Cast Set For WHAT WOULD JARVIS DO? at Omnibus Theatre

The full cast has been set for the upcoming production of new absurdist, black comedy, What Would Jarvis Do? which runs from 6th-16th October at Omnibus theatre.

About fandom, grief, and the stories we attach to treasured objects, What Would Jarvis Do? is a playful exploration of what happens when the people and things we hold onto disappear - and how we might find a way forward.

Didi (Annabel Smith - The Shitheads Royal Court, The Upstart Crow Gielgud & Apollo) and GG (Izzy Butt) are best friends and super-fans of Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker. When a pair of yellow trousers, supposedly worn by the man himself, come up for auction through their wildly unconventional therapist, Ms Lacy (Erika Pool - Beauty and The Beast; Shoot Me In The Heart Told By An Idiot, What It Feels Like For A Girl BBC Three), they empty their pockets to buy them. Only there's one problem. They might not be Jarvis's trousers at all…

Their subsequent search for the real trousers spirals into an increasingly surreal odyssey where they meet eccentric strangers Mister (Henry Miller - Othello Basingstoke Theatre, Line Of Duty BBC) and Christopher (Gigi Zahir - Frankie Goes To Bollywood Rifco UK Tour/Southbank Centre, Cinderella Stratford East), navigate impossible coincidences, and confront the unsettling feeling that they've been here before.

Inspired by writer Laura Grillo's own experiences of sudden loss and grief during lockdown, the play is a tribute to hope, yearning, and the Britpop music that helped her find some light in the darkness.

With moments of repetition, restarting and looping in a world that both disintegrates and expands simultaneously, Didi and GG find themselves exploring their own wants and needs as they journey though the ever-shifting environments, meeting increasingly eccentric strangers and trying to maintain the one goal they have set out to achieve.

A loving, funny tribute to Britpop, What Would Jarvis Do? is for those who remember the era first time around – and for everyone who has since discovered the particular charm of Jarvis Cocker, Pulp and a moment when Britain seemed bright with possibility. Through music, memory and a pair of possibly genuine yellow trousers, it looks back at what we hold onto when the world changes around us.

Annabel Smith - Didi

Annabel rained at Oxford School of Drama. Theatre includes: The Shitheads (Royal Court); The Vanishing Room (New Diorama/ETF); The Upstart Crow (Gielgud & Apollo); Turn of the Screw (Mercury/UK Tour); The Dark Room (Theatre 503); The Last Ones (Jermyn Street); Spitfire Sisters, Manifesto and The Lighthouse (The Space).

Television includes: L.S. Lowry: The Unheard Tapes (BBC); Rosamunde Pilcher: Wedding Anniversary (ZDF).Film includes: You Look Fine (BFI Future Fest Winner 2022)

Radio includes: Road to Oxford (BBC Radio 4)

Isabel Butt - GG

Isabel Leila Amira Butt is a working class actor. Since her classical training at Rose Bruford she has gone on to work in both theatre and on screen. This includes the first run of What Would Jarvis Do? at the Omnibus Theatre.

Isabel often incorporates the world of clown within her Visual Art practice and moving image work

Erika Poole – Ms Lacy

Erika trained at Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art

Theatre credits include: Whatever Happened to Phoebe Salt? (New Vic Theatre); The Rivals (New Forest Open Air Theatre); What Would Jarvis Do? (Omnibus Theatre); The Importance of Being Earnest (Worcester Swan); Crackers; Double Act; The BFG (Polka Theatre); A Horrible Christmas; George's Marvellous Medicine (Birmingham Stage Company); Monday's Child (Tutti-Frutti); Johnny Come Lately (Coal Theatre/Royal Exchange/Unity Liverpool); From Newbury With Love (Red Cape Theatre Company); I Am A Camera (Rosemary Branch Theatre); For The Best (Unicorn Theatre); Beauty and The Beast; Shoot Me In The Heart (Told By An Idiot); Not With That Hand (Coal Theatre/Manchester Royal Exchange); The Underpants (Old Red Lion); Goldilocks; Aladdin (Hammersmith Lyric Theatre); Japanese Gardens (TPO); The Shooky (Birmingham Rep); Peer Gynt (State of Unrest Theatre Co).

Television and film credits include: Belgravia: The Next Chapter (Carnival Films/MGM+); What It Feels Like For A Girl (BBC Three); Grandpa in My Pocket (CBeebies); The Ha Ha Hairies (Adastra Creative); Paul O'Grady Show (Channel 4); Great Industrial Wonders: The Great Ship (BBC 2) and In The Dark With Julian Clary (Carlton Television)

Henry Miller - Mister

Henry, originally from Stoke on Trent, trained at The Drama Centre London. Theatre work includes Othello (Basingstoke Theatre) and Bandages (National tour)

TV work includes Line of Duty, Beyond Paradise, Grace, His Dark Materials, and The Famous Five. Films include The Running Man, A Christmas Story Christmas and Agent Cody Banks.

Henry also works as a painter and he was selected for the John Moores Painting prize 2023. His work will be seen in May next year at the Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield.

Gigi Zahir - Christopher

Gigi Zahir is a non-binary, mixed-race singer, actor and all around drag menace. They've performed everywhere from basement bars to the West End, opened for Chappell Roan, and are currently developing Crusty and Gigi Play Literally Everybody: Scary Movies! a musical comedy cabaret featuring all your favourite horror icons, debuting this Halloween at The Pleasance. Gigi has been a guest lecturer at The London College of Music since 2024.