Omnibus Theatre Launches a Mini-Season of Work Around International Women's Day

Omnibus Theatre celebrates International Women's Day on 8th March 2023 with a month of work from female theatre makers exploring life through the lens of womanhood. Learn more about the full season below!

SHE

PRESENTED BY THEATRE ACCORD
7-12 MARCH, 7:30PM (TUE-SAT) 4PM (SUN), £16 | £13

Will she stop the baby crying? Exact revenge on the school bully? Fall in love and be loved? Protest to change the world? Accept advice from her mother's friends? Come to terms with an unexpected illness? Grow old with dignity?

SHE is an enthralling new play, inspired by The Seven Ages of Man speech in Shakespeare's As You Like It.

Charting the experiences of different women from childhood to old age, these stories, each with an intriguing twist, are visceral, poignant, and laced with humour.

LABYRINTH

PRESENTED BY BLANK PRODUCTIONS
11 MARCH, 9PM, £13 | £11

"Today I killed a man."

Hovering ambiguously between murder and vivid fantasy, Labyrinth depicts a woman on the edge.

Fiercely feminist and graphic in its poetic detail, Labyrinth tells the story of a woman desperate to break free of the entanglements of a love affair that has turned toxic. Has she actually killed her lover? Is this a violent reaction to coercive control?

Physical theatre meets visceral poetry in this intense and darkly comic monologue starring Portuguese actress Marta Carvalho.

Originally written in Portuguese by Moncho Rodriguez, Labyrinth has been toured extensively by Marta Carvalho in Portugal, Spain and Brazil. Now in new English translation by Marta Carvalho and Mark C. Hewitt.

WILD COUNTRY

PRESENTED BY Edith Tankus
11-12 MARCH, 7:30PM, £13 | £11

"I prowl the room sniffing the fetid air, they've been muck spreading the fields. I run out into the back garden, nose to the ground. In the centre of the newly planted hydrangeas, I get on all fours and dig. I open my mouth and drop my red spandex costume into its forever grave"

Wild Country is a fictional autobiography that charts the course of one woman's midlife when she becomes pregnant and moves to the edge of a marsh in rural Kent, England. This larger-than-life tale of identity, loss and dislocation spiralling into absurd and hairy extremes is part stand-up, part storytelling, and part myth.

Leaving behind her edgy urban dwelling in Toronto, a vibrant theatre career, and elderly Jewish parents, Edith finds herself increasingly isolated, raising small children, surrounded by nothing but sheep. Amidst rural politics and the news from back home of her mother's newly diagnosed Alzheimers, Edith's unravelling begins.

OPEN LAB: MARY & HER MONSTER

PRESENTED BY CATHERINE DUQUETTE
12 MARCH, 2:30PM, £6

What does it mean to mother? What are the sacrifices worth making to create? What are the unforeseen realities after birthing your creation?

Mary and Her Monster is an interactive experiment exploring the euphoria and horror of mothering. It draws parallels with Mary Shelley and her Frankenstein, exploring the tension between the power of mothering and the repulsion of those who mother. Everyone lauds an innovator, a creator, a founder, while excluding those birthing actual human life.

Catherine Duquette will be working with various communities to unpack what it is to mother in the current state of the world. This is the first in a series of public experiments - an interactive live art event with a group of mothers, non-binary parents, and their under 5s as we ask: What is the way forward? Who's doing it differently? How can we do it better? After the experiment, we will facilitate a discussion over refreshments about the experience and themes of the work.

Mary and Her Monster is a collaboration between theatre maker/writer/performer Catherine Duquette, director/interactive technology designer Ruth Sergel, and director/filmmaker Bronwyn Donohue. We make work through conversation and rigorous experimentation with a live audience and as a lens for social change.

ECO MANIAC

PRESENTED BY THE RAG TAG COMPANY
13-15 MARCH, 7:30PM, £13 | £11

Aruhan wants to assure you that this is NOT a TED Talk.

In this NOT a TED Talk, she will navigate the mammoth headf*ck that is the climate crisis, her love of BATS and explore her experiences as a mixed-race British-Kazakhstani woman. Featuring original music (absolute bangers) written and performed by Aruhan.

WINNER! Luke Rollason Memorial Bursary Award (2022)
WINNER! Watering Seeds Bursary Award, BAME Buddhist Activists (2021)

SWIM

PRESENTED BY LR PRODUCTIONS
16-18 MARCH, 7PM, £13 | £11

"The sensation of water
flowing around my body
happily floating down a river,
watching the banks pass me by.
I like to take the same
journey as a river
it's the lack of control
which feels so good,
it's good to leave my
life alone for a while."

Liz grew up in the Lake District. She spent her childhood walking in the fells, playing in the lakes and in the river at the end of her garden. After time away living in the City, Liz returns to the hills and into a new village for a new chapter of her life. But when her new community is rocked by tragedy, Liz rediscovers outdoor swimming and how it can keep both her and her new friends afloat.

SWIM is a tender tale based on a true story, featuring live music and video projection. Written and performed by Liz Richardson (Gutted), SWIM premiered at Theatre by the Lake in Spring 2022 ahead of a rural and UK theatre tour.

STICKY DOOR

PRESENTED BY KATIE ARNSTEIN
17 MARCH, 9PM, £13 | £11

A storytelling show with songs about sex, stigma and cystitis written and performed by someone who has experienced all three. A multi-award-winning show made by the multi-award-winning team behind Sexy Lamp.

Shortlisted for the Popcorn Prize and Evening Standard's Future of Theatre Award.

SEEN 00:25

PRESENTED BY MODERN DAY CHRONICLES
17-19 MARCH, 8:30PM (FRI-SAT) 4:30PM (SUN), £13 | £11

Have you ever wished to be sick?

Miss A is obsessed with Robert Pattinson, Instagram, body image, her own reflection on any kind of screen and the source of all things. On a journey of self-destruction and self-discovery all at once, Miss A examines that the world she lives in without leaving the sanctuary of her room.

Taking the name of the girl who was first diagnosed with anorexia, she navigates and explores the twenty-first century, and the societal triggers that have damaged her and other young women's mental health. This is not a good girl gone bad story, it's a good girl gone psychotic and absolutely obsessive type of tale.

Some people call it boredom, others vanity, we call it the unbearable lightness of being a young woman in the 21st century.

MYTH REFRESHED

PRESENTED BY SUNSHINE NEGYESI AND KRYSTEN RESNICK
18 MARCH, 7:30PM, £13 | £11

A night crossing cultures and disciplines to resurrect the power of myth.

Featuring a range of performances - from cosmic jazz and mystical theatre, to enchanted dance and divine fine arts. This deep-rooted evening will build an astral bridge from our ancestral roots to a flourishing future by re-examining and reclaiming our stories through contemporary cultural arts, community, and the myth.

Curated by Sunshine Negyesi and Krysten Resnick, Myth Refreshed is a way to explore and re/connect to ancestral wisdom in order to help decolonise and reclaim our narratives. Expect to be transported to celestial spaces that feel both ancient and futuristic, deeply grounded and yet otherworldly.

MATERIAL GIRLS COMEDY

PRESENTED BY SASCHA LO AND AISHA AMANDURI
18 MARCH, 9PM, £6

A mixed bill comedy show starring some of the biggest and brattiest up-and-coming comedians on the circuit.

Expect a night of laughs from four brilliant comedians who were spoilt as children and a famous headliner who still uses their daddy's uber account. A different line up of material girls, guys, and non-binary acts each month, all hosted by the South London-renowned attention-seekers Aisha Amanduri and Sascha LO.

AIYAA 哎呀

PRESENTED BY PANGEA ART
18-19 MARCH, 2:30PM, £13 | £11

Aiyaa 哎呀 Interjection. (China, Hong Kong, Singapore, informal) ah; oh; an exclamation of exuberance, a shout of hurt, a cry of fear, an accusation of blame, the reflex of being startled and the embrace of joy.

Aiyaa encompasses the full spectrum of motherhood.

This semi-autobiographical show follows a mom in an IG world struggling to keep her sanity in the midst of opposing social and cultural values. Should you be a tiger, helicopter, crunchy, scrunchie mom or none of the above? And how do we keep up with the Joneses while keeping our head above water in our inherited sense of identity?

A physical and comedic show that takes raw and honest look at personal migrant heritage and the struggle to meet modern expectations of motherhood.

YOU ARE AFRICAN FIRST BEFORE ANYTHING

PRESENTED BY STEELACTS PRODUCTIONS
19 MARCH, 7PM, £13 | £11

"Remember you are African first before anything," wise words from Chile's mother. They could communicate better, but will she listen? Mum's word is final.

A mother and daughter with opposing perspectives on life. The old vs. the new. You Are African First Before Anything highlights the strained relationship between a British Nigerian Woman in her mid 20's and her very traditional mother, exploring marriage, customs and feminism.

BARELY VISIBLE

PRESENTED BY ROWENA GANDER
31 MARCH, 7:45PM, £13 | £11

Lesbians are dirty, aren't they?

With incredible strength, a pole and a lot of humour, this powerful solo performance explores identity, objectification and what it is to be a gay, 'barely visible' woman in a raw and physical journey of empowerment.

With elements of physical theatre, pole and contemporary dance, Rowena Gander and acclaimed physical theatre director Elinor Randle, bring playfulness, authenticity, and boldness to this mesmerising work.

RAUCOUS

PRESENTED BY DISCOLAND
31 MARCH, 9PM, £10

Fresh from sell-out Paradise Garage and Misfit Cabaret, it's Discoland's first comedy night. Exclusively female-identifying and non-binary comedians taking the stage, in this night of laughs.

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