Jamie Lloyd to direct play in Bush Theatre's new season

Jamie Lloyd is to direct one of the first show's in the Bush Theatre's new, redeveloped space next year.

The director, whose Doctor Faustus ran in the West End in 2016, will direct Guards at the Taj between 7 April and 20 May. Rajiv Joseph's play will receive its European premiere after making its world premiere in the US in November 2015. The two-hander is set in Agra in India in 1648 as the Taj Mahal is being built.

Following this, the theatre will host the European premiere of Hir (15 June to 22 July) by performance artist Taylor Mac, whose recent 24 Decade History of Popular Music was a huge talking point in the US. Nadia Fall returns to the Bush to direct the show.

Chris Thompson's Of Kith and Kin will run at the theatre in October, following a run at the Sheffield Theatre. It is directed by Robert Hastie.

The Bush Theatre also announces its first season of new work in its new Studio space. The 70-seat theatre will host productions from Barney Norris and Alice Hamilton with While We're Here in April, a new play Nassim, by Nassim Soleimanpour between 24 and 29 July, and a writing debut from actress Sophie Wu with her first play Ramona Tells Jim between 20 September and 21 October.

The new venue will be launched in March 2017 with a week-long celebration of work called Making Space. During the week every room of the building will be used for performances and events many of which will be free for local residents. Black Lives, Black Words will be at the heart of the programme, which will explore the black diaspora.

After a year's closure, where productions were staged in the surrounding community in Shepherd's Bush, the venue opens up with additional performance spaces and the aim of increasing visitors to the venue by over 60 per cent.

The building has undergone £4.3 million in regeneration, overseen by architects Howarth Tompkins.

Artistic director Madani Younis said, "With the global political context shifting, and the emergence of pervasive right wing politics, it’s more important than ever that artists and theatres agitate as well as entertain.

"With the expansion of our building, we are proud to able to embrace new voices who will breathe life into this remarkable building. It’s their stories of joy, love, anger and (most of all) hope that will inspire a new generation of audiences."