Having successfully reopened following multi-million pound development works earlier this year, the Bush Theatre’s Artistic Director Madani Younis has today announced its autumn-winter season of plays.
The season includes a retrospective of work by internationally acclaimed Iranian theatre-maker Nassim Soleimanpour, featuring three previous works and a brand new play commissioned by the Bush Theatre, along with a season of international stories from Muslim women both home and abroad entitled Hijabi Monologues.
In a celebration of his work, the Bush Theatre brings together all four of Iranian theatre-maker Nassim Soleimanpour’s plays from 7 – 16 September: the self-titled Nassim, international hit White Rabbit Red Rabbit, presented by Aurora Nova; Blank, presented by Aurora Nova; and the UK premiere of new play Cook, co-created by Nassim Soleimanpour and the Danish director Jesper Pedersen. All four plays will play in repertory over the course of a week.
The Hijabi Monologues (28 – 30 September) will then play in the main space, featuring the real-life experiences of both local and international Muslim women by interweaving stories from our doorstep, as well as in other parts of the world. Directed by Milli Bhatia, the evening will include existing monologues penned for this international project by women including the original writer Sahar Ullah and new works from members of the Bush Theatre’s immediate community totalling over 10 UK premieres.
A new play by award-winning writer Thomas Eccleshare, entitled Heather, follows (31 October – 18 November), telling a short, sharp tale about language, prejudice and the power of stories. In the show, a reclusive children’s writer becomes wildly successful – but a troubling narrative in her own life starts to unfold.
The season closes with Parliament Square (30 November – 6 January 2018), James Fritz’s searingly powerful play which sees one woman leave her family behind, travelling to London to carry out an act that will change her life and, she hopes, everyone else’s. Posing raw, disturbing and compassionate questions for our time, the play weighs up what one individual can do to effect change, and won the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting.
The programme also includes the previously announced plays by Sophie Wu – Ramona Tells Jim (20 September – 21 October 2017), about a fateful school trip to the Scottish Highlands – and Chris Thompson – Of Kith And Kin (18 October – 25 November), a surrogacy drama co-produced with Sheffield Theatres.
Speaking about the season, Madani Younis said: “As ever at the Bush Theatre, we continue to seek powerful plays that respond to the urgency of the world around us.”
“This building continues to speak up for the unheard and celebrate their voices. This year we have brought international movements into our local community with the powerful Black Lives, Black Words back in March and the upcoming Hijabi Monologues.”
For more information, and to book your tickets, visit the venue’s website.