The Bush announces full autumn to winter season

Madani Younis has announced the autumn to winter season at the Bush Theatre, following its £4.3 million makeover and re-opening in March this year.

Hijabi Monologues (28 to 30 September) will follow on from the successful programme Black Lives, Black Words, which ran in March. Directed by Milli Bhatia and including work by creative director and head writer Sahar Ullah, it will feature over ten new works gathered from Muslim women both locally in Shepherd’s Bush and from different parts of the world. Submissions are still open for this project – the deadline is midday on 17 July 2017.

The season will also include a retrospective of all four plays by Iranian theatre-maker Nassim Soleimanpour, including international hit White Rabbit Red Rabbit, plus a brand new play, Nassim by the internationally-acclaimed writer, commissioned by the Bush, directed by Omar Elerian and designed by Rhys Jarman. Nassim Plays will run from 7 to 16 September.

A short new play by Thomas Eccleshare entitled Heather (31 October to 18 November) will be produced with Dancing Brick, Paul Jellis and Tobacco Factory Theatres. It's about a successful children's writer whose personal story overtakes the fame of her work. The cast will include Ashley Gerlach and Charlotte Melia.

The Bruntwood Prize-winning Parliament Square by James Fritz will arrive at the Bush on 30 November and run until 6 January 2018, in a co-production with Royal Exchange Theatre.

These will join the previously announced plays Ramona Tells Jim from Bush Theatre Emerging Writers’ Group graduate and actor Sophie Wu and Of Kith and Kin (18 October to 25 November) by Chris Thompson, in a co-production with Sheffield Theatres and directed by their artistic director Robert Hastie.

The Bush and Battersea Arts Centre's initiative to develop and champion the next generation of visionary BAMER (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee) leaders and artists, Up Next has also announced its new intake today. Tobi Kyeremateng, Sita Thomas, Ruthie Osterman, Lekan Lawal, Tarek Iskander and Saad Eddine Said will be handed the keys to both the Bush Theatre and Battersea Arts Centre in early 2019. Arts Council England’s Sustained Theatre Fund supports the initiative.

AD Madani Younis said: "As ever at the Bush Theatre, we continue to seek powerful plays that respond to the urgency of the world around us. London is still reverberating from events that have made us question what community is and what our city means to us. As such, this building continues to speak up for the unheard and celebrate their voices."