Queer Theatre has announced that Chris Bush, Marcelo Dos Santos and Caroline Bird will join its Queer Play Reading Club as guest playwrights this year.
The monthly event, delivered in partnership with Nick Hern Books, takes place at The Railway in Clapham.
The Queer Play Reading Club offers a low pressure, social space for LGBTQIA+ writers and theatregoers.
Each session features an open opportunity for writers to share short scenes or monologues and receive feedback.
The season opens on Tuesday 20 January with Otherland by Olivier Award winner Chris Bush.
The play is described as a bold and tender exploration of becoming, as Jo and Harry navigate a breakup and discover new identities and possibilities.
Otherland premiered at the Almeida Theatre in 2025 and was a finalist for the 2025 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
On Tuesday 24 February, the club hosts Marcelo Dos Santos’ Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen.
The critically acclaimed one person play follows a neurotic stand up comedian whose encounter with Mr Right sends everything spiralling.
It premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2022 before transferring to the Bush Theatre in 2023.
The first announced readings conclude on Tuesday 17 March with Caroline Bird’s The Last Stand of Mrs Mary Whitehouse.
Bird’s play transports audiences to the 1970s as Mary Whitehouse becomes a defining voice in Britain’s culture wars, examining censorship, morality and her infamous blasphemy trial against Gay News.
Andrew Keates, Artistic Director of Queer Theatre, says, “To be joined by Chris Bush, Marcelo Dos Santos and Caroline Bird is an honour and a privilege. Their work is thrilling, generous, and deeply human, and having them inspire other LGBTQIA+ theatre makers in the room is exactly what Queer Play Reading Club is for. I’m proud of the partnership we’ve forged with Nick Hern Books and with The Railway, and grateful for the queer run space we’re building together. As Queer Theatre grows, the real joy is seeing queer people gather safely, share our stories out loud, and make the kind of connections that keep artists going.”
Matt Applewhite, Publisher and CEO of Nick Hern Books, adds, “At Nick Hern Books, our list is shaped by the belief that LGBTQIA+ stories matter – and that they deserve to be read, heard and celebrated out loud. At a time when queer voices are still under threat, spaces like Queer Theatre’s Play Reading Club are small acts of resistance as well as community. We’re proud to stand alongside this work, helping to amplify bold, brilliant LGBTQIA+ plays and the artists who create them.”
The Railway will unveil a full refurbishment by 24 February.
More information can be found here.
