Bush Theatre has announced the full cast and creative team for Before We Forget, this summer’s community production from the 18-25 Bush Young Company (BYC), running from 18 to 22 August 2026.
Created by the 18-25 Bush Young Company alongside director Amber Ruby, the new devised production continues the theatre’s commitment to developing emerging talent through its acclaimed youth programmes.
Bush Young Company has become a vital training ground for the next generation of theatre-makers, with former members going on to work with organisations including the RSC, Almeida Theatre and Royal Court, while others have secured commissions from the Bush Theatre itself.
This year also marks a new chapter for the programme, with Bashiie Baptiste joining the Bush Theatre to oversee the 14-17 age group and Amber Ruby leading the 18-25 cohort.
Before We Forget imagines a future where memories have become a commodity. At the centre of the story is Recall, a corporation that can allow people to relive memories with perfect clarity or erase them completely.
As employees of Recall become entangled in a growing resistance movement, the production explores questions of loyalty, identity and the price of controlling the past.
The synopsis asks: “What if you could relive every moment of your life with perfect clarity? Or erase forever the memories you’d rather leave behind? With Recall, you can. But every choice comes at a cost.”
It continues: “In a world where memories are a commodity, the employees of Recall, the corporation reshaping how humanity remembers, find themselves caught between loyalty to the company that pays their bills and a growing resistance determined to expose the truth.”
“As the lines between memory, identity and profit begin to blur, friendships fracture, families are tested, and impossible choices must be made.”
Co-created by the Bush Young Company and Amber Ruby, the production is described as “an urgent new devised production exploring what we choose to remember, what we choose to forget, and what it means to stay human in an increasingly virtual world.”
Amber Ruby directs, with Josh Anio Grigg as sound designer, Aaron Molloy as lighting designer, Georgia Wilmot as set and costume designer, Frey Kwa Hawking as production dramaturge and Corey Bovell as production manager.
The cast comprises Abbey Oyetunde, Ayan Philip, Ethan Simm, Jess Senanayake, Jet Lama, Josephine Surminski, Lawrence Ssonko, Mannan Guled, Mason Thomas-Downes, Meg Gillard, Mohamed Hashi, Olise Essien, Priscilla Oshinibosi, Rosie Owen, Ruweyda Sheik-Ali, Shekinah Singh, Shermya, Vikas Gogana and Zarmeeneh Khan.
Before We Forget runs at Bush Theatre from 18 to 22 August 2026, with a press night on 20 August at 7pm.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
