Chris Bush – författare

Theatre has a funny way of getting to the heart of who we are now and – particularly in the case of Connections – who we are going to be.Drawing together the work of nine leading playwrights, National Theatre Connections 2018 features work by some of the most exciting contemporary playwrights. Gathered together in one volume, the plays offer young performers an engaging selection of material to perform, read or study.From friends building bridges and siblings breaking down walls; girls making their voice heard and boys searching for home; and not forgetting a band of unlikely action heroes taking control of the weather.The anthology contains nine play scripts along with imaginative production notes and exercises, as well as a short introduction to the writing process for the tenth Connections play [ BLANK ] by Alice Birch.National Theatre Connections is an annual festival which brings new plays for young people to schools and youth theatres across the UK and Ireland. Commissioning exciting work from leading playwrights, the festival exposes actors aged 13-19 to the world of professional theatre-making, giving them full control of a theatrical production - from costume and set design to stage management and marketing campaigns. NT Connections have published over 150 original plays and regularly works with 500 theatre companies and 10,000 young people each year.

National Theatre Connections is an annual festival which brings new plays for young people to schools and youth theatres across the UK and Ireland. Commissioning exciting work from leading playwrights, the festival exposes actors aged 13-19 to the world of professional theatre-making, giving them full control of a theatrical production - from costume and set design to stage management and marketing campaigns. NT Connections have published over 150 original plays and regularly works with 500 theatre companies and 10,000 young people each year.This anthology brings together 9 new plays by some of the UK's most prolific and current writers and artists alongside notes on each of the texts exploring performance for schools and youth groups. Wind / Rush Generation(s) by Mojisola Adebayo Tuesday by Alison CarrA series of public apologies (in response to an unfortunate incident in the school lavatories) by John Donnelly THE IT by Vivienne Franzmann The Marxist in Heaven by Hattie Naylor Look Up by Andrew Muir Crusaders by Frances Poet Witches Can’t Be Burned by Silva Semerciyan Dungeness by Chris Thompson .

'I'd watch you eat. I'd eat you up. Look at you. You get it, don't you? You're real.'Lori is a professional chef. Bex waits on tables to make ends meet. One night together in a walk-in fridge and it's the beginning of something beautiful.Lori has big plans, while Bex is struggling. If we are what we eat, then Bex is in real trouble. It's not her fault – the system is rigged. No one on minimum wage and zero hours has the headspace to make their own yoghurt.Chris Bush's Hungry is a play about food, love, class and grief in a world where there's little left to savour. It was premiered in July 2021 in Paines Plough's the Roundabout, directed by Katie Posner, as a co-production between Paines Plough and Belgrade Theatre as part of Coventry City of Culture 2021, before touring the UK.'One of the UK's most exciting young playwrights' The Stage'A writer of great wit and empathy' The Times

'Three options, as I see it – they'll kill it off entirely, you'll let it die of natural causes, I'm going to make it live again.'When the owner of a Sheffield scissor manufacturer dies, the future of the factory site falls into uncertainty. Can it be reborn as a fashionable music venue, converted into luxury apartments, or somehow reinvigorated so the old business can survive?There's more than just money or bricks and mortar at stake. It's about knowing where you fit in the world – knowing that somewhere there's still a place for you.Fresh, funny and heartfelt, Rock / Paper / Scissors are three intricately interwoven plays by Chris Bush about family, heritage and legacy. They were first performed simultaneously with the same cast moving between three theatres in Sheffield – the Crucible, the Lyceum and the Studio – as part of Sheffield Theatres' fiftieth birthday celebrations in 2022.While the three plays can be enjoyed separately, they also offer a uniquely rewarding opportunity for any company looking to take on the challenge of staging them together.

Since her play Steel opened in her native Sheffield in 2018, Chris Bush has rapidly become one of the UK's most successful and widely staged playwrights, with her plays on stage at the National Theatre, in the West End, and across Europe. Celebrated for her spirited dissections of power, female agency and northern identity, her work is infused with wit, empathy, and a powerful sense of place and belonging.Included here are five of her plays, all first performed between 2018 and 2021, together with a revealing introduction in which she reflects on the tumultuous period from which they emerged.Steel (Sheffield Theatres, 2018) is a political epic constructed from minimal resources, a two-hander spanning three decades of women in politics. 'Sharp, witty and uncannily topical' The StageFaustus: That Damned Woman (Headlong, 2020) is a radical reimagining of the classic tale, asking what women must sacrifice to achieve greatness. 'Original, ambitious and fantastically revisionist' GuardianNine Lessons and Carols (Almeida Theatre, 2020) is a play, with songs by Maimuna Memon, about connection and isolation, forged during the Covid pandemic, exploring what we hold on to in troubled times. 'A reminder of the power of theatre and our need for it' TelegraphHungry (Paines Plough, 2021) is a pithy two-hander about food, love, class and grief in a world where there's little left to savour. 'Reconfirms Chris Bush as one of our greatest, most relevant contemporary playwrights' Broadway WorldNot the End of the World (Schaubühne, Berlin, 2021) is a daringly theatrical investigation of the climate crisis through the perspectives of class, patriarchy and colonialism. 'Staggering… Bush's remarkable text melds a ruthless structural concept with exquisite lyricism' Guardian'One of our most prolific and arresting writers' Evening Standard'A writer of great wit and empathy' The Times

Hailed as 'the most exciting new British musical in years' (WhatsOnStage), Standing at the Sky's Edge was originally written as a love letter to Sheffield, charting the hopes and dreams of three generations over the course of six tumultuous decades, navigating universal themes of love, loss and survival.With irresistible songs by legendary singer-songwriter Richard Hawley and a beautiful, hilarious and gut-wrenching book by Chris Bush, Standing at the Sky's Edge reveals the history of modern Britain through the stories of a landmark housing estate. It is a heartfelt exploration of the power of community and what it is we all call home.It was first performed at Sheffield Theatres in 2019, directed by Robert Hastie, before transferring to the National Theatre in 2023, and then the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London's West End in 2024. It won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical, the UK Theatre Award for Best Musical Production and the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Theatre.

As winter's first snow falls, there's not much Christmas cheer in Sherwood Forest. Cupboards are bare, the nights are cold, and the cruel Sheriff of Nottingham squeezes his citizens for every penny they're worth.But deep in the forest, in the heart of the Major Oak, Robin and Marian are plotting an audacious scheme to bring some festive joy to all…This charming retelling of the Robin Hood legend by Chris Bush, with music by Matt Winkworth, was first performed at Rose Theatre, Kingston upon Thames, in 2024, directed by Elin Schofield.Robin Hood and the Christmas Heist was commissioned by the Rose to be performed by members of the Rose Youth Theatre alongside four professional adult actors – and offers a wealth of opportunities for other theatre companies who want a merry Christmas classic that hits the target.

'Jo and Harry are changing.Harry is changing more than most, undeniably.And change is beautiful. Necessary. Terrifying.'Break-ups aren't just about who gets the CD collection. As Jo and Harry begin to untangle themselves from each other, new worlds start to open up – worlds filled with new partners, new identities, new possibilities…What kind of women do they want to be, and do they have the courage, or the permission, to get there?Chris Bush's play Otherland is a bold and beautiful exploration of what it means to be true to yourself in the face of unstoppable change. It premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2025, directed by Ann Yee.Otherland was a finalist for the 2025 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.'A writer of great wit and empathy' The Times'One of our most prolific and arresting writers' Evening Standard

A shocking crime divides the nation. Fingers are pointed, sides are drawn, facts are hard to come by. Why did this happen? How do we move on? What must we remember?It's easy to have an opinion online, safe behind the anonymity of a keyboard, just like, share and subscribe. But as the digital mob polish their pitchforks, the world starts to question just how free should free speech be?A smart, satirical musical by Chris Bush and Matt Winkworth about truth, celebrity and public outrage, The Assassination of Katie Hopkins premiered at Theatr Clwyd, Mold, in April 2018, directed by James Grieve. It went on to win Best Musical Production at the 2018 UK Theatre Awards.

‘I am the Labour Party candidate. Now ask me why.’‘Why?’‘Because I am the best damn person for the job.’The top candidate without question, Vanessa was made to be Mayor. Thirty years prior, Josie just wants things to change and seeks a seat on the local council.Chris Bush's play Steel explores the last three decades of women in politics, asking what’s changed and what still must.The play premiered at Sheffield Theatres Studio in September 2018.

‘We stand on the edgeOn the threshold ofOn the entrance toStepping out fromOn the cusp…’Set in and around a swimming pool, Chris Bush's play The Changing Room follows a group of teenagers full of excitement, impatience and uncertainty. They know change is coming, but not what it'll look like.Written specifically for young people, The Changing Room was part of the 2018 National Theatre Connections Festival and was premiered by youth theatres across the UK. It offers opportunities for a large, flexible cast of any size or mix of genders, and incorporates chorus work and music. No swimming pool required.This edition of The Changing Room includes the words and music to Chris Bush's original songs, arranged by Matt Winkworth.

‘We’ll tell the same old stories, all over again. And we won’t complain. Because it’s Christmas.’It's Christmas Day, sort of, and Alice, Mike and Tess – three generations of the one family – are busy preparing a feast, singing songs, spinning yarns and squabbling about snacks… like only a close family can. But someone is missing from the table.Telling their stories in turns, and breaking off for the odd musical interlude, the family pass the time waiting for Tess's mum to arrive. As they do, we see a picture of how one family forms its traditions – and how those traditions matter most when there are problems on the horizon.The Last Noël by Chris Bush is a funny, moving, uplifting play with original songs. An innovative festive drama, it captures the unique bonds of family and how coming together to share stories and a meal can be a modern Christmas miracle.It was first produced in 2019 by Attic Theatre Company and Arts at the Old Fire Station on a tour of venues around London, before a Christmas run at the Old Fire Station in Oxford.

’Oh, if you knew the lives we women leadYou'd understand the Devil is a catch.’In this radical reimagining of the classic cautionary tale, Johanna Faustus makes the ultimate sacrifice and sells her soul to wrestle control of her own destiny. She travels through time and changes the course of human history, but can she escape eternal damnation?Chris Bush's devilishly provocative play Faustus: That Damned Woman is inspired by the works of Marlowe, Goethe and other versions of the Faust myth – and explores what women must sacrifice to achieve greatness, and the legacies that are left behind.Faustus: That Damned Woman was co-produced by Headlong and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, in association with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and first performed at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in January 2020 before touring the UK.