Embrace brings a darkly tender gay play to Omnibus Theatre for one night only

Five gay men enter an orgy and something else entirely begins at Omnibus Theatre this July

Embrace, directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair, plays Omnibus Theatre Clapham for one night only on 12 July. A darkly tender queer play about desire, shame, loss and the need to not feel alone.

Five gay strangers arrive at the same address on the same night. One orgy. Six men who do not know each other and everything they have not said to anyone. What begins as awkward, playful and familiar starts to crack open.

Presented by Glitter Bloke Productions and directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair, whose work has been central to British queer theatre and screen for three decades, Embrace is a play that is not really about the orgy at all.

Each character arrives carrying something. A couple trying to save their relationship by opening it up. A young man still hiding from his family. Someone returning to sex after something that changed him. The older host, whose intentions become less clear as the night goes on. Boundaries blur, tensions rise and the room cracks open. Beneath the surface something deeper is unfolding that none of them fully understand until it is too late to ignore.

The play is about shame and survival, about how people carry loss and look for connection in unexpected places, about the quiet human need to not feel alone.

The cast is Billy Bowness as Todd, John Carter as Kieron, Rhys Hopkins as Noah, Jacob Partali as Dominic, Evan Reynolds as James and Theo Speare as Ethan.

One night only. 12 July at 7pm, Omnibus Theatre, 1 Clapham Common Northside, SW4 0QW. Running time 60 minutes. Age recommendation 15 and above.

Tickets - £10 with Flicker's code PRIDEMONTH at omnibus-clapham.org.