Joe Carstairs at Omnibus Theatre

An exploration of the power boat-racer, war hero and one of 20th century’s boldest queer figures. Joe Carstairsis a new drama set across two timelines, the 1920s and the 2020s, to delve into gender, identityand social constructs that, over a century later, the world is still determined to conform to. Fusing original live music, movement and storytelling, the show reflects on Joe Carstairs as a problematic queer icon. An openly gay war hero who served with the American Red Cross in the First World War, Joe was an heiress to an oil fortune whose wealthy status afforded her freedoms that many did not have at the time. When Hik, a queer Gen Z playwright learns about the life of this rebellious force, they join with strong-willed Tee at a writing workshop to craft a play about Carstairs, and can’t help but notice the parallels with their own identities and clashes with societal norms.