Last Updated on 19 August 2021 by Showcall Editorial Team
New plays by Adanna Oji, Bruce Graham, Christian Graham and David Neita are coming to Omnibus Theatre in Clapham
Omnibus Theatre in London has announced premieres of new plays as part of its 2021 autumn season.
They include Bruce Graham’s The Duration, Christian Graham’s Boys Cry, David Neita’s Uplift, and Adanna Oji’s At the Feet of Jesus, directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair.
The autumn season, running from the end of August until October, also includes the previously announced revival of Peter Gill’s play, Small Change, from 14 September to 2 October.
Omnibus Theatre’s artistic director, Marie McCarthy, said: “This season began with us reaching out to some of our favourite artists and closest collaborators.
“From established theatre-makers to exciting up-and-comers, the response has laid the foundation for a thrilling season of work.”
The world premiere of Boys Cry, written and performed by Christian Graham, runs from 30 August to 9 September, directed by Ebe Bamgboye.
The life-changing event of a mugging forces a young man to confront some of his deepest issues. On his journey towards healing he realises that interrogating his connection to masculinity might be key to finding a way forwards.
For Mark, being a boy has meant closing up when it comes to processing complex emotion. However, through reassembling himself, he starts to get a sharper image of the person he wants to be. Boys Cry explores self-image, maturity, life after trauma and definitions of manhood.
Uplift, running from 1 to 4 September, is a creative live performance paying tribute to the Windrush Generation in the UK. Acclaimed spoken word artist David Neita evokes sentiments of belonging, home and dignity as a response to the hostile environment that resulted in the Windrush Scandal.
Uplift is a fitting tribute to the incredible and indomitable spirit of the people who were invited from afar to help to rebuild post-war Britain and responded to that call with generous open arms, steadfast service and love for the nation presented as their motherland.
The performance involves the interaction between the artist and a discarded helium tank, which has been reclaimed, adorned and set in flight. The resulting artwork ultimately celebrates the significant contribution made by the Windrush Generation to life in the UK.
Adanna Oji’s new play, At the Feet of Jesus, runs from 6 to 11 September, with acclaimed award-winning director Rikki Beadle-Blair.
It is set in Rio de Janeiro in 2014, with the country electric with excitement because of the World Cup. In the streets there are celebrations, political protests and violence.
Cezário Cardoso dreams of being “king of the favela” but when he turns to arson and a notorious gangster for help, things don’t go quite as planned.
The world premiere of The Duration, presented by Ignite Theatre, runs from 7 to 26 September, marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Directed by Jelena Budimir, it explores the impact of the terrorist attacks on one family, and the profound effect of collective grief on a nation. The cast includes Sarah Finigan, Florence Roberts and Jason Wilson.
It is written by American playwright Bruce Graham whose previous plays include Burkie, Coyote on a Fence, Something Intangible, Any Given Monday, The Outgoing Tide and White Guy on the Bus which earned Ignite Theatre four Off West End Award nominations for the London production.
Other shows include Body Politic’s It’s Not the Fire on 2 September. This powerful piece of hip hop theatre work was created in response to Deanna Rodgers’ poem about sexual violence of the same name.
On 6 September, Moongate Productions will host the first of a series of salon events, Redefining Asian, inviting a panel of British East and South East Asian theatre practitioners and academics to interrogate the word “Asian” and explore building solidarity across all Asian communities without ignoring their diversity.
On 10 September, State of the [art] will present How to Build [The City], an interactive performance based on mini-games that explore the themes of the epic of Gilgamesh.
