Welcome to Omnibus Theatre’s 2018 Autumn season,
The value of stories and communities in all their forms is seared into Omnibus Theatre’s DNA. Our venue, on the edge of Clapham Common, was opened in 1889 as a public library – it now houses a living collage of theatre and connection that continues to introduce you, our audience, to undiscovered points of view. Our 2018 Autumn season is no exception, overflowing with dynamic work, presented by daring artists, telling stories that demand to be told.
We kick-start the season with Blood Wedding, a modern reimagining of Federico Garcia Lorca’s tragedy. UK Theatre Awards-winner Lizzie Nunnery’s To Have To Shoot Irishmen will then be in striking dialogue with Owen McCafferty’s multi-award-winning play Quietly as part of a mini-season of Irish work, poignantly coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
Isolation has been at the forefront of our minds as the startling shift in the social-political climate of our world continues to divide and isolate us; this fourth annual Perception Festival is our direct response. Radical auditory experiences from The Pit and the Pendulum transform Edgar Allen Poe’s words into something sharply relevant for a modern audience. Then Unassailable Us, Macbeth: Directors Cut and Scott Turnbull scrutinize isolation in its many different guises, alongside the uncompromising voices of Silhouettez in the Dark, Katie Bonna and Natasha Brown.
Riding high on the success of our 2017 Offie-winning winter production, Associate Artist Tessa Bide and Soap Soup Theatre invite you to step in to a magical world of grumpy giants and everlasting winter in The Selfish Giant, a contemporary retelling of Oscar Wilde’s beloved short story this Christmas.
Since opening our doors five years ago, I have been especially proud of our commitment to developing the theatre-makers of tomorrow. Through our scratch night Engine Room, we have offered over fifty emerging artists dramaturgical support, free rehearsal space and an invaluable platform to present original work. Investing our knowledge and resources in the next generation of theatre-makers is also at the heart of our new initiative for young people, Routes.
On November 10th we invite you to share in our 5th Birthday celebration, a free all-day event, joyously marking five years of presenting unforgettable theatre and looking forward to what is yet to be discovered.
Marie McCarthy
Artistic Director
