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The Omnibus becomes Macbeth’s bunker and final refuge in this promenade performance which draws local landmarks, including Clapham Common, into the landscape of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. Performed both indoors and outdoors from 11th – 29th November, the audience travel with the action in this atmospheric production.



The performance concept was partly inspired by archive photographs of Clapham Common taken shortly after World War II, when pre-fab buildings and allotments occupied local public spaces in a bid to alleviate the devastation of the war. Created through close collaboration between director Gemma Kerr and designer Lorna Ritchie, the performance incorporates a sense of this utilitarianism to consider what the area would be like if it had had a different history, using both existing and constructed monuments to draw the audience into the world of this classic text.

Director Gemma Kerr said: “I was very struck by the nature of conflict in Macbeth, the relentlessness of this and the sense that even the peace at the end of the play doesn’t feel entirely true or redemptive. We knew we wanted to create a piece of promenade theatre using the Common, and so we began to think about what real disruption would look like in this area which is eminently civilised. The play explores a lot about what it means to be a soldier and what it means to be a human, and the personal journey of many of the characters through the play is related to this. Morality and ethics are held up to scrutiny without the play feeling like it’s beating you over the head about what’s ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. This ambiguity is one of the most intriguing aspects of the play for me.”


Jennifer Jackson (Lady Macbeth) and Gregory Finnegan (Macbeth)
image by Tom Parker

Omnibus opened in 2013 following a seven-year campaign to save the Old Clapham library building from redevelopment and was designated as an iconic new designation for the arts in Lambeth.


November 5, 2014