Madani Younis’ second season as Artistic Director of the Bush theatre will feature productions of DC Moore’s Straight, Janice Okoh’s Three Birds and MONEY The Game Show.
Building on the success of his first season at the Shepherd’s Bush venue, the 2012/13 season will also feature new writing festival RADAR 2012, the Brook Green Festival (29 October to 8 November) bringing together authors and West London audiences, the South Asian Literature Festival (1 to 4 November) and a celebration of the life and work of Barry Reckord (23 September).
The season’s first production Straight (27 November to 22 December) is, like the subsequent two shows, a co-production. DC Moore’s drama, co-produced with Sheffield Theatres, is based on the film Humpday and tells the story of old university friends who, a decade later, make a drunken bet that changes everything. It is directed by Richard Wilson, whose directorial credits including That Face, The Pride and Under The Whaleback, though he is best known for playing Victor Meldrew in One Foot In The Grave.
MONEY The Game Show (31 January to 2 March), written and directed by Unlimited Theatre’s Clare Duffy, is hosted by former hedge fund managers Casino and Queenie, who, using 10,000 real pound coins, invite audiences to play a series of high stake games as they explore how the world’s economic system came to the brink of collapse.
The season’s final production, Three Birds (19 March to 20 April) won the 2011 Bruntwood Prize for playwriting. Okoh’s dark comic drama is the tale of siblings Tiana, Tanika and Tionne who find themselves home alone. All seems fine until experiments become stranger, Tanika begins to act up and the outside world begins to press in. Three Birds is directed by Sarah Frankcom, Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, which co-produces.
Prior to the full productions, the three-week RADAR 2012 festival (7 to 22 November) brings together work in progress, talks and debates featuring some of the UK’s most exciting artists.
Speaking about the season Younis said: “Central to the ethos of this season is producing and hosting work with the best companies and theatres from the across the UK – this signals an intent moving forward for the company to give a platform to exceptional new work from outside London…
“My first season allowed us the opportunity to connect with and understand our new theatre and its place in the local community – this relationship is vital to the theatre and one I am committed to develop through in the coming years. As part of our drive to make Bush shows as accessible as possible, it gives me great pleasure to announce new lower ticket pricing with this season, alongside a season of multi-buy discount and £10 tickets for our Under 26 patrons.”