Chris Bush

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 Stage

Faustus: 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.” —Guardian

Nine 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.” —Telegraph

Hungry (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 World

Not 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

Faustus: That Damned Woman is a radical new work in which the iconic character of Faustus becomes a woman who makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to traverse centuries and change the course of history.

It is premiered at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in January 2020, in a co-production with Headlong and Birmingham Repertory Theatre, prior to a UK tour.

"I'd watch you eat. I'd eat you up. You're not like them, are you? You're real."

Lori is a professional chef. Bex waits tables to make ends meet. One night together in a walk-in fridge and the rest is history.

Lori has big plans, but Bex is struggling. If we are what we eat, then Bex is in real trouble. It's not her fault though – the system is rigged. No-one on minimum wage and zero hours has the headspace to make their own yoghurt.

Hungry was premiered by Paines Plough on UK tour from July 2021.

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.

Best Musical Production, UK Theatre Awards

South Bank Sky Arts Award for Theatre

Poppy wants to escape her old life in London. Joy and Jimmy want to spend the rest of their lives together. Rose and Harry want the new life they've been promised.

A history of modern Britain told through the stories of one Sheffield housing estate, Standing at the Sky's Edge charts the hopes and dreams of three generations over the course of six tumultuous decades. With a book by acclaimed playwright Chris Bush, and set to the irresistible songs of legendary singer-songwriter Richard Hawley, it is a heartfelt exploration of the power of community and what it is we call home.

Standing at the Sky's Edge was first performed at Sheffield Theatres in 2019, when it won Best Musical Production at the UK Theatre Awards and the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Theatre. It was revived in 2022, before transferring to the National Theatre, London, directed by Robert Hastie.

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.

Cover image courtesy of Various Productions; original graffiti copyright © 2001 Jason Lowe

"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.

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?

The Assassination of Katie Hopkins premiered at Theatr Clwyd, Mold, in April 2018, directed by James Grieve.

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.

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 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.