And so, now it’s time for us to say goodbye too...
It was during a night spent in the Bush’s archives, rifling through boxes upon boxes of newspaper clippings, tickets, lighting plans, correspondence and photos that it suddenly dawned on me how big the task of creating a farewell to a space that housed 39 years of history was. How could we encapsulate all of that into a one-hour show? Doubt was creeping in and the reality was that we couldn’t do it.
But then, as with most things, there was a turning point, when suddenly everything became clearer. this is where we got to when you came in, a slightly-too-long-to-Tweet title that some argued was grammatically incorrect suddenly became the integral base of the piece. It’s not an apology but a statement, an acknowledgment that we young theatre makers know we don’t know all there is to know and that’s OK, you know? Suddenly it felt right that it was us creating this piece and it didn’t matter that back when the Bush opened its doors for the first time I was a mere concept that my parents talked about when thinking of the future (somewhere on the list in between owning a house and flying cars).
Over a short period we’ve rapidly grown attached to the old Bush building, it’s been an intense relationship that has caused an unnecessary amount of headaches and tears but thanks to sheer blind faith and a lot of sugar-filled snacks we made it through to the other side with something we are incredibly proud of. None of this could have been possible without the amazing team we worked with and we are forever indebted to our interviewees whose beautiful contributions brought the past to life and literally allowed the walls to speak; it is obvious that the Bush has meant a lot to many, and now we are honoured to also be included as part of that group.
I have learnt that over the years the Bush has had to constantly adapt to stay alive, and now we see it changing once again, this time not to survive but to flourish. So actually let’s not say goodbye at all, but good luck to a new adventure.
