Max Bush

Max Bush
Max Bush is a freelance playwright and director from Western Michigan. His plays are widely produced on professional, educational and amateur stages across the country.
Born in Holland Michigan, Max Bush attended Grand Valley State Colleges (now GVSU) and graduated in 1972 with a double major in English and Psychology and a minor in Theatre. He taught High School for three years where he developed a theatre and psychology program. Many of his early works received their world premiere at Grand Valley following his graduation. He developed new scripts for several years for both young audiences and adults with ensembles of faculty directors, designers, and others from GVSC (now GVSU). He eventually earned his M.F.A. in Theatre from Michigan State in 1985.
While Max is best known for his young people's theatre he has also written plays for adult audiences. In 1986 and 1988 two of his unpublished pieces were produced by the Actors' Theatre of Grand Rapids Michigan's New Plays Festival. They were A Tuesday In April and Homestead. An anthology of Bush's plays titled Plays for Young Audiences: Featuring The Emerald Circle and Other Plays was published in 1995 by Meriwether Publishing.
Personal life
An amateur athlete, Max plays softball and basketball on community leagues and for many years participated in area Gus Macker 3 on 3 Basketball tournaments.
Max lived in Hamilton Michigan in a dome house in the forest for almost 30 years. He recently moved with his wife Lynette to a quiet area in Holland Michigan. Max enjoys the down-to-earth qualities of Michigan life and the woodsy, rural solitude that provide the perfect natural surroundings for a writer.
Awards and Honors
* Distinguished Play Award from AATE (American Alliance for Theatre and Education) Distinguished Play Award for elementary and middle school age audiences for Aalmauria: The Voyage of the Dragonfly,
* 2002 AATE Distinguished Play Award for Adaptation for Ezigbo, The Spirit Child.
* IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis) National Playwrighting Competition for Ghost of the River House and 13 Bells of Boglewood.
* AATE (American Alliance for Theatre and Education) awarded him the Charlotte Chorpenning Cup, for a nationally significant body of work for young audiences in 1995. This is the nation's highest prize for children's playwriting.
Published Plays
* The Adventure Of Treasure Island
* The Boy Who Left Home To Find Out About The Shivers
* The Bully Plays
* The Chest Of Dreams
* Classroom Scenes And Monologues
* The Emerald Circle
* Ezigbo: The Spirit Child
* Folkwood
* The Frog Prince
* From Every Mountainside
* The Ghost Of River House
* Glorious Gail
* Hansel And Gretel: The Little Brother And The Little Sister
* Kara In Black
* Looking Through You
* Scenes And Monologues For Young Actors
* Snow White: The Queen's Fair Daughter
* 13 Bells Of Boglewood
* The Three Musketeers
* The Three Musketeers (Youth Theatre Version)
* The Troll And The Elephant Prince
* Voices From The Shore
* The Voyage Of The Dragonfly
* Wildboy
* Puss In Boots
* Rapunzel
* Sarah
* Rockway Cafe
Play Commissions
These organizations have commissioned work from Max Bush.
* Nashville Academy Theatre
* Emmy Gifford Theatre (Omaha, Nebraska)
* Lexington Children's Theatre
* Honolulu Theatre for Youth
* Karamu House (Cleveland, Ohio)
* Hartford Children's Theatre
* Portland High School (Michigan)
* Stebbens Youth Theater (Iowa)
* Gull Lake High School (Michigan).
* Community Circle Theatre (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
* Goodman/DePaul School of Drama (Chicago)
.
Future Projects
Max Bush has received a grant from the Michigan Women's Federation for a screenplay scheduled to be shot in Grand Rapids.
This year he's currently preparing a second volume of his complete plays for Meriwether Publishing. His play The Adventure of Treasure Island will be produced at Magic Circle Community Theatre in Grand Rapids Michigan in the summer of 2012.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu