Chris Bush Archives - North West End UK

Standing at The Skys Edge – Gillian Lynne Theatre

2Mar

By Jennifer LaishleyNo Comments

London

Standing at The Skys Edge – Gillian Lynne Theatre

Standing at the Skys Edge is a heartwarming musical about love and familial relationships growing through time. The musical explores love and home. Standing at the Skys Edge is a well written musical with beautiful lyrical songs which opened at The National Theatre last year to show stopping reviews and certainly deserves its west end transfer and spot on the West End. Standing at the Skys Edge tells the stories of three families living in an estate in Sheffield, starting at three different points of the same timeline. The three storylines play out simultaneously with all the characters wrapping up seamlessly towards the end of the show. Whilst this device is frequently used in film, it is rarely successfully deployed in theatre. Chris Bush’s book is cleverly structured to give all the ...

15Aug

By Anna ChiariNo Comments

Scotland

Hungry – Roundabout at Summerhall

At the centre of the Roundabout tent, a minimal and effective installation by Paines Plough's production to gather the many pilgrims of the Fringe in a circle, a culinary drama unfolds that uses the metaphor of food to investigate themes such as identity, emotional dependence and cultural appropriation. Although playwright Chris Bush's new play sins by an excess of verbiage, the pièce takes flight thanks to the naturalness and communicative energy of the two lead actresses. An encounter-clash between the insecure and fragile chef Lori, played by Eleanor Sutton, and the grumpy and recalcitrant Bex (Melissa Lowe) at the two extremes of two kitchen trolleys that clash, drift apart and grow closer as their relationship progresses. Of romance, affection or passion there is very little, releg...

14Jul

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Hungry – Soho Theatre

On the face of it, Chris Bush’s new play could simply be viewed as a fresh take on class. In reality, Hungry has more layers than a millefeuille, tackling a diverse range of topics including love, love language, class, culture, ethnicity, sexuality, addiction and, of course, food. The set-up is thus – laidback waitress Bex meets passionate, driven chef Lori. Bex loves chicken nuggets and Pot Noodles, Lori is acutely aware of the difference between a mousse and a marquise. During an hour and ten minutes we move back and forth in time, observing the peaks and troughs in their relationship – two people who find love with someone so unlike them, trying to assimilate and be assimilated into each other's worlds. The time-hopping can be confusing, especially in the earlier scenes as you try to...

Fantastically Great Women who Changed the World – Liverpool Playhouse

10Dec

By Johanna RobertsNo Comments

North West

Fantastically Great Women who Changed the World – Liverpool Playhouse

I absolutely loved this show! Fantastically Great Women, a musical based on the picture book by Kate Pankhurst, aims to inspire children with stories about women who have claimed their place in history in a whole range of different fields. The concept is simple but effective. Jade (last night played by the outstanding Eva-Marie Saffrey), a 10-year-old girl on a school trip to the museum, is tired of restrictions and of never being listened to, and, we later find, is having difficulty coming to terms with her parents’ imminent divorce. Hence, she has decided to hide away in an off-limits section of the museum, the soon to be opened ‘Gallery of Greatness’. Picking up a toy plane, she wishes she could have an adventure – which is the cue for Amelia Earhart to make an appearance, quickly...

21Apr

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Brand new kickass-pirational pop musical Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World premieres this Autumn

The world premiere of a brand new kickass-pirational pop musical will burst into life at the Mayflower Mast Studio this Autumn as the Fantastically Great Women take to the stage to tell their stories. From the producer of SIX, this stage adaptation of suffragette descendent Kate Pankhurst’s award-winning picture book is written by celebrated dramatist Chris Bush (Nine Lessons and Carols, Almeida Theatre) and Number 1 hit songwriter Miranda Cooper (Girls Aloud, Sugar Babes). The incredible all-female creative team bringing this empowering new stage show to life is completed by Amy Hodge (Mr Gum and The Dancing Bear – The Musical!, the National Theatre) as director, Joanna Scotcher as designer (Emilia, Shakespeare’s Globe/Vaudeville Theatre), Dannielle Lecointe as choreographer (Dick Whit...

16Mar

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Band Plays On – Sheffield Theatres

Theatre may have been forced into an identity crisis with the core of its function being ripped away, but Chris Bush’s gig theatre homage to the city she heralds from is extraordinarily certain of itself in a way that’s neither brash nor obtuse, but fiercely considered in the best way – a way that makes its self-awareness invisible. Yes, the pandemic is touched upon, but it’s just that – a faint brush across a canvas we are all painstakingly navigating to this day, a reality we are so keen to escape. There are no broad strokes incessantly reminding here, and it allows for a sensitive, intuitive, ferocious piece of theatre that is both pertinent and liberating. The format, whilst perhaps drawn out in its committed structure, is solid. Often the simplest ideas prove the best and most e...

Box of Tricks and Sky Studios launch inaugural Screen/Play Award

10Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Box of Tricks and Sky Studios launch inaugural Screen/Play Award

Box of Tricks and Sky Studios’ Innovation Hub based in Leeds have teamed up to announce the launch of the Screen/Play Award to discover exceptional writers from the North of England. The project is focussed on finding talent from communities currently underrepresented on stage and screen offering two writers with no TV writing experience a bursary to write a new play for Box of Tricks, and to open doors to the world of screenwriting by forging a development partnership with Sky Studios throughout 2021. The award is open to Northern writers, aged over 18, with no professional TV experience, from the following communities: D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent writers, LGBTQ+ writers, writers of colour, first generation migrant writers and writers from a low socioeconomic background.&nbs...