The Bush Theatre in London has announced its new Spring 2024 season, with a number of new plays.
The world premiere of Shifters starring Doctor Who’s Tosin Cole will run in their main house from 16 February to 30 March 2024.
The second play from Susan Smith Blackburn Prize winner Benedict Lombe (Lava), Shifters is billed as a fierce romance for anyone desperate for a different kind of love story, and will be directed by Bush artistic director Lynette Linton.
In April, Olivier Award winner Bijan Sheibani is back at the Bush with The Cord, following the success of his 2019 debut play The Arrival.
The Cord promises to be an intensely frank and relatable insight into the challenges of being a parent and a child, no matter how old you are, and is also directed by Bijan Sheibani.
The cast of The Cord will include Clarence Derwent Award winner Irfan Shamji (Sons of the Prophet, Industry), and plays from 12 April to 25 May 2024.
In the studio, Kwame Owusu’s Mustapha Matura Award-winning play Dreaming and Drowning premieres, running from 28 November to 23 December 2023. Written and Directed by Kwame Owusu, the play is performed by Tienne Simon.
This is followed by Sophia Chetin-Leuner’s NHS drama This Might Not Be It, directed by Ed Madden, and playing from 30 January to 2 March 2024.
The Bush has also announced a new Friends scheme, which is a partnership between the Bush and the Carers Network; and a new cohort for the theatre’s 18-25 Young Company following the inaugural cohorts’ graduation with their main-house show As We Face The Sun.
Coming up at the Bush Theatre are productions including Elephant, written and performed by Anoushka Lucas and directed by Jess Edwards (14 October to 4 November 2023); and Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen by Marcelo Dos Santos, directed by Matthew Xia, and starring Samuel Barnett (10 November to 23 December 2023).
The Bush Theatre’s Artistic Director Lynette Linton said in a statement: “As a venue we go from strength to strength. This year we’ve packed the building with audiences for August in England, Red Pitch, Pass It On, As We Face The Sun, A Playlist for the Revolution and Invisible prior to it transferring to Off-Broadway. We’re beyond excited to announce a brand-new season, my first working alongside our new Executive Director Mimi Findlay and with new staff coming on board to help build on our success. We’re also launching a new Friends scheme which will enable many more people to see our shows at an affordable price. To fulfil our mission to really shake up the theatrical canon and continue to have influence over its future – we hold our artists close and want to support them beyond their debut plays. They are part of the fabric of the Bush. Three of our four new shows are written by previous members of our Emerging Writers Group and two writers are returning for their second main house shows. Because of the continued impact of Covid and financial pressures on our industry – many theatres are understandably reverting to the safest choices they can make. But for us, it has always been about moving forward. When we think about the programming of a Bush show, we have in mind the legacy that we want to leave behind. This season of shows are not only a good night out but also epic explorations of deeply human stories which force us to ask big questions of ourselves and the world we live in and dig deep.”
Book tickets to Shifters at the Bush Theatre
Book tickets to The Cord at the Bush Theatre
Book tickets to Dreaming and Drowning at the Bush Theatre
Book tickets to This Might Not Be It at the Bush Theatre
