First look: Waleed Akhtar’s The P Word at Bush Theatre

First look production photos of The P Word at Bush Theatre have been revealed.

Esh Alladi and Waleed Akhtar star in the piece by Waleed Akhtar which runs from 9 September to 29 October, extended from its original 22 October end date.

Directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike, the production has set and costume designer Max Johns and lighting designer Elliot Griggs.

Zafar flees homophobic persecution in Pakistan to seek asylum in the UK. Londoner Bilal (or Billy as he prefers to be known) is ground down by years of Grindr and the complexity of being a brown gay man. Their worlds are about to change forever.

Moving through casual hook-ups to the UK’s hostile environment, Waleed Akhtar’s (Kabul Goes Pop) sharp-witted and devastating new play charts the parallel lives of two gay Pakistani men. This story of who wins in the luck of the life’s draw is a new Bush Theatre commission.

Deirdre O’Halloran, Literary Manager of the Bush Theatre said: “The P Word is the story of an unlikely friendship in a time where it feels like we’re all increasingly divided, there is something quietly revolutionary about the people who manage to reach across barricades and find ways of communicating.

“The play started out as a seed commission at the Bush, with Waleed writing a full first draft in just a week and the team was so excited and inspired by its activism, truthfulness, and hopefulness. It’s a queer story that could not be more relevant to Britain today.”

For more information and tickets, visit bushtheatre.co.uk

The Bush is working with Micro Rainbow to realise this production.