On Thursday 6 April 1972, the Bush Theatre was established above The Bush public house on the corner of Goldhawk Road and Shepherd's Bush Green, in what was once the dance studio of Lionel Blair. It was established by a maverick actor, Brian McDermott, who used to tour the Fringe.[7] The venue, despite its fame and massive output, was intimate, with a maximum audience of approximately 80. The first production was an adaption of The Collector by John Fowles, directed by John Neville and starring Annette Andre and Brian McDermott; it had previously played at the King's Head Theatre.[8]
Throughout 1992, the Bush Theatre celebrated 20 years at the frontier of new writing. "What has held the Bush together for 20 years? Blind faith, youthful commitment and a tenacious belief in new writing: above all, perhaps, the conviction that new work deserves the highest standards in acting, direction and design", The Guardian. The Bush won The Empty Space Award for the year's work, which included Billy Roche's Bush plays A Handful Of Stars, Poor Beast in the Rain and Belfry playing in repertory as The Wexford Trilogy, which toured to Wexford Opera House and the Abbey Theatre, Dublin.
In November 2010, the Bush Theatre announced it would be leaving its home of nearly forty years and moving to the former Passmore Edwards Public Library building, round the corner from its first home, on Uxbridge Road.[9]
The relocation took place in 2011 and the new venue opened with the "Sixty-Six Books" project.[10] This was a celebration of the anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, which used 66 writers, many of whom were veterans of the Bush.
That same year, Artistic Director Josie Rourke announced her departure from the Bush to take up the position of Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse. The Board appointed Madani Younis as her successor from January 2012. In 2013, he programmed the theatre's most successful season to date, which saw the theatre play to 99% capacity.
In Spring 2016, the Bush Theatre relocated its plays to found spaces around Shepherd's Bush and Notting Hill, as the former library building closed for the largest capital project in the theatre's history.[11] Borrowing new and iconic spaces with their own histories and tales of the local community, this season of work welcomed new audiences and residents by offering a number of free and subsidised theatre tickets to local people.[12]
In March 2017, following a landmark year of taking plays into the communities of West London, the Bush Theatre returned home following a £4.3m revitalisation of the venue. The year-long redevelopment was driven by the aim of realising Younis’ vision for a theatre that reflected the diversity and vibrancy of London. Upon reopening, the building was to be more sustainable and entirely accessible, with a new entrance, front-of-house area and exterior garden terrace to the main street.
Lynette Linton became Artistic Directory in January 2019, following Younis' appointment as Creative Director at the Southbank Centre.[6] That same year, the theatre was named London Theatre of the Year by The Stage.[13]
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bush Theatre filmed several of its productions and offered them to online viewers.[14]
Following the 2016/17 redevelopment, the Bush Theatre has two performance spaces:
The Theatre, a reserved seating venue with a maximum capacity of 180. It has remained in its original location and can be configured in a thrust, end on or in the round layout.
The Studio, an unreserved seating venue with a maximum capacity of 70, is a home for emerging artists and producers. Similarly, this space can be configured in a thrust, end on or in the round layout.
The building also contains an Attic rehearsal space and Writer's Room, along with a Café Bar, garden terrace and playtext library, which is the largest public theatre reference library in the United Kingdom.
The redevelopment of the venue was 'Cultural Project of the Year' finalist at the AJ Architecture Awards 2017, and 'Highly commended Cultural Building' at the AJ Retrofit Awards 2017, and selected by the Hammersmith Society as winner of their Conservation Award for 2017.
New writing
The Literary Department at the Bush Theatre is committed to discovering the best new plays from playwrights from the widest range of backgrounds and therefore seek unsolicited submissions throughout the year in dedicated script windows. The Bush is a proud champion of playwrights, with a keen interest in those voices not often heard, and reflecting the contemporary culture of London, the UK and beyond. The Department receives nearly 2000 scripts a year from new and established playwrights, all of which are read and considered for production or development at the Bush.[15]
To celebrate 40 years of the Bush Theatre, "Close-Up Magic": 40 Years at the Bush Theatre[32] was published, charting the history of the theatre and including contributions from past directors, actors, writers and audience members.
Productions
A list of selected productions of the Bush Theatre.[33]
Shepherd's Bush Market
Shepherd's Bush
