Bush Theatre
Bush Theatre

Bush Theatre

The small but infinitely punchy Bush Theatre programmes a raft of demanding, strong new writing.
  • Theatre | Off-West End
  • Shepherd’s Bush
  • Recommended
Advertising

Time Out says

Having moved from its notoriously tiny Shepherd's Bush Green venue in 2012, the Bush Theatre is still fulfilling its role as one of London's smallest major theatres in its new home in the old Shepherd's Bush Library. Until recently, the venue was run by Madani Younis, who presided over a diverse line-up of plays by writers including Vinay Patel and Arinzé Kene, as successor to his comedy-focussed predecessor Josie Rourke. The theatre's new artistic director is Lynette Linton, a playwright and director who was at the helm of a hit production of Lynn Nottage's 'Sweat'. 

Bush Theatre boasts two performance spaces: an 144-seater main house, which can play in traverse, thrust and end-on configurations, and a smaller studio. The shows on offer are generally new plays, with the odd revival of a forgotten late twentieth-century drama. The theatre also continues on its search for and support of new writing with the Bush Green initiative, which allows unsolicited playscript submissions.

Ticket prices are in the £15-£20 mark and there are usually concessions and offers on shows, including the three for two season offer. Locals and students also get discounts.

The cosy, welcoming bar and cafe, with its floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with play texts, reminds a little of the original library and the cafe serves up some nice light bites and has free wifi. In summer, theatregoers can soak up some rays in the Bush's usually-packed outdoor seating area. 

Details

Address
7
Uxbridge Road
Shepherd's Bush
London
W12 8LJ
Transport:
Tube: Shepherd's Bush
Price:
Various
Opening hours:
Check website for show times
Do you own this business?Sign in & claim business

What’s on

Lavender, Violet, Hyacinth, Yew

4 out of 5 stars
In Coral Wylie’s nature-driven debut, absence and presence blur and spike. Pip - also played by Wylie – is a non-binary 19-year-old trying to make sense of themselves and their world. To do this, they keep a diary; filling it up with heavy feelings. ‘I don’t know myself. I don’t know how to fix it,’ they write. Pip’s parents, however, prefer to keep their worries and traumas as ungerminated seeds. Twenty years ago, Pip’s father, Craig (Wil Johnson) lost his best friend Duncan (a cracking Omari Douglas) to AIDS. But instead of speaking about their memories, Craig has tried his best to bury Duncan’s existence, deep. Near the beginning of Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet, Yew, Pip discovers one of Duncan’s old jackets with an old diary stuffed inside the pocket. Almost immediately they feel an affinity with their parents’ old friend.  The past starts to overflow like running water. Through his writing, Duncan’s personality is released in multitudes; and in these flashes Wylie’s play shimmers into something brilliant. Douglas makes Duncan an almost otherworldly vision; his diary entries pulse with humour and fire, as well as his niggling fears. Duncan’s life feels stolen; the loss of him is cruel and has left a gaping hole. Without Duncan, colour has been sucked out of Craig and his wife Lorin’s days. Max John’s set makes their once dazzling home bland and white; their walls and furniture have no decoration. In scenes from their past though, the couple are powered by their own...
  • Drama
Advertising
London for less
    You may also like
    You may also like