Insane Asylum Seekers Tickets at the Bush Theatre

What Tickets Cost

Tickets start from around £10 and go up to around £40. All-in pricing, the price you see is what you pay.

Performance Schedule

Previews run from Friday 12 to Tuesday 16 February, evenings only, and press night is Wednesday 17 February at 7pm. Matinees start on Saturday 20 February. The last performance is Saturday 20 March at 7:30pm. An evening show finishes at about 8:45pm.

Book your date

Book Your Insane Asylum Seekers Tickets

Five weeks on the Bush's main stage, tickets from around £10. All-in pricing, the price you see is what you pay.

Book tickets • Call us on 020 7193 9050

Where to Sit

The Holloway Theatre is the Bush's main space, but it's still small, so nobody is far from the stage.

What's Insane Asylum Seekers About?

Laith is in serious trouble, and he can't tell you why. He has spent years keeping a secret and getting very good at hiding it, but now it's catching up with him. Meanwhile his mum won't stop throwing things at seagulls, and his dad keeps wandering off in the middle of life-threatening situations.

His parents fled Iraq 30 years ago, which Laith reckons is how he ended up in this mess. As he puts it: at 27, his dad had escaped several dictatorships; at 27, Laith had a panic attack watching the last episode of Succession.

Laith Elzubaidi wrote it, and it won him the Tony Craze Award. Its first run in the Bush Studio in 2025 sold out within two weeks, and it now moves to the Bush's main space, the Holloway Theatre, directed again by Emily Ling Williams.

Who's Insane Asylum Seekers For?

Anyone who missed the sold-out Studio run, and people who like comedy that's also about family, migration and mental health. It's for 14 and over. The Bush's content list includes strong language throughout, mental illness, war and violence in Iraq, death and grief, and dementia, and there are flickering images and sudden lighting changes.

Insane Asylum Seekers News and Reviews

Insane Asylum Seekers was the fastest-selling show in the history of the Bush Studio, selling out its whole run within two weeks in 2025. Its transfer to the main stage begins on 12 February 2027, with press night on 17 February.

Cast and Creative Team

The cast hasn't been announced on the Bush's page yet.

Written by Laith Elzubaidi, a British-Iraqi writer whose play won the Tony Craze Award. Directed by Emily Ling Williams, who won the 2023 Stage Debut Award for Best Director. Produced by Samia Djilli and Sarah Allen in association with the Bush Theatre.

Getting to the Bush Theatre

The Bush is at 7 Uxbridge Road, W12 8LJ, in the old public library next to Shepherd's Bush Market. Shepherd's Bush Market station (Hammersmith & City and Circle lines) is about a minute away. Shepherd's Bush station, for the Central line and the Overground, is about six minutes' walk.

The 72, 94, 95, 148, 207, 220, 260, 272, 295 and SL8 all stop within about 150 metres on Uxbridge Road and Shepherd's Bush Green. The 237 stops on Shepherd's Bush Road, about three minutes away. More in our Bush Theatre guide.

Accessible Performances

There's a relaxed performance on Wednesday 3 March, a captioned performance on Wednesday 10 March and an audio-described performance on Saturday 13 March, all at 7:30pm. The Holloway Theatre has level access, the front row is reached without steps, and a wheelchair space can be booked for every show. Access bookings are handled by the Bush's own team, not by us.

Accessible performances

• Relaxed performances: Wed 3 Mar 2027, 7:30pm
• Captioned performances: Wed 10 Mar 2027, 7:30pm
• Audio described performances: Sat 13 Mar 2027, 7:30pm

Access bookings are handled by the venue's own access team, not by us.

Insane Asylum Seekers FAQs