ATTENTION, a queer love story whose ending its two actors decide afresh at every performance, opens at the Bush Theatre on 19 November after a sold-out run in Ireland.
ATTENTION opens in the Studio at the Bush Theatre on 19 November and runs until 23 December, with press night on Monday 23 November at 7pm. The 70-minute play reaches Shepherd's Bush after a sold-out run in Ireland, where it collected seven Dublin Fringe Festival Award nominations, Best Production among them.
The premise is simple. A queer couple sit down to work out whether their relationship still has a future. What happens next is not fixed. During each performance the two actors can step out of the central playing space and pull a scene from the couple's shared history into the conversation: an old argument to rewind, a happy memory to replay, a moment to pause and pick apart. At the end, both performers decide whether the pair stay together, so the outcome can change from one night to the next.
Bláithín Mac Gabhann and Norah Lopez Holden play the couple. The piece is co-created by writer Georgia Bruce, whose first play Time Like the Sea was shortlisted for the Bruntwood Prize, and director Jules Head, a WORX International Director at the Berliner Ensemble for 2025-26 and an Associate Artist at Bristol Old Vic from 2019 to 2023. It is Bruce's first professionally produced play in the UK. Their work has already been staged at the Berliner Ensemble and at Dublin Fringe Festival, where ATTENTION premiered in 2025.
Head explained where the idea came from: "ATTENTION began as an enquiry into whether we could create a new type of theatre, one that bursts open the rigidity of scripted work and gives actors agency. The result is a show in which no-one, not even the team running it, knows what will happen each night. It feels like a bit of magic."
Bruce described the team's aims: "Our interest is in making challenging, formally ambitious work that keeps love and old-fashioned drama at its heart. We're also a largely queer team, and passionate about telling queer stories."
It is the first collaboration between Bruce, Head and creative producer Tilly Taylor, who also produces for the Irish company Dead Centre. Set design is by Alys Whitehead, lighting by Suzie Cummins, and music and sound by Martha Knight. Tilly Taylor and Referee Productions present the show in association with the Bush Theatre, with support from Arts Council England and Culture Ireland.
Performances are Monday to Saturday at 8pm, with matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 3pm. Tickets cost £15 to £25, and the play runs without an interval and is recommended for ages 14 and over.
For more information, visit the official website.
