By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 14 October, opens 19 October runs through 4 November 2023 RUNTIME: 80 minutes (no interval)

Lucas was shortlisted for Best Actress In A Musical at the 2023 Oliviers for her role in the reimagining of musical Oklahoma! which we saw at the Young Vic before it transferred into the West End.

• Read on for reasons including how Lucas will go on to write something even more thought-provoking

Elephant is Lucas’ debut play as writer and performer and draws on her background as the daughter of an Anglo-Indian father and French-Cameroonian mother who grew up in a Hammersmith council flat, a stone’s throw from this venue.

Lucas tells the story of Lylah and during this part-gig she plays piano on a revolving stage in this venue reconfigured as in the round.

The action shifts between time periods and we join Lylah in school as she determines not to misbehave because she doesn’t want to lose her scholarship, to a relationship with a multi-instrumentalist from a privileged background and to rejection by a music business wanting to emphasise Lylah in a different way.

Lucas attended the French Lycée on a scholarship and went on to graduate from Oxford University and doesn’t fit conveniently into a box marked popstar-to-be.

Lylah finds comfort in the piano she uses to convey her feelings yet starts to question how it came to be, from the ivory of an elephant to make its keys and its delivery by slaves.

Elephant is strongest when it red flags the imperialist origins of the piano as Lylah reflects on her origins and how they are at odds with the musical object of her affection.

Lucas is clearly a writer and performer to watch out for and we suspect that she will go on to write something even more thought-provoking and tailor-made for her own skills in the near future.

As a musical theatre actress, she is so talented that we can’t wait to see what she is cast in and bring her talents to next.

Elephant is your chance to see a new talent in something they have created for themselves before they go on to even greater success.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Bush Theatre Tickets
• Have you ever seen an Anoushka Lucas play before or been to the Bush Theatre? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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