PAUL SAVIDENT

The Bush Theatre opened in April 1972 in the upstairs dining room of The Bush Hotel, Shepherds Bush Green. The room had previously served as Lionel Blair's dance studio. Since then, The Bush has become the country's leading new writing venue with over 350 productions, premiering the finest new writing talent.

"For 3 decades and more than 350 productions, the this tiny powerhouse of British Theatre has developed so much nascent talent that, by right, it should be called the National Theatre"

The Daily Telegraph

Playwrights whose works have been performed here at The Bush include: Stephen Poliakoff, Robert Holman, Tina Brown, Snoo Wilson, John Byrne, Ron Hutchinson, Terry Johnson, Beth Henley, Kevin Elyot, Doug Lucie, Dusty Hughes, Sharman Macdonald, Billy Roche, Tony Kushner, Catherine Johnson, Philip Ridley, Richard Cameron, Jonathan Harvey, Richard Zajdlic, Naomi Wallace, David Eldridge, Conor McPherson, Joe Penhall, Helen Blakeman, Lucy Gannon, Mark O'Rowe and Charlotte Jones.

The theatre has also attracted major acting and directing talents including Bob Hoskins, Alan Rickman, Antony Sher, Stephen Rea, Frances Barber, Lindsay Duncan, Brian Cox, Kate Beckinsale, Patricia Hodge, Simon Callow, Alison Steadman, Jim Broadbent, Tim Roth, Jane Horrocks, Gwen Taylor, Mike Leigh, Mike Figgis, Mike Newell and Richard Wilson.

Victoria Wood and Julie Walters first worked together at The Bush, and Victoria wrote her first sketch on an old typewriter she found backstage.

In over 30 years, The Bush has won over one hundred awards and recently received The Peggy Ramsay Foundation Project Award 2002. Bush plays, including most recently The Glee Club, have transferred to the West End. Off-Broadway transfers include Howie the Rookie and Resident Alien. Film adaptations include Beautiful Thing and Disco Pigs. Bush productions have toured throughout Britain, Europe and North America, most recently Stitching and Adrenalin… Heart which toured to the Tokyo International Arts Festival in March 2004.

Every year The Bush receives over fifteen hundred scripts through the post, and every one is read. According to The Sunday Times:

"What happens at The Bush today is at the very heart of tomorrow's theatre"

That's why The Bush reads all the scripts it receives and will continue to do so.

Mike Bradwell Fiona Clark

Artistic Director Executive Producer