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Chris Bush (playwright)

{{Short description|British playwright and artistic director}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}

{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Chris Bush

| birth_date = {{Birth-date and age|3 July 1986}}

| birth_place = Sheffield, England

| occupation = Playwright, artistic director

}}

Christine Claire Bush{{cite tweet |user=ChrisBushWrites |number=1817966413774209180 |date=29 July 2024 |title=You wait years for one honorary doctorate and then... Thanks @UniOfYork, it's been a big month. |access-date=30 August 2024}} (born 3 July 1986) is a British playwright and artistic director.

Overview

Bush was born in Sheffield, England.{{cite web |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/interviews/2018/chris-bush-assassination-of-katie-hopkins-playwright/|title=Playwright Chris Bush: 'With social media, it's like we're learning a new language'|publisher=The Stage|date=20 April 2018|accessdate=19 September 2018}} She studied at the University of York and currently resides in London.

She is best known for her 2007 work TONY! The Blair Musical, which enjoyed sell-out runs and critical acclaim{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/8633137/Five-great-plays-about-politicians.html|title=Five great plays about politicians|last=Bowie-Sell|first=Daisy|date=12 July 2011|access-date=21 March 2018|issn=0307-1235}} at the York Theatre Royal and Edinburgh Fringe before transferring to the Pleasance Islington as winner of the inaugural Sunday Times NSDF Award{{cite web|url=http://www.nsdf.org.uk/edinburgh/|title=Error - National Student Drama Festival|website=www.nsdf.org.uk|access-date=14 January 2014|archive-date=29 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829124224/https://www.nsdf.org.uk/edinburgh|url-status=dead}} for a successful off West-End run. Its sequel, Tony of Arabia, debuted at the Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh in 2008, running in rep with the original show.

In 2012 Bush made her full-length debut as a writer/performer with The Loves I Haven't Known,[http://ed.thestage.co.uk/reviews/1524 The Stage: The Loves I Haven't Known] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116105509/http://ed.thestage.co.uk/reviews/1524 |date=16 January 2014 }} a musical comedy performed with regular composing partner Ian McCluskey.

In 2012-13 Bush completed a writer's attachment at the National Theatre Studio, and was the 2013 Pearson Playwright-in-Residence for Sheffield Theatres, where she wrote The Sheffield Mysteries, a contemporary take on the medieval Mystery Plays, directed by Daniel Evans.{{cite web|url=http://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/event/the-sheffield-mysteries-14/ |publisher=Sheffield Theatres |title=The Sheffield Mysteries |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924101227/http://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/event/the-sheffield-mysteries-14/ |archivedate=24 September 2015}}

Bush has been an Artist in Residence for the Oxford Playhouse and Sheffield Theatres, and a member of the Orange Tree Theatre Writers' Collective.{{cite web|url=https://www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk/writers-collective|title=Orange Tree Writers Collective 2018 - Orange Tree Theatre|website=www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk}} She has won both the Perfect Pitch Award and Kevin Spacey Foundation Artist of Choice Award for Musical Theatre.[http://www.perfectpitchmusicals.com/portfolio/odd/]{{dead link|date=March 2018}}{{cite web |url=http://www.kevinspaceyfoundation.org/profiles/chrisbush-mattwinkworth/ |title=About this project |accessdate=8 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171106201025/https://www.kevinspaceyfoundation.org/profiles/chrisbush-mattwinkworth/ |archivedate=6 November 2017 |url-status=dead }}

She has stated on numerous occasions that her favourite colour is Periwinkle. More recently, she was among the writers to receive first-look deals with ViacomCBS International Studios to start a program to amplify diverse voices.{{cite web|last=Szalai|first=Georg|date=30 November 2021|title=ViacomCBS Launches First-Look Deal Program With 5 U.K. Writers to "Amplify Diverse Voices"|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/viacomcbs-britain-first-look-deals-program-writers-diversity-1235054614/|access-date=1 December 2021|website=The Hollywood Reporter}}

On 18 July 2024, Bush was made an honorary Doctor of Letters at the University of Sheffield.{{cite web |date=4 July 2024 |title=Ceremony schedule |url=https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/graduation/ceremony-schedule#thursday-18-july-2024 |access-date=30 August 2024 |website=University of Sheffield }} Later that month, on 29 July 2024, she received a second honorary degree from the University of York.{{cite web |date=27 July 2024 |title=Honorary graduates for 2024 announced |url=https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2024/events/honorary-graduates-2024/ |access-date=30 August 2024 |website=University of York }}

Selected stage works

Political views

Despite lampooning him on stage, Bush described Tony Blair as "a decent man who made some bad decisions", and stated that she had "come to ridicule beautiful Blair not vilify him".{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6929133.stm|title=Singing out the Blair years|date=3 August 2007|access-date=21 March 2018}} Some have argued that Bush is not critical enough of New Labour. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Dominic Cavendish claimed that "the country is angrier than [Tony, The Blair Musical] allows".{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3558060/Edinburgh-Festival-2008-Sink-or-surf-joyously-on-an-ocean-of-words.html|title=Edinburgh Festival 2008: Sink or surf joyously on an ocean of words|last=Cavendish|first=Dominic|date=7 August 2008|access-date=21 March 2018|issn=0307-1235}} Contrarily, Paul Lowman of The Press (York) has praised Bush's even-handedness, stating that her greatest strength is her ability to "camouflage complex issues in a vastly entertaining, glossy, media friendly package".{{cite web|url=http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/search/1561601.Review__Tony__The_Blair_Musical__York_Theatre_Royal/|title=Review: Tony! The Blair Musical, York Theatre Royal|website=York Press|accessdate=21 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918231212/https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/search/1561601.Review__Tony__The_Blair_Musical__York_Theatre_Royal/|archive-date=18 September 2018|url-status=dead}}

Bush has stated that she is proud of her British heritage, and is a supporter of immigration to the country. On a 2009 episode of Come Dine with Me she stated that "what makes [her] really proud of Britain [is] the number of people who want to be here".

Bush champions the Koala and is a frequent donor to the Australian Koala Foundation.{{cite web |url=https://www.savethekoala.com/about-us/our-sponsors-supporters|title=Our Sponsors and Supporters: Australian Koala Foundation |publisher=AKF|date=22 January 2018|accessdate=22 January 2019}}

Trivia

In November 2009, Bush appeared on an episode of the Channel 4 reality television programme Come Dine with Me. Bush placed joint first and received £500 of the £1000 prize, which according to her equated to a "year's wages in the theatre".{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/come-dine-with-me/4od#3008262Come|title=Dine With Me: Series 8, Episode 17|publisher=}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20140116073451/http://www.berlinassociates.com/client-page-writers.php?id=331&catid=3&subcatid=&alpha=1 Agency website]
  • [http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsB/bush-chris.html Guide to Chris Bush's plays]

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Category:1986 births

Category:Living people

Category:Writers from Sheffield

Category:Alumni of the University of York

Category:21st-century British dramatists and playwrights