Over the next three years, West London’s Bush Theatre will offer nine £10,000 bursaries to Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) artists; three playwrights, three directors and three producers.
The new Project 2036 programme has been enabled by a grant from the Leverhulme Trust, which previously funded the Bush’s Associate Playwright position between 2010 and 2014.
In addition to the bursary, the Bush’s new associate artists will receive mentoring support and have the chance to programme, develop and produce their own mini-season in the theatre’s new Studio space. This will follow a three month placement in which the producer and director bursary winners will work on a production, while the playwright will be given time to create their own work.
The announcement of the new bursaries come at a time of change for the Shepherd’s Bush venue. The theatre, led by Artistic Director Madani Younis, will take its programme to the road from this summer as its home at the Old Library receives a £4 million overhaul.
Among the productions being staged around the Bush’s community in this time are the Headlong co-production of Boys Will Be Boys, staged at Bush Hall, and the return of the acclaimed The Royale, being staged at The Tabernacle.
More information about Project 2036 can be found on the Bush Theatre’s website.