Omnibus

Omnibus Theatre's 96 Festival is named after the year when Clapham Common hosted an epic Pride party. Each summer, a host of queer theatremakers and performers keep that spirit alive by filling a leftfield, affordable line-up of new shows. This year's edition is typically eclectic. Check out queer improv show 'Hell Yeah!' (June 26), join a Wicked sing-a-long (June 27) or make for Joseph Aldous' debut 'Get Happy' (July 1-12), about a 30-year-old fighting to have a hot gay summer against all the odds.

Omnibus Theatre’s 96 Festival has proven to be rich territory for coming across new LGBTQ+ writing, and its headline one-man show ‘Get Happy’ is very much worth discovering. After a previous stint at The Plesance Theatre, this intriguing debut from Joseph Aldous, sees the writer-actor play Adam, who is fully embedded in a hot gay summer of partying, sex and directionless, but enjoyable, hedonism. That’s until his best friend and housemate, Ryan, gets engaged to his boyfriend and quips to his friend: “You will find it too. You will be happy!” Suddenly, about to turn 30, Adam starts to reassess his life without a stable job, a boyfriend, or any real clue about what he’s doing. Can he be just as seemingly happy, settled and secure as Ryan? Written with the Soho Writers’ Lab and packed with a playlist of queer bangers, this debut show is an exploration of queer happiness that navigates the thorny question: how do we ‘get happy’ when we don’t actually know what it looks like?