Chris Bush (playwright)


Christine Claire Bush is an Olivier Award Winning British playwright, bookwriter and artistic director.

Overview

Bush was born in Sheffield, England. She studied at the University of York and currently resides in London.
Her theatrical career began in earnest at York University in 2005, when she founded White Rose Theatre, named in reference to the colour of the Yorkists during the Wars of the Roses. It was this theatre company, which she wrote for and directed, that gave her her first taste of success with TONY! The Blair Musical.
She is best known for writing the book for Standing At The Sky's Edge which won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2023. Earlier work includes 2007's TONY! The Blair Musical, which enjoyed sell-out runs and critical acclaim at the York Theatre Royal and Edinburgh Fringe before transferring to the Pleasance Islington as winner of the inaugural Sunday Times NSDF Award 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, 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.
Bush has been an Artist in Residence for the Oxford Playhouse and Sheffield Theatres, and a member of the Orange Tree Theatre Writers' Collective. She has won both the Perfect Pitch Award and Kevin Spacey Foundation Artist of Choice Award for Musical Theatre.
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.
On 18 July 2024, Bush was made an honorary Doctor of Letters at the University of Sheffield. Later that month, on 29 July 2024, she received a second honorary degree from the University of York.
On the 30th April 2024, Bush won the Hermitage Major Theatre award, worth $35,000, with her brand-new play Orlando . On the 6th October 2025, the play was commissioned by Hermitage Artists, and on the 14th of the same month a staged read-through, with the script on lecterns, took place.

Selected stage works

TONY! The Blair Musical York Theatre Royal, PleasanceTony of Arabia Theatre Royal, Wakefield, Oxford North Wall, PleasanceWOLF The Theatre, Chipping Norton and Latitude FestivalThe Loves I Haven't Known C Venues, Edinburgh20 Tiny Plays about Sheffield Crucible Theatre StudioThe Sheffield Mysteries Crucible TheatrePoking the Bear Theatre503Be|Spoke Sheffield Hallam University/Welcome to Yorkshire, Tour de YorkshireLarksong New Vic TheatreA Declaration From the People Royal National TheatreA Dream Crucible TheatreWhat We Wished For Crucible TheatreSteel Sheffield TheatresThe Assassination of Katie Hopkins Theatr ClwydPericles National TheatreThe Changing Room National Theatre ConnectionsThe Last Noël The Old Fire StationStanding At The Sky's Edge Sheffield TheatresFaustus: That Damned Woman Lyric HammersmithKein Weltuntergang Schaubühne, BerlinRock/ Paper/ Scissors Sheffield TheatresA Dolls House Sheffield Theatres

Complete List of Plays

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". 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 allows". 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".
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 really proud of Britain the number of people who want to be here".
Bush champions the Koala and is a frequent donor to the Australian Koala Foundation.

Popular culture

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".