The first production in the Bush Theatre’s 50th Birthday Season is The House of Ife, a world premiere commissioned by the theatre. A tense and captivating story of what it means to belong, and what happens when a family’s secrets shake its foundations, this explosive drama by Ethiopian-British writer Beru Tessema, is directed by Artistic Director, Lynette Linton and opens on 29 April, (press night 4 May). The cast is Jude Akuwudike, Yohanna Ephrem, Sarah Priddy, Karla-Simone Spence, and Michael Workeye.
‘See that’s the problem with this family innit, we never wanna talk real about Ife.’
In the wake of the sudden death of their eldest son, Ife, one family is forced to confront the traumas they’ve long tried to bury. As the sun beats down on their North London flat, and the head of the family arrives from Ethiopia for the funeral, tensions rise, cultures clash, and past betrayals are unearthed.
Lynette Linton said ‘House of Ife is exactly how I want to kick off the Bush Theatre’s 50th year. A Bush commission, a family story reflecting a community we so rarely see on stage, and a gripping tale of how those with different thinking, even in one family live alongside another. Beru’s exploration of the impact of being first-generation Ethiopian immigrants to the UK and how that can affect your sense of belonging is key to the lives of many of our audience and I can’t wait to see how the all-too-common clash of religion and culture manifests itself on stage’
Beru Tessema is an Ethiopian-British writer and director based in London and a graduate of the London Film School and RADA. Beru’s stage play, Exile in North Weezy, was shortlisted for the Papatango Playwriting Prize 2020. He is currently developing a feature film project, Angell Town, as a recipient of the Creative England development fund and has recently shot his short film, Lions, with the support of CNC and BFI Network. Beru was selected to be part of BBC Drama writers’ room 2020/21. He made his professional debut as a screenwriter in 2017 when he co-wrote the feature film Barley Fields On The Other Side Of The Mountain (Dir. Tian Tsering), which was nominated for best feature film at the Valladolid International Film Festival under the Seminci Joven Award.
Director Lynette Linton took over as Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre in 2019.
She directed the UK premiere of Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Sweat (Donmar Warehouse, Gielgud Theatre) for which she won ‘Best Director’ at the inaugural Black British Theatre awards. Sweat also won the Evening Standard award for ‘Best Play’ and was nominated for an Oliver award for ‘Best New Play’. Her production of Richard II (Shakespeare’s Globe) which she directed with Adjoa Andoh, marked the first-ever company of women of colour in a Shakespeare play on a major UK stage. Lynette will make her National Theatre debut directing a new production of American writer Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky in the Lyttleton from September 2022. My Name is Leon, her directorial film debut will be released on BBC in May 2022.
She is co-founder of theatre and film production company Black Apron Entertainment who produced Passages: A Windrush Celebration with the Royal Court, a project she also curated.
Her writing credits include Look at Me (ITV), Hashtag Lightie (Arcola Theatre), Chicken Palace, and Step (Theatre Royal Stratford East).
Her other directing credits include an adaptation of Jackie Kay’s Chiaroscuro (Bush Theatre), world premiere productions of Assata Taught Me (Gate Theatre), Function (National Youth Theatre), This Is (Arts Ed), Indenture (Dark Horse Festival), Naked (Vault Festival 2015), and a revival of This Wide Night (Albany Theatre). She was also co-director of Chicken Palace (Theatre Royal Stratford East).
Lynette was voted one of Marie Claire magazine’s ‘Future Shapers’ and one of the Evening Standard’s ‘Most Influential Londoners’.
A Bush Theatre production
House Of Ife
By Beru Tessema
Directed by Lynette Linton
Cast - Jude Akuwudike, Yohanna Ephrem, Sarah Priddy, Karla-Simone Spence, and Michael Workeye
29 April - 11 June
Monday - Saturday at 7.30 pm
Wednesday matinees - 11, 18, 25 May & 1, 8 June at 2.30pm
Saturday Matinees - 7, 14, 21, 28 May & 4, 11 June at 2.30pm
Press Night - 4 May at 7 pm at the Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Rd, London, W12 8LJ
