LONDON.- Art Antiques London, the innovative new Haughton art and antiques fair, will launch this summer with a glittering “First Night” Gala on June 9th for The Bush Theatre, London’s most celebrated experimental theatre. Located in Shepherd’s Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, it is considered one of the country's leading and most prestigious new writing venues. Established in 1972, the theatre’s aim is to discover, produce and promote the most innovative and exciting new playwrights of the future. During the 37 years since it opened, the Bush stage has helped launch the careers of actors such as Kate Beckinsale, Simon Callow, Julie Walters, Alan Rickman, Antony Sher and Jim Broadbent and playwrights such as Stephen Poliakoff and Catherine Johnson. The Bush endeavours continually to introduce new people to its work and actively encourages young people to attend theatre for the first time through its education programmes. An intimate venue renowned for its close-up storytelling, the theatre holds a maximum audience of approximately 80. In 2007 the Bush Theatre appointed Josie Rourke its Artistic Director.

In our increasingly fragmented world, the arts are a vital part of our lives, helping us communicate with each other across barriers of language, class and culture. The Bush receives vital funding from The Arts Council, England and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. However, this isn’t enough. Without the benefit of charitable donations the Bush couldn’t survive and we would lose a vital and much-loved institution that, every day, sets out to discover and nurture the most innovative new playwrights of the future.

The Bush Theatre has recently launched an ambitious education and outreach programme bushfutures, designed to provide a range of opportunities for young people and emerging artists from schoolchildren to young artists designed to sustain both the local community as well as the Bush theatre. Each year the theatre stages eight new productions in its intimate 81-seat studio space, presents two seasons of rehearsed readings, receives and reports on over 1000 unsolicited scripts, commissions up to seven new writers and offers a bespoke Writers Development Programme. In addition to productions at its home base, many Bush plays enjoy national tours, transfers to the West End, Ireland, the USA, and development for TV and film. During the 2008/09 season around 35,000 people attended shows at its home base or on tour. Some of the Bush’s Significant Patrons include Eric Abraham & Sigrid Rausing,Gianni Alen-Buckley,Catherine Johnson,Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman, Christopher Hampton and Lady Susie Sainsbury

Art Antiques London, will take place from June 9-16, 2010 in Kensington Gardens in a beautiful custom-built marquee opposite the Royal Albert Hall, adjacent to the site of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Incorporating the Haughton’s legendary International Ceramics Fair and Seminar, which has been a fixture in the London calendar for almost thirty years, the fair is aimed at both the seasoned connoisseur and those who admire and value beauty and timelessness. The Fair’s participants are leading specialists in a wide range of disciplines, including furniture, paintings, jewellery, clocks, textiles, silver and ceramics, as well as rare books and modern and contemporary objet d’art. Every object exhibited at the Fair is rigorously examined and vetted for quality and authenticity, so collectors can be assured they can buy with confidence. The Fair will also hold a full programme of lectures and seminars that will make Art Antiques London an important destination for international collectors and institutions.