miss Daisy (Barn Theatre), Fisherman's Friends (Hall for Cornwall), Fast Cuts and Snap Shots (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Once On This Island, Oedipus, Respect, The Wind in the Willows, The Bodyguard, Driving Miss Daisy, African Snow, and The Mountaintop (Tours).  Television includes Andor (Disney+/LucasFilm), Death in Paradise (BBC), Y Swn (BBC), Romantic Getaway (Sky), In The Long Run (Sky One), EastEnders (BBC), and Chasing Shadows (ITV).  On film, Mensah has appeared in Flavia De Luce, Wonder Woman: 1984, Mr Mzuza, Popular Unrest, Frank in The Baseline, Wee King of Nowhere, and The Real Kathy Hayden.

Miss Myrtle is played by Diveen Henry.  Diveen is currently shooting a supporting role in Sky's The Inheritanceand recently performed in Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White at the Lyric Hammersmith, directed by Monique Touko.  Recent screen credits include Mike Leigh's Hard Truths, A Day of The Jackal for Sky, Ridley for ITV, Tell Me Everything for ITV, The Power for Amazon, and Temple alongside Mark Strong. Before this, she had a leading role in Manhunt on ITV. Other notable credits include All Or Nothing, The Thick of It, and Prosperity, directed by Lenny Abrahamson. 

Gary Lilburn plays Eddie. Gary's theatre credits include The Weir (Royal Court), Desire Under The Elms(Shared Experience), The Quare Fellow (Tricycle Theatre), The Man Who Had All The Luck (Donmar Warehouse), Calendar Girls (Chichester / West End), 16 Possible Glimpses (Abbey Theatre), Dr Faustus(Glasgow Citizens), The Cripple Of Irishman (West End / Broadway), The Taming Of The Shrew (Shakespeare's Globe), Trouble In Mind (National Theatre), Six Characters In Search Of A Good Night's Sleep (Southwark Playhouse) and Autumn (Park Theatre). His screen credits include Joel Schumaker's Veronica Guerin, Stephen Frears‘s Philomena, and Lenny Abrahamson's Garage. He will soon be seen in Mr. Bigstuff Series 2 (Sky) and Babies (BBC). He plays ‘Des' in Sharon Horgan's hit series Catastrophe (Channel 4), Bad Sisters (Series 1 & 2), Silent Witness (BBC), Mrs Browns Boys (BBC), Paula (BBC), Belgravia (ITV), Single Handed (RTÉ), Pulling (BBC), Pete Verses Life (Channel 4), and Casualty (BBC).

Elander Moore plays Jason. He will star in BBC & CBS' upcoming series King & Conqueror and recently starred in the hit Netflix series Kaos. Other screen credits include Interview with A Vampire and Death in Paradise. On stage, he played the role of Craig Donner in The Normal Heart at The National Theatre, directed by Dominic Cooke, and had roles in The Watsons at the Harold Pinter Theatre and The Barber Shop Chronicles tour.

This production is generously supported by Charles Holloway OBE.