Press Release – April 2025
96 FESTIVAL 2025 LINE-UP ANNOUNCEMENT
Omnibus Theatre is delighted to announce the return of 96 Festival, London’s longest running queer arts festival.
Celebrating its 10th year, a glittering line-up of artists will set up camp at Omnibus Theatre for a spectacular celebration of queerness and theatre. A no holds barred extravaganza of theatre, comedy, cabaret, music, art and activism; 96 Festival has been conceived in remembrance and celebration of the iconic Pride party on Clapham Common in 1996.
Highlights of this year’s festival:
- GET HAPPY the award-winning debut from Joseph Aldous, a one-person explosion of a show about sentient Alexa’s, temping, queer happiness, and Ke$ha. 1 – 12 JUL
- ENGINE ROOM: NEXT PAGE returns, this time with a queer lens. Following the success of our annual Next Page season which usually takes place in January, we are holding a week long series of rehearsed readings in the style of our Next Page Season, all written by writers who identify as LGBTQIA+. 24 – 27 JUN
- WICKED SING-A-LONG – Get your vocal chords ready as Elphaba and Glinda grace our screens, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. 27 JUN
- Tickets for this year’s 96 Festival are on sale now
https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/ | @OmnibusTheatre | Box Office: 0207 498 4699
Omnibus Theatre, 1 Clapham Common Northside, SW4 0QW
TRANS PERFORMATIVITY
PRESENTED BY AURA
21 JUNE / 7:45PM / £15 STANDARD / £13 CONCESSION
Transformative, inclusive, fundamental; a delicately disruptive project to change the world.
“Trans*Performativity” proposes the intersection between artistic research and practice, digital and physical elements, and the trans community and society. Based on the premise of how to transpose our experience as trans people into a work with an artistic, cultural and social impact.
Movement represents processes of transformation and metamorphosis. The scenography proposes an innovative and safe space. The costumes weave individual and collective identity, and the light design gives visibility to underrepresented issues, allowing the audience to perceive, understand and participate freely.
“Trans*Performativity” is an innovative project, designed by trans people for everyone, which promises to diversify and decolonise the artistic and cultural field, with the inherent support of the artistic and technical team, partner entities and the audience.
It was first developed in Portugal with two casts of local performers (1 based in Porto and 1 in Lisbon), and was presented at fAUNA | Teatro da Didascália (Famalicão), A Gráfica – Centro de Criação Artística (Setúbal), TMP Campo Alegre x Instável – Centro Coreográfico (Porto) and mono x Temps d’Images (Lisbon) and will be on tour until 2025 across Haarlem (The Netherlands), Sofia (Bulgaria), Miranda do Douro, Vila Verde, Mesão Frio, Armamar, V.N. Foz Côa and Velas. The new phase includes the production and touring with a new cast based in the UK across Nottingham Contemporary (Nottingham), FABRIC x Fierce Festival (Birmingham), Yorkshire Dance x Queer Encounters (Leeds), and Omnibus Theatre x 96 Festival (London).
https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/trans-performativity/
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LIFE LEARNINGS OF A NONSENSICAL HUMAN
PRESENTED BY JENNY FOULDS AND JOY MACHINE
22 JUN / 7PM / £15 STANDARD / £13 CONCESSION
This is an ode to raving, queerness and finding joy again amidst grief.
Life Learnings of a Nonsensical Human is an ode to the joy and complexities of friendship, queerness and raving. To the kindness of strangers, to the heart-break of loss and missing and finding joy in the most unlikely places. These stories are for old ravers and fun makers, for anyone who has had a best friend. This is a love letter to the people we meet along the way and the sticky floors that we have danced on for all these years.
Spoken word theatre in a debut one woman show that gleefully jumps from one subject to another in the way only an ADHD brain can. A series of poetic windows into the life and mind of Jenny Foulds, from growing up in the 90s, coming out and raves; to losing a parent, grief and finding the ability to find pockets of joy again.
Life Learnings of a Nonsensical Human is a debut, spoken-word theatre show from Jenny Foulds, performance poet, writer and theatre-maker from Scotland. She has featured at events across the UK including Hammer & Tongue, Loud Poets, Tongue Fu and Stanza Poetry festival and is a former Scottish Slam Champion and World Slam Championship finalist. Jenny also hosts and curates Brighton based Spoken Word night Rebel Soapbox. Life Learnings of a Nonsensical Human is supported by Apples & Snakes, The Old Market Brighton, and TOAST Poetry.
https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/life-learnings-of-a-nonsensical-human/
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ENGINE ROOM: NEXT PAGE
PRESENTED BY OMNIBUS THEATRE
24 – 27 JUN / 7PM / 8:30PM / £6
As part of this year’s 96 Festival, we are holding a week long series of rehearsed readings in the style of our Next Page Season, all written by writers who identify as LGBTQIA+.
Line up announced soon…
https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/engine-room-next-page-96-fest/
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DYSBIOSIS (WORK-IN-PROGRESS)
PRESENTED BY DAEDALUS THEATRE COMPANY
25 JUN / 7:45PM / £6
Step into a queer-led, multimedia performance that unearths our tangled ties to nature and environmental justice.
You’re invited to the first public sharing of Dysbiosis, a bold new multimedia performance and exhibition unearthing the tangled connections between queerness, nature, place and environmental justice.
Led by a team of mainly queer artists and shaped by the voices of working class, global majority, and LGBTQ+ Londoners, Dysbiosis is a theatrical collage of original music, spoken word, performance and striking visuals.
At the heart of the project is a question: how do we, as individuals and communities, live in and with the natural world? Through workshops, exhibitions, and now this sharing at 96 Festival, this is art as a co-creative ecosystem, bringing together work by many of the project’s contributing artists and participants, and weaving together diverse creative practices, perspectives and voices in a poetic act of collective imagination.
Produced by Daedalus, a queer-led theatre company based in East London, Dysbiosis continues the company’s tradition of long-term, multi-disciplinary projects. These include Mobile Incitement – a gig theatre show about protest made with a gay folk band – and East, a storytelling and music-sharing project that connects people from different communities to share each other’s stories and songs through workshops, performances and an online archive.
Developed with the support of Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, Dysbiosis is growing into something bigger: an ongoing, collaborative journey into art, ecology, community and locality. Join us for this first work-in-progress sharing and exhibition, and help us shape what comes next.
https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/dysbiosis-work-in-progress/
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HELL YEAH!
PRESENTED BY MONICA GAGA
26 JUN / 7:30PM / £9 STANDARD / £8 CONCESSION
We’re Here, We’re Queer, We’re Improvised!
Fun, femxle-centered, fearless and completly improvised. A supHer group of London’s hottest queer improv talent.
With a cast of powerhouse award-winning/rave reviewed queer performers, who in their own right sell out shows, push the arts forward and are seen/heard on the BBC, Channel 4, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hoopla Impro and The Comedy Store to name a few.
Monica Gaga presents: Alicia Ingram, Laura Evelyn, Sally Hodgkiss and Amy Annette.
https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/hell-yeah-summer-2025/
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FRIDAZE
PRESENTED BY SADHBH MCLOUGHLIN & HANNAH PETCH
27 JUN / 9PM / £10 STANDARD
Welcome to Fridaze, where every fourth Friday of the month comes alive with a vibrant fusion of music, comedy, drag performances, and everything in between.
Created as a haven for South London’s artistic community and open-minded souls, Fridaze beckons all to join in a celebration of creativity and expression. Our stage is a melting pot of talent, where emerging artists and seasoned performers alike come together to captivate audiences in an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere.
Whether you’re a musician, comedian, drag artist, or simply a lover of the arts, Fridaze has something for everyone. We curate each lineup with care, embracing diversity and nurturing emerging voices.
This June, Fridaze will host a queer extravaganza of some of the best LGBTQ+ comedians, musicians, drag artists and performers in recognition of the 96 Festival
https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/fridaze/
WICKED SING-A-LONG (PG)
PRESENTED BY OMNIBUS THEATRE
27 JUN / 7:30PM / £15 STANDARD / £13 CONCESSION
Join in and sing along with our special screening of Wicked!
The untold story of the witches of Oz, stars Emmy, Grammy and Tony award-winning powerhouse Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, Broadway’s The Color Purple) as Elphaba, a young woman, misunderstood because of her unusual green skin, who has yet to discover her true power, and Grammy-winning, multi-platinum recording artist and global superstar Ariana Grande as Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart. The two meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Glinda’s unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences on her future. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/wicked-sing-a-long/
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PLACES I NEVER THINK ABOUT
PRESENTED BY TRANSIT PRODUCTIONS
30 JUN – 2 JUL / 7:45PM / £15 STANDARD / £13 CONCESSION
A powerful & queer retelling of stories from Eastern European folklore with live music, polyphonic singing & puppetry.
Places I Never Think About is a queer retelling of myths and folklore from Eastern Europe using polyphonic singing, live music, storytelling & puppetry.
Three characters from Eastern European folklore come to life, sharing their stories that draw inspiration from the creatives’ experiences of migration. Through the narrative, we delve deep into the complexities of belonging, guilt, and the families we leave behind. Told through musical storytelling, polyphony and puppetry, “Places I Never Think About” speaks to the child within us, invoking a sense of nostalgia and wonder.
The show leaves audiences with a sense of connection and joy by inviting them to join a Hungarian Dance House (communal dance) to end the evening on.
TRANSIT is a London-based queer multidisciplinary theatre collective founded on a shared goal to bring about change by representing often overlooked communities. Through joy & playfulness, our practice encompasses an intersectional approach in order to challenge the pervasive structures of oppression. Working with oral history & personal narratives explored in music, movement, poetry & storytelling, TRANSIT performances aim to cultivate an environment where varying cultures and lived experiences can come together.
★★★★
“Funny, strange, and quietly beautiful”
- Everything Theatre
https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/places-i-never-think-about/
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GET HAPPY
PRESENTED BY JOSEPH ALDOUS LTD AND JOE BROWN
1 – 12 JUL / 7:30PM (TUES – SAT) / 4PM (SUN) / £18 STANDARD / £16 CONCESSION / £10 PREVIEW
“I can have what you have.
I can do it better.
I’m going to show you I can Get Happy.”
Adam’s hot gay summer is in full swing, and things could be a lot worse. Sure, he may be about to turn 30 without a stable job, a boyfriend, or any real clue about what he’s doing with his life — but he’s having a good time. Life is a party, and Adam’s making the most of it. Everything is fine. Juuuust fine.
But when Adam’s best friend and housemate gets engaged to his boyfriend and moves out, it’s time to make a change. All of his queer friends are settled. Secure. And… Happy. When exactly did that happen?
Well, Adam can be happy too. Really, really, really, very very 100% super happy.
With his sentient Alexa in tow, a playlist of queer bangers, and a three-point plan to sort his life out, Adam can’t fail. The clock’s ticking. But he’s going to get there. Whatever it takes. Cue up Ke$ha and get your glitter on, girls. We’re going out, and we’re getting happy.
Clearly, absolutely nothing will go wrong.
Written with the Soho Writers’ Lab and the winner of the Carlo Annoni International Playwrighting Award, Get Happy is a one-man explosion of a show about queer happiness which asks: how do we Get Happy when we don’t actually know what it looks like?
★★★★
“An incredibly strong debut from Joseph Aldous”
- Jack the lad magazine
★★★★
“Effortlessly endearing, beautifully performed promising debut that is sure to entertain”
- The Upcoming
★★★★★
“Tens, tens, tens across the board”
- Lost in Theatreland
https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/get-happy/
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SCHÖDINGER’S LESBIANS
PRESENTED BY THEMIS THEATRE
4 & 5 JUL / 7:45PM / £15 STANDARD / £13 CONCESSION
Sappho’s back. And she’s single. The L Word meets Ancient Greece in 6th Century BCE.
“If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? Sorry, let me rephrase that: if two women fall in love but none of the men write about it, did it happen?”
But it’s only the men. Because on the island called Lesbos, Sappho is writing….
Structured around Sappho’s fragments, ‘Schrodinger’s Lesbians’ is a joyful, irreverent new play from Themis Theatre about love, lesbians, and how to cope with a history that’s written you out of it. Written by Libby Boyd, this is Themis Theatre’s second show, taking a deep dive into highs and lows of queer female friendships while asking the eternal question: ‘can you just be friends with someone you’re into?’
https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/schrodingers-lesbians/
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For details of the full programme, please click on the link – https://www.omnibus-clapham.org
For press night invitations, interviews, images or further information please contact the Marketing team: marketing@omnibus-clapham.org,
Tel: 0207 498 4699
NOTES TO EDITORS
Omnibus Theatre is a multi-award-winning independent theatre in Clapham, South London. Finalist in the Fringe Theatre of the Year 2020 and 2023 The Stage Awards, Off-West End Award winner 2018 and 2020, and recipient of the Peter Brook/Royal Court Theatre Support Award in 2016. The heart of the organisation’s ambitious programme lies in classics re-imagined, modern revivals and new writing. Omnibus Theatre also provides a platform for LGBTQ+ work and aims to give voice to the underrepresented and challenge perceptions. Since opening in 2013 notable in-house productions include Woyzeck (2013), Macbeth (2014), Colour (2015), Mule (2016), Spring Offensive (2017), Zeraffa Giraffa (2017), Queens of Sheba (2019), The Little Prince (2019), RICE! (2021), The Human Connection (2021), The Girl Who Was Very Good At Lying (2021), FIJI (2022), SAD (2022) and DRUM (2022), COMPOSITOR E (2023), ICE AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2024)
Omnibus Theatre is led by Artistic Director Marie McCarthy and Executive Director Bridget Kalloushi. Patrons include His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh KG KT GCVO, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Lord Michael Cashman, Paulette Randall MBE and Rikki Beadle- Blair MBE
-ENDS –
