The Invisible, Bush Theatre

Quoting a clause from the Magna Carta— ‘To no one will we sell, to no one deny... justice’— this is a vital new play for the Bush Theatre new season, commissioned from Rebecca Lenkiewicz.

Inspired by the legal aid cuts 2013

Significant changes were made to the provision of legal aid in April 2013, as a means of saving the government money. And the idea of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ was subverted by lack of legal representation for those on the breadline. As part of her research, Lenkiewicz interviewed people who had struggled to bring their case to court and to pay for the inflated costs; she wanted to lend a voice to those who might well go unheard.

Madani Younis: Bush Theatre new season

Artistic Director Madani Younis described this season at the Bush as not only being influenced by the upcoming general election but also ‘significant injustices in our society.’ “Through this work I want to question individuals’ relationships to the state and a nation’s ability to change the way it looks at itself.” he explains. And, in keeping with a sense of equality, half the season’s plays have been written by women.

Rebecca Lenkiewicz: playwright pushing boundaries

After winning the 2004 Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright, Lenkiewicz went on to become first living female playwright to have an original work performed in the Olivier, at the National Theatre. Her Naked Skin was directed by Howard Davies in 2008 and concerned the suffragette movement. It prompted The Telegraph to proclaim “Lenkiewicz is making history here and, in doing so, demonstrating that she’s got a great future.”

And surely enough Lenkiewicz’s promise has blossomed into an impressive career. The Invisible will be hard-hitting stuff, but we are also expecting a dash of elegance from Lenkiwicz's writing.