Award-winning playwright, lyricist and director Chris Bush will lead three writing courses this autumn at the Grand Opera House, York.

One half of the York musical comedy duo Bush & McCluskey, Chris is best known for Tony! The Blair Musical, his 2007 satirical Fringe hit in Edinburgh, London and York.

From October 22 to December 10, on Saturday afternoons he will host eight-week courses on Writing For The Stage (12.15pm to 1.45pm), Writing Musical Theatre (2.15pm to 3.45pm) and Exploring Stand-Up Comedy (4.15pm to 5.45pm).

“Lizzie Richards, the general manger, asked me initially to run a stand-up comedy course, but that’s a new relationship to me, whereas I’ve been writing plays for a lot longer,” says Chris, who is a member of the Opera House staff.

“My first professional production was 11 years ago in 2000, a show called Harsh Reality in the Studio at the Wimbledon Theatre for the National Young Playwrights Competition. It was for writers up to 25 years old; I was the youngest at 13 and that play was the very first thing I’d written for the theatre.”

A writing career was born, nurtured further in the Writing Squad in his home city of Sheffield and at the University of York, where he read English Writing and Performance and “pretty much sold myself to the drama society as soon as I arrived”.

“Every summer term, they would bring in a writer, a poet or a playwright for weekly writing sessions that were vaguely similar to what I want to do at the Opera House: a mixture of exercises and the possibility of one-to-one feedback,” he says.

Chris will draw on all these experiences, plus his 2010 musical show in London, Lost Soul Music, when running his courses for 16 year olds and upwards.

Writing For The Stage is aimed at enthusiastic beginners and will combine talks, practical exercises and group discussion with individual feedback. Writing Musical Theatre is a course for those with “a song in their heart and an unnatural predilection for jazz-hands”.

“You can learn why some musicals work and some don’t, determine the kind of show you want to write and gain practical advice in developing your project towards production,” says Chris.

Stand-up comedy in Britain has never been more popular, as Chris can testify from his duo pursuits that will inform his comedy course.

“If you fancy giving it a shot, come and discover your voice, gain confidence and develop your style with honest, constructive feedback in a supportive and friendly environment,” he says.

Chris, why should people listen to you?

“The courses aren’t going to be masterclasses talking about my triumphs. They’ll be a combination of the artistic and the practical, and where they differ from university is the possibility of the one-to-one feedback and the chance to focus on specific projects,” he says.

The cost of each course is £90 per term, covering classes and solo time as requested, with a minimum of six places and a maximum of 12 per course. To book or find out more, phone 01904 678700 or email yorkboxoffice@theambassadors.com