Bush Retrospective: Beautiful Thing

The first Bush Retrospective will be Jonathan Harvey’s seminal Beautiful Thing, which premiered at the Bush in 1993.

The rehearsed reading will be followed by a panel discussion where Jonathan will be joined by Waleed Akhtar, writer of new play The P Word, which will have its world premiere this September.

Written at a time when homophobia was commonplace and Section 28 and HIV/AIDS made daily headlines, the Bush put a young, gay Liverpool playwright centre stage. Beautiful Thing later transferred to the West End, was made into a feature film, and discovering its extraordinary writing and message of hope has been a rite of passage for many in the LGBTQ+ community and beyond. The show will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2023.

As part of our 50th birthday year, Bush Retrospectives are a series of five rehearsed readings celebrating and reflecting on plays that premiered at the Bush Theatre over the past 50 years. See more here.