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.
The 1993 Original Cast included Jonny Lee Miller (Ste), Philip Glenister (Tony), Mark Letheren (Jamie), Sophie Stanton (Leah) and Patricia Kerrigan (Sandra).
The rehearsed reading will be directed by Lucy Waterhouse (Associate Director, Witness for the Prosecution).
Jonathan’s plays have been performed at the Bush, the Royal Court, Hampstead Theatre, the National Theatre, the Donmar Warehouse, and in the West End. He has won the John Whiting Award, the George Devine Award, two Manchester Evening News Awards and an Evening Standard Award.
He was writer in residence at the Bush in 1995, and the Bush have produced his plays Boom Bang a Bang and Beautiful Thing. Beautiful Thing transferred to the West End and was made into a feature film for Film Four. It went on to win many awards internationally, and Best Film at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.
For television, Jonathan is on the writing team of Coronation Street and Call The Midwife. He has also written the BAFTA nominated sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme and Beautiful People (Best Comedy, Banff TV Festival)
Jonathan won the Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Continuing Drama in 2109 for his episode about the aftermath of Aidan’s suicide, also the British Soap Award for Best Episode and the British Soap Award for Best Scene for Gail’s monologue. The monologue was also nominated for a BAFTA for TV Moment of the Year.
With Stephen K Amos, Jonathan co-wrote 3 series of the radio sitcom What Does the K Stand For?
He has also written six novels, all published by Pan Macmillan: All She Wants, The Confusion of Karen Carpenter, The Girl Who Just Appeared, The Secrets We Keep, The History of Us and The Years She Stole.
Waleed Akhtar is a writer and actor.
He was a Michael Grandage Company Futures bursary winner in 2021. His most recent work includes Kabul Goes Pop (Brixton House / Hightide / Colchester Mercury – UK Tour) and a new commission from Audible as part of the Emerging Playwrights scheme. He created Sholay On The Big Screen supported by the Bush and I Don’t Know What To Do at the Vault Festival 2020 (Evening Standard Pick of the Fest). His short film Lost Paradise was produced by UK Film Council, and he has contributed material for BBC Radio 4’s Sketchtopia and Newsjack and BBC3’s Famalam.
As an actor, his television credits include The Great (Hulu); Tyrant (FOX); Three Girls (BBC); Casualty (BBC); Holby City (BBC); Bucket (BBC); Dustbin Baby (BBC); Edge of Heaven (Hartswood Films); Doctors (BBC); Law and Order UK (Kudos); The Gym (BBC Studios). Waleed’s film credits include Cruella (Disney); The Wedding Guest (Revolution Films); The Roads Not Taken (Adventure Pictures); Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (Kudos Film); Night Bus (El Capitan); Miss You Already (Embargo Films); Bruno (Jeva Films); The Intent 2 (Purple Geko); 90 Minutes (El Capitan); Sparks and Embers (Cinemagine); Sidney (BFI).
His audio credits include Tommies (BBC Radio 4); My Son the Doctor (BBC Radio 4); In Here (BBC Radio 4); What the Papers Say (BBC Radio 4).
Waleed is also a resident member of the Actors for Human Rights network and seasoned comedy improviser.
