ENGINE ROOM

PRESENTED BY OMNIBUS THEATRE

Dynamic theatre makers present work for the very first time in front of a live audience.

Our regular scratch programme, where dynamic and talented theatre makers present daring, new work in the first stages of development.

Engine Room puts you, the audience, at the heart of the creative process. Following the sharing you will be asked to complete a feedback form, with your comments directly influencing the next development of the pieces. Give feedback, offer ideas and discover the next generation of theatre before anyone else.

Artists that have previously presented work include; Nouveau Riché, Vera Chok, The Queer House, Opia Collective, Cocoa Butter Club and Playing On.

The line up changes for each show so keep an eye on our website and social media to see who will be taking part this season.

Read more information here

ARTIST TESTIMONIALS:

Engine Room is the exact thing that we emerging artists need right now, especially those of us who are a part of marginalised communities. Having the time and space to experiment and fail safely is invaluable. Personally, I feel so honoured to have been selected and grateful for the opportunity. I was able to rehearse, workshop, have a private reading, and get audience feedback all for free, which is truly incredible. I am so happy that Engine Room exists and would like to thank anyone who has made it a possibility.

– Somebody Jones (Engine Room Artist – Autumn 2022)

Image credit: DRUM by Jacob Roberts-Mensah

Please arrive at the venue in plenty of time, latecomers may not be admitted.

SEPTEMBER LINE UP

LOLITA

PRESENTED BY CLUB LAM

Following the critical success of Lolita in the Netherlands, Club Lam is developing a new international adaptation in collaboration with Omnibus Theatre in London.

Together with Omnibus dramaturg Sam Pout and playwright Marloes IJpelaar, the production will be redeveloped from the ground up. Rather than creating a direct translation, the team will revisit the play through a contemporary British lens, exploring the cultural differences, social developments and changing conversations around feminism, sexuality and online identity.

Inspired by Vladimir Nabokov's iconic novel, Lolita shifts the perspective away from Humbert Humbert and towards three women—Lola, Dolly and Dolores—who each struggle with the same question: how do you build an identity in a world that constantly asks women to perform for the approval of others?

IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

PRESENTED BY DYLAN LOWENA AND LIAM REES

Pretty privilege is the last acceptable form of bias”. Ted Chiang, Liking What You See: A Documentary.

In The Eye of The Beholder is a new experimental theatre piece created by award winning artists Liam Rees and Dylan Lowena. Using live feed cameras trained on the audience this 20 minute scratch performance deconstructs beauty, bias, and (mis)communication. All whilst subverting the roles of audience and performer. But don't worry you won’t have to do anything yourself. You can just watch.

TIC-BOOM

PRESENTED BY CAL-I JONEL ARTS

TIC-BOOM is a new sound-led gig-theatre experience exploring tics, identity, family, and the creative potential hidden inside the sounds we learn to suppress.

Inspired by writer-performer Cal-I Jonel’s own experiences growing up in a Black British Caribbean household, the piece transforms involuntary sounds and movements into rhythm, music, and theatrical spectacle. Through live looping, vocal composition, movement, and storytelling, everyday tics become the foundation of an immersive sonic world.

Following a young man navigating school, friendship, family expectations, and the pressure to fit in, TIC-BOOM asks what happens when the very thing you’ve spent your life hiding becomes your greatest source of expression.

Playful, inventive, and emotionally charged, TIC-BOOM pushes the boundaries of sound and storytelling, inviting audiences to rethink difference, belonging, and the ways we find our voice.