Fifty Years of the Bush Theatre - And It’s Just The Beginning

Located in the heart of bustling Shepherd's Bush, the Bush Theatre is a world-famous, modern theatre that is an asset to its local community. In its fifty years, the Bush Theatre has been a breeding ground for some of the best new playwrights, many of whom have gone on to become established names in the industry such as Lucy Kirkwood and Arinzé Kene. Lynette Linton is the powerhouse Artistic Director behind the Bush. Appointed in 2019, when the word ‘diversity’ was at the tip of everyone's tongues and we were all blissfully unaware of the term Covid-19, Linton has had a lot to contend with in her somewhat disrupted tenure but if the 2022 season is anything to go by, she has handled it all in stride.

Theatre, whilst one of the oldest art forms and forms of human expression in the world, has not always been a space that feels inclusive, especially in the UK – it has historically been dominated by the middle and upper classes, by white men and by costs that can be exclusionary. Lynette Linton is striving to change that. She wants to readjust that conversation to change what the canon is and for the Bush Theatre to be a safe place where everyone feels welcome. The building itself works to do this, with accessible facilities, gender-neutral bathrooms and multifaith prayer rooms all available.

This feeling of genuine inclusivity is just one of the things that sets the Bush Theatre apart. According to Lynette, other distinguishing factors of the Bush include their artists, the work and the theatre’s commitment to discovering and nurturing new writers which has been a staunch part of their ethos since 1972. New writing is often seen as a risk to gamble on in the industry. Not only does Lynette want to take those “risks” for the Bush, she wants to push against that narrative completely. ‘Work is work and stories are stories.’ she tells me, and the whole point of theatre is creating new work and telling new stories.

Whilst the pandemic hit early on in Lynette’s tenure at the Bush, the theatre did their utmost to make the best of a terrible situation. The industry was badly hit as lockdowns raged, performances were cancelled and theatres were closed  and had to find alternative ways of reaching their audiences remotely. This didn’t stop the Bush Theatre (which was one of the first theatres to open up post-lockdown ) from continuing to do the work and produce two shows, Elephant which debuts this autumn and was commissioned as a response to the murder of George Floyd and Lava which was streamed internationally and for which the writer Benedict Lombe was awarded the 2022 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, highlighting the level of commitment and dedication they have to their audience.

The Bush is truly a part of its community and integral to its neighbourhood; it prides itself on being a place where people can come together, not only through their work on stage but also by providing discounted tickets for local residents and doing specific community work through talent schemes that champion new voices and unheard stories that reflect its culturally diverse area. Their Emerging Writers Group is how Beru Tessema’s House of Ife was performed to critical acclaim. They also have two sets of Young Companies for 14-17 and 18-25 year olds who are in-house artists who do weekly workshops and create work for the theatre; they both put on performances (Horizon and Anthem) at the Bush over the summer. These initiatives are an excellent way to introduce young people to theatre, Lynette informs me, and it remains a source of pride that the Bush can be a place where people often get to have their first experience of theatre. 

And what an experience it can be, just this year the Bush has had an explosive run of performances, including the much-lauded Red Pitch written by Tyrell Williams and directed by Daniel Bailey, Ambreen Razia’s working-class family drama Favour and currently The P Word following the lives of two gay Pakistani men. Next Spring will see the theatre put on  August in England, the debut play from Lenny Henry. This is just a snippet of the range of kinds of stories that the Bush is committed to showcasing. For Lynette, however, the past fifty years are just the tip of the iceberg. In the next fifty, she hopes to see the theatre continue to grow, build and dominate the conversation and in an ideal world one of the Young Company would be running the building and taking it in a new direction. History and legacy is important and Lynette hopes that the younger generation can stand on her shoulders and those of who came before her to create something new that we can all learn from. As for the state of the British theatre scene in the next fifty years, Lynette is bored of the conversation around unheard voices and wants to see some action instead. She hopes that we can reach a point where Black theatre is taught in schools, performed in the West End and a concrete part of the canon and no longer a rarity or special occasion.

Be sure to check out Bush Theatre’s upcoming shows on their website

Lynette Linton is directing Blues for An Alabama Sky running at the National Theatre from 21st September to 5th November