Queer Play Reading Club - Otherland with Chris Bush

Tuesday 20th January 2025
The Railway, Clapham

The Queer Play Reading Club is a monthly event celebrating LGBTQ+ playwriting in a supportive, social space designed to help queer theatre-makers grow and make new connections. Held in partnership with Nick Hern Books, each session takes place as a table read in the private upstairs room at The Railway, a queer-run pub in Clapham.

We began the evening by sharing brand-new queer writing from our members, giving emerging LGBTQIA+ writers the chance to test short scenes and monologues in the room and receive supportive feedback from fellow artists. We then moved into a full group read-through of Otherland, with playwright Chris Bush joining Queer Theatre’s Artistic Director, Andrew Keates, for a relaxed discussion and Q&A about the play’s themes, its journey to the stage, and the craft behind her writing.

This month’s play: Otherland by Chris Bush

Break-ups aren’t just about who gets the CD collection. As Jo and Harry begin to untangle themselves from each other, new worlds start to open up, worlds filled with new partners, new identities, new possibilities. What kind of women do they want to be, and do they have the courage, or the permission, to get there?

Chris Bush’s Otherland is a bold and beautiful exploration of what it means to be true to yourself in the face of unstoppable change. It premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2025, directed by Ann Yee, and was a finalist for the 2025 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

Everyone who attended took part in the read-through, enjoyed the informal atmosphere, and had the chance to ask Chris questions about her process, her inspirations, and how she builds worlds that feel both theatrical and deeply human.

All photography by Boyan Georgiev