The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre today announces its 2019/2020 programme of work, Rachel O’Riordan’s inaugural season as Artistic Director:
· A Doll’s House: A new version of Ibsen’s play by Tanika Gupta and directed by Rachel O’Riordan – her first show as the Lyric’s Artistic Director, with Niru – Nora in the original– played by Anjana Vasan (Summer and Smoke).
· Solaris: co-produced with Malthouse Theatre Melbourne and The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, the Lyric presents a new play by David Greig, adapted from the cult science fiction novel by Stanislaw Lem.
· Cinderella: Panto returns for 2019, written by Jude Christian and directed by Tinuke Craig. Featuring the Lyric Ensemble.
· Love, Love, Love: Rachel O’Riordan directs Mike Bartlett’s award-winning play.
· Sophocles’ Antigone: The Burial at Thebes: Roy Alexander Weise (Nine Night) directs a new production of Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney’s translation. The Chorus will be played by the Lyric Ensemble.
· The Beauty Queen of Leenane: Headlining the Autumn 2020 season, Rachel O’Riordan directs Martin McDonagh’s darkly comic play.
· In collaboration with Headlong, the Lyric announces a long-term aspiration to commission and produce work of scale by women playwrights for the Lyric Main House and UK touring, with the first production in January 2020.
· The Lyric announces new Artistic Associates team: Stuart Burt (Casting Director); Tinuke Craig (Director); Phillip McMahon (Playwright and Director); Nina Steiger (Dramaturg) and Simon Stephens (Playwright).
· 30,000 tickets in the season are £15 or under, with 5000 of these completely through the Lyric’s community ticket schemes such as Free First Night.
· Continuing the Lyric’s commitment to reducing its impact on the environment, e-tickets are introduced for all Main House shows.
· The Little Lyric Autumn Season, for audiences aged under 11 years, is announced, including the return of Raymond Brigg’s Father Christmas, along with the new sponsor of Little Lyric shows and classes, The Collective.
· The Lyric continues its commitment to nurturing the next generation of artists with the Lyric Ensemble and Evolution Festival.
· Priority booking for Lyric Friends and Supporters opens today, 21 May 2019, with public booking opening at 9am on Friday 24 May.
Speaking about her first season at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, Artistic Director Rachel O’Riordan said:
“I’m delighted to be announcing my inaugural season as Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. I am very proud to be here. We have a stunning 590 seat Frank Matcham designed Main House and will produce plays that celebrate our unique theatre in the heart of Hammersmith. Today we announce seven new productions by exceptional playwrights including reimagined classics, contemporary plays and bold new work; these plays are as dynamic and varied as our audience.
My first play as director is a bold new version of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House by the award-winning West-London born Tanika Gupta. Tanika sets the play in Calcutta, 1879, using the themes of the play to explore British colonialism, in a radical reframing of this classic text. Playing the lead role of Niru, Nora in the original, will be Anjana Vasan, who was compelling in Summer and Smoke. I’m really looking forward to working with her, Tanika, and designer Lily Arnold, to bring a new perspective to this iconic play. An element of my vision for the Lyric is rooted in reimagining classic texts; putting the interpretation of them in the hands of artists (writers and directors) whose voice brings new perspective.
Collaboration will be a vital part of the Lyric’s work. Our first co-production will be with The Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh and Malthouse in Melbourne, with David Greig’s Solaris. I’m also delighted that we today announce a new partnership with Headlong, focused on commissioning and producing major new work of scale by women writers, both on the Lyric Main House stage before the UK. Our first production together will be in January 2020. I am excited to see the great work that will come from these ambitious plans that we are making together.
Christmas at the Lyric is a magical time. Our panto is such an important event for our community, and I’m thrilled that Jude Christian returns to write Cinderella. She will be joined by Tinuke Craig for her Lyric - and panto - directing debut, and members of our Lyric Ensemble in their first professional Main House production - an opportunity which has become the springboard for many young people into a career in theatre.
At the heart of the vision for the Lyric is great writing, giving our audiences the opportunity to see work by extraordinary playwrights. I’m very excited that in spring I will direct Mike Bartlett’s Love, Love, Love in a major new revival. Bartlett’s play addresses intergenerational conflict with sharp humour and political precision; I can’t wait to see how audiences now will respond to the themes he addresses with such bold theatricality and skill.
Nobel Prize winning poet Seamus Heaney’s The Burial at Thebes, translated from Sophocles’ Antigone, is a powerful and immediate text. Pairing this great work with powerhouse director Roy Alexander Weise will take this text into thrilling new territory. This large scale, ambitious production in the spring of 2020 will also include performers from the Lyric Ensemble, playing the pivotal role of Chorus.
In autumn 2020, I am delighted to say that Martin McDonagh’s ground- breaking, wave- making The Beauty Queen of Leenane is our headline show. This is a play I have wanted to direct for many years - its black humour and acute observations on rural Ireland are both hilarious and disturbing. It is a fascinating and compelling study of dysfunctional mother/ daughter love and is, rightfully, a modern classic. I can’t wait for its West London debut on our beautiful stage.
Today we also announce our new team of Artistic Associates. Continuing their association with the Lyric, Simon Stephens and Stuart Burt are joined by our new Associates; Tinuke Craig, Nina Steiger, and Phillip McMahon.
Join us for world class theatre from the heart of Hammersmith.”
Executive Director of the Lyric Hammersmith Sian Alexander said:
“We want the widest possible audience to enjoy the world class theatre that we make and for the Lyric to be open to everyone who wants to come and experience the work on our stages. I am therefore delighted that we are announcing today that there will be over 30, 000 tickets available this season for our Main House productions for £15 or under. 5000 of these tickets will be free tickets offered through our community ticket programmes to people who live, work or go to school in Hammersmith and Fulham. Most importantly these tickets are for some of the best seats in the theatre.
Little Lyric continues to delight our youngest audiences providing their first introduction to theatre and last year we welcomed more than 25,000 children and their families to our Studio programme. Today we announce a new season of autumn shows including regular Saturday performances, for October Half Term Lost and Found based on the popular book by Oliver Jeffers and from November the return of perennial favourite Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas. I’m also pleased to announce the support of West London-based company The Collective Dairy, who will be sponsoring our Little Lyric shows and classes for under 11s.
Building on our work to reduce our environmental impact, from this Autumn, audiences will have the option to use E-tickets for all our Main House shows. This year we have been awarded the highest 5 Star Creative Green certification by Julie’s Bicycle as well as a local business award, and The Stage Award for Sustainability. Ensuring audiences have the option of E-tickets is part of our fight against the climate emergency.
Young people are at the heart of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and nurturing a new diverse generation of theatre artists is central to our work. We want talented young people from all backgrounds to have viable pathways into our industry and to develop their skills and own artistic practice.
I’m therefore incredibly excited for the new opportunity we will offer this season for our Lyric Ensemble of young performers age 18 – 25 to perform professionally in the Main House as the Chorus in The Burial at Thebes. Each year, as part of their training our Ensemble works with an up and coming theatre director to create their own show in our Studio Theatre each summer. I’m delighted to announce that this year’s Ensemble show director will be Abigail Graham.
Our festival for young emerging artists, Evolution, will return in Spring 2020. Today we are announcing the inaugural winner of The Bill Cashmore Award 2019 is Eve Cowley whose show Screwdriver will headline Evolution 2020. This newly established award, worth £10,000, will support the winner’s professional development and the creation of their new show.
‘World class theatre, cheap tickets, opportunities for all – everyone’s welcome at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre this season.’
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MAIN HOUSE PRODUCTIONS
A Doll’s House
A Lyric Hammersmith Theatre Production.
A New Version by Tanika Gupta based on the play by Henrik Ibsen
Directed by Rachel O’Riordan
Designed by Lily Arnold
Friday 06 September – Saturday 05 October 2019
Press Performance: Wednesday 11 September, 7pm
Calcutta. 1879.
Niru, is a young Bengali woman in a mixed-race marriage with an English colonial bureaucrat - Tom.
Tom loves Niru, exoticising her as a frivolous plaything to be admired and kept. But Niru has a long-kept secret. And just as she thinks she is almost free of it, it threatens to bring her life crashing down around her.
Tanika Gupta reimagines Ibsen’s classic play of gender politics through the lens of British colonialism, offering a bold, female perspective exploring themes of ownership and race.
Rachel O’Riordan makes her directorial debut as Artistic Director of the Lyric, in a production that gives new urgency to the forces that drive our heroine to choose between society’s expectations and her own identity.
Cast includes Anjana Vasan as Niru. Further casting to be announced.
Solaris
A Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, Malthouse Theatre Melbourne and The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh Production.
A new play by David Greig adapted from Stanislaw Lem’s novel
Directed by Matthew Lutton
Designed by Hyemi Shin
Thursday 10 October – Saturday 02 November 2019
Press Performance: Monday 14 October, 7pm
On a space station orbiting Solaris, three scientists have made contact with a new planet.
Sent from earth to investigate reports of abnormal activity on-board, Kris Kelvin arrives to find one crew member dead and two who are seeing things that cannot be explained.
When her dead lover appears to her, it seems she too has fallen victim to the mystery of this strange planet. Should she return to reality, or is this her chance to turn back time?
Have the crew been studying Solaris - or has it been studying them? This psychological thriller asks who we are when we’re forced to confront our deepest fears.
David Greig adapts Stanisław Lem’s cult science fiction novel for the stage. Our international co-production arrives at the Lyric direct from The Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh and Melbourne, Australia.
Casting to be announced.
Cinderella
A Lyric Hammersmith Theatre Production.
Written by Jude Christian
Directed by Tinuke Craig
Designed by Frankie Bradshaw
Saturday 16 November 2019 – Sunday 05 January 2020
Press Performance: Saturday 23 November, 6pm
Polish your glass slippers, dust off your carriage and join us as the clock strikes midnight for the Fairy Godmother of pantomimes, Cinderella. Expect the usual Lyric twist on Wicked Stepmothers, Ugly Stepsisters, pumpkins, mice and more.
You shall go to the ball with this festive fairy tale treat. Word has it that if you leave it too late to book, you might turn into a pumpkin…
Jude Christian returns to write Cinderella following the success of last year’s panto Dick Whittington. She will be joined by director Tinuke Craig for her Lyric and panto debut, and members of the Lyric Ensemble in their first professional main stage production – an opportunity that has launched the careers of many young people in theatre.
Casting to be announced.
Love, Love, Love
A Lyric Hammersmith Theatre production.
By Mike Bartlett
Directed by Rachel O’Riordan
Thursday 5 March – Saturday 4 April 2020
Press performance: Wednesday 11 March, 7pm
It’s 1967. The Beatles are performing All You Need Is Love on global TV for the very first time. Kenneth and Sandra meet.
Love Love Love, charts one couple’s journey forty years from the era of free love to the beginning of the 21st Century. Smoking, drinking, affectionate and paranoid, Kenneth and Sandra build their life and family together in a time of increasing national prosperity, when the future is always better than the past.
Now they’re retired and their children grown, but why hasn’t it all worked out the way they thought? What happens when the children you think you’ve done everything for, believe you haven’t done enough?
A family go to war over their personal politics in Mike Bartlett’s funny and scathing look at the opposing values of two very different generations.
Rachel O’Riordan directs a major revival of this award-winning play that’s now more relevant than ever.
Sophocles’ Antigone
The Burial At Thebes
A Lyric Hammersmith Theatre production.
Translated by Seamus Heaney
Directed by Roy Alexander Weise
Saturday 18 April – Saturday 27 June 2020
Press performance: Thursday 23 April, 7pm
The war has ended. Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, learns her brothers are dead. Forced onto opposing sides, they have killed each other in battle.
When Creon, King of Thebes, grants the honour of a burial to one but not the other, Antigone and her sister must choose where their loyalties lie.
This epic tale of humanity versus leadership centres on a young woman with the courage to defend her beliefs - whatever the cost.
Roy Alexander Weise directs Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney’s bold translation of Sophocles’ Antigone, in a large scale production featuring a chorus of young performers from the Lyric Ensemble.
The Beauty Queen of Leenane
A Lyric Hammersmith Theatre production.
By Martin McDonagh
Directed by Rachel O’Riordan
Autumn 2020 – Dates to be announced.
Set in the mountains of Connemara, County Galway, The Beauty Queen of Leenane tells the darkly comic tale of Maureen Folan, a plain, lonely woman in her early forties, and Mag, her manipulative ageing mother, whose interference in Maureen’s first and possibly final chance of a loving relationship sets in motion a train of events that leads inexorably towards the play’s final breathtaking conclusion.
Rachel O’Riordan directs a major London revival of this award-winning play by Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; The Lieutenant of Inishmore).
Partnership with Headlong
The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre embarks on a new partnership with Headlong Theatre, who together make a shared plan to commission and produce major new work of scale from women writers for the Lyric Main House stage and for touring across the UK. The first production will be performed at the Lyric in January 2020.
Young People at the Lyric
The Lyric continues its work as a sector leader in developing pathways into the arts for talented young people from a wide range of backgrounds:
The Lyric Ensemble
The Lyric Ensemble are a group of 15 -20 emerging performers, age 18 – 25 that make their home at the Lyric for nine months. In that time they work with some of the most exciting theatre professionals in the UK, taking masterclasses in performance, movement, text, design and personal development.
The first Lyric Ensemble was led by director Anne-Louise Sarks and produced their first production Abandon to critical acclaim in June 2018. This year’s Ensemble are working with director Holly Race Roughan to create a new show in the Lyric Studio for June 2019. Over 90% of past Ensemble members have gone on to secure places at drama school and universities including scholarships and bursaries, to secure agents, or to produce their own work, proving the success of the scheme as a way for young people from different backgrounds to take their first steps into a career that was previously closed to them.
For 2019/2020 the Lyric are further expanding the opportunities for the Lyric Ensemble to perform on the Main House stage: in the Autumn Ensemble members will perform in Cinderella and in the spring in the pivotal role of the Chorus in Roy Alexander Weise’s new production of Sophocles’ Antigone: The Burial of Thebes. They will also develop their own show with director Abigail Graham, which will be presented in the Lyric Studio in Summer 2020,
The Lyric Ensemble programme is generously supported by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation and the McGrath Charitable Trust.
Evolution Festival
Evolution Festival, the Lyric’s annual celebration of young artists, returns for its 4th edition/year in Spring 2020. The headline show, commissioned especially for the Festival, will be supported by the newly established Bill Cashmore Award.
Bill Cashmore (1961 - 2017) was an English actor and playwright, as well as director and co-founder of the organisation Actors in Industry. The Bill Cashmore Award has been set up in Bill's memory by his family and friends to support an emerging artist to develop their work at the Lyric over the course of a year. The annual award, worth £10,000, will run for the next 3 years to support the professional development of a young artist and the rehearsal and development of a 'scratch' idea into a show to headline that year’s Evolution Festival.
Each year as part of the Evolution Festival young artists present ‘scratch’ performances of work they want to develop. From last year’s scratches, 5 artists were selected and through mini-residencies given the opportunity and support to develop their work further at the Lyric. These artists then shared work in progress with the Award Panel, which included Rachel O’Riordan, who selected the recipient of this year’s Award.
The inaugural winner of the Bill Cashmore Award for 2019 is Eve Cowley and her show Screwdriver. Eve is a theatre maker and performer from Yorkshire, who studied at Sheffield University. She works collaboratively with artists from various disciplines to make new work, placing women’s stories at the centre and has recently performed at Sheffield Theatres, HOME,The Royal Exchange, and The New Diorama, all in productions she has co-created. She is joined on the project by director Elin Schofield, a director and theatre maker from Manchester, who has been part of the Royal Court Writers’ Group and is currently the Young Company Director at Sheffield Theatres.
