This world premiere, centred firmly in the north-west of England, invites us to a night down the pub for an evening of family, banter, beer, and karaoke.
A new play with its heart and soul placed firmly in the north-west of England opens at the Bush Theatre on 7th April. It’s Friday night, and home from University, Franky is back at her local pub for the first time in years. A British institution, so often under threat of closure these days, the pub is the centre of the community where pints are poured, Motown music drifts from the tinny speakers, and karaoke starts at eight. It’s reassuringly familiar. Like nothing’s changed.
Or has it? Haunted by grief, Franky’s family is quietly unravelling around her. Her dad is hiding himself away, and buried family secrets are leaking through the cracks in every room. A bittersweet, tender exploration of the long tail of grief and the fickleness of memory, Heart Wall asks where we go when the walls start closing in, and home has become somewhere you don’t know.
Heart Wall, by Manchester writer and Bush Writers’ Group alum, Kit Withington, and directed by Katie Greenall, an Associate Director at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, invites us down the pub for an evening of family, banter, beer, and karaoke. The cast includes Sophie Stanton, who makes her first appearance on the Bush stage since starring in the premiere of Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing in 1993. Joining her are Aaron Anthony, Olivia Forrest, Rowan Robinson, and Deka Walmsley.
Kit Withington (pictured above) is a playwright from Manchester. Kit was a member of the Soho Theatre Writers’ Lab in 2018, and her play Scrap was shortlisted for the Tony Craze Award. She was part of the Emerging Writers’ Group at the Bush Theatre in 2021 and has also been part of both an Intro Group and a Long Form Group at the Royal Court. In 2021, she wrote Our Moon Under Water for Edition 6 of the Royal Court’s LIVING NEWSPAPER. In 2023, Kit’s play AS WE FACE THE SUN was produced by The Bush for their 18-25 young company. In 2025, her first radio drama, Nearly Light, was Highly Commended for Best Single Original Drama at the BBC Audio Awards.
Katie Greenall is a director, theatre maker, and writer based in London, specializing in new writing, solo autobiographical work, and youth/community projects. They are Associate Director (Creative Exchange) at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, and previously Associate Director at the Bush Theatre, where she also led the Young Companies. Notable directing credits include COMMUNION, As We Face the Sun (Offie-nominated), ANTHEM, Pass It On & Back Up! (Bush Theatre) and We All Know How This Ends and here, here, here (Theatre Royal Stratford East).
Heart Wall was co-commissioned with Oldham Coliseum. Tickets can be booked at bushtheatre.co.uk or the Box Office on 020 8743 5050. With a Bush Theatre season ticket, the more shows you book, the more you save.
Bush Theatre members get the best benefits, including discounts on tickets and savings at the bar. Free memberships are available for under-30s and local residents. See the Bush Theatre’s new website for details.
