Jellyfish

by Ben Weatherill
Mark Cartwright, in association with the Bush Theatre, presents
World Premiere
Ben Weatherill is winner of the Pitch Your Play Award and Curve Theatre Leicester Playwriting Competition. He established the Old Red Lion Writers’ Group, was part of the National Theatre’s New Views Programme and acted as dramaturg at Curve Theatre Leicester. Ben’s new play Jellyfish has its world premiere at the Bush Theatre in 2018.

“I know what people say. How they treat us. But that’s their problem. No one else should give a fuck.”

Kelly likes dirty jokes and finding creatures washed up on the shore. Neil likes Kelly, who makes him dizzy and breathless. But Agnes, Kelly’s mum, struggles to accept their new relationship.

Jellyfish is the story of a first kiss, chips by the beach and coming of age with Down’s Syndrome in a seaside town. It’s a unique romance across uncharted waters which asks: does everyone really have the right to love as they choose?

Meet the Writer: Ben Weatherill

Click Here for Visual Guide

This is a past event
"heartening, important, thoughtful and unsettling"
Evening Standard
"Ben Weatherill's play speaks about love in its purest form"
"glimmers of magic in Weatherill’s play"
Guardian
"incredibly radical"
The Stage
"quietly groundbreaking"
WhatsOnStage
“Tender, thought-provoking drama"
Time Out

Photo & video

Designer
Writer
General Manager
Casting
Sound Designer
Assistant Director
Producer
Dialect Coach
Director

Cast

Nicky Priest Actor
Nicky Priest
Nicky Priest plays Dominic. He is an actor and stand-up comedian from Birmingham. He graduated in Drama and Media from Newman University in 2013 and completed the Prince’s Trust Course Get Started With Theatre at the Birmingham REP in 2015. As a stand-up comic he has been mentored by Janice Connolly, aka ‘Barbra Nice’ and will be performing at the Birmingham Town Hall as part of World Inclusion Day in May 2018. Nicky made his professional acting debut in The Seven Acts of Mercy (The RSC) in Nov 2016. Other theatre credits include: The Twisted Tale Of Hansel and Gretel (Birmingham Hippodrome, The Belgrade Theatre, The Forest Arts Centre and the Malvern Theatres). He has been asked by the Prince’s Trust to become a young ambassador, due to the success he has had in his career as a performer via the Get Started With Theatre course.
Penny Layden Headshot Actor
Penny Layden
Penny Layden plays Agnes. She last appeared at the Bush Theatre in 66 Books. Her theatre credits include: Macbeth, My Country: A Work in Progress, Another World: Losing Our Children to Islamic State, An Oak Tree, Everyman, Edward II, Table and Timon of Athens (National Theatre); The Tempest, Roberto Zucco, Measure for Measure (RSC); The Lorax and Cinderella (Old Vic), Bright Phoenix (Liverpool Everyman); Beryl (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Nora (Belgrade, Coventry), Incoming (Hightide Festival); Lidless (Trafalgar Studios/Hightide Festival/Edinburgh), Vernon God Little and The Art of Random Whistling (Young Vic); The Bacchae, Mary Barton, Electra and Mayhem (Manchester Royal Exchange); Dancing at Lughnasa (Birmingham Rep); The Spanish Tragedy (Arcola Theatre); Romeo and Juliet, The Antipodes and Hamlet (Shakespeare's Globe); Comfort Me With Apples (Hampstead Theatre/Tour), Assassins (Sheffield Crucible); Season’s Greetings, Popcorn (Liverpool Playhouse); The Laramie Project (West End); Romeo and Juliet (Southwark Playhouse); The Recruiting Officer (Lichfield Garrick); A Passage to India, The Magic Toyshop, Jane Eyre (Shared Experience), Maid Marian and her Merry Men (Bristol Old Vic); What I Did In The Holidays, The Plough And The Stars, Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Dangerous Corner, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (New Vic, Stoke). Television credits include: My Country: A Work in Progress, Grantchester, Dark Angel, EastEnders, Doctors, Prisoner's Wives, Call the Midwife, Land Girls, Sirens, South Riding, Doctors, Silent Witness, Poppy Shakespeare, Bad Mother’s Handbook, Waterloo Road, No Angels, The Bill, Murphy’s Law, Fat Friends, Outlaws, M.I.T and Casualty. Film credits include: Broken, The Libertine. Radio credits include: Second Chance, Uganda and Crime and Punishment.
Ian Bonar Actor Headshot
Ian Bonar
Ian Bonar plays Neil. He trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Theatre includes: Be Prepared (Underbelly / VAULT Festival); Arden of Faversham, The Witch of Edmonton, The Roaring Girl (RSC); The Blackest Black (Hampstead Theatre), Brilliant Adventures (Manchester Royal Exchange); City Love (Bussey Building); Me as a Penguin (Arcola Theatre); DNA, The Miracle (National Theatre); Ma Vie en Rose (Young Vic). Television includes: Our Loved Boy, New Blood, Black Mirror, Southcliffe, Holy Flying Circus, Going Postal. Film includes: Interlude in Prague, Spectre, Skyfall, Kon-Tiki, Starter for Ten, Atonement.
Sarah Gordy Actress Headshot
Sarah Gordy
Sarah Gordy plays Kelly. She trained at her Mum's kitchen table. Theatre includes: Crocodiles (Royal Exchange Theatre); Once We Were Mothers (New Vic Newcastle Under Lyme / Orange Tree Theatre); Walking on Water (Theatre Centre); Harold Pinter Shorts (Brighton Festival); Seize Te Day (Hijinx Theatre). Television includes: The Silkworm (BBC Two); Upstairs Downstairs Series One and Two, The Strike Series, Call the Midwife (BBC One); Peak Practice (ITV). Radio includes: The Good Samaritan, The Meet (BBC R3); Resurrection BBC R4.

@bushtheatre

Bush Green

Conversations, dispatches and ideas from the Bush Theatre.

Go to BushGreen
Shifting the Narrative: Radical Love Commissions

A new initiative, inviting eight Global Majority artists to write short-form responses to the West End production of Benedict Lombe’s hit play Shifters, which is at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London, until 12 October.  We’re delighted to be launching this new opportunity, alongside ATG Entertainment West End Creative Learning and the Producers of Shifters.…

Call out: tell us what you thought of Shifters

Did you see Shifters at the Bush? We need you! To celebrate the West End transfer of Benedict Lombe’s hit play, we’re asking audiences to help us spread the word. We’d love you to send in a short video of your thoughts, experiences and takeaway’s from the world premiere run at the Bush Theatre earlier…

Writer of The Real Ones | Meet Waleed Akhtar

Next up in our main house is the world-premiere of The Real Ones, a funny and honest love letter to platonic soulmates. You might be familiar with him, but here’s everything you need to know about the returning Bush writer, Waleed Akhtar. This is not Waleed’s first time at the Bush  His play The P…