The Lyric, Hammersmith, has announced its autumn '05/spring '06 season,
the first under new artistic director David Farr.
Farr came to the Lyric from Bristol Old Vic, where he was joint artistic
director with Simon Reade, having previously been artistic director
at the Gate in Notting Hill, where he commissioned Sarah Kane's Phaedra's
Love. He has also worked at the National Theatre (The
UN Inspector)and the RSC (Coriolanus,
starring Greg Hicks).
"The Lyric is a place where large audiences of all ages and backgrounds
get to see some of the most innovative theatre being made in Britain
today," he says. "I want to build on that reputation. I want
to tell classic stories which have a universal appeal, but are told
in an explosively theatrical way. I want the Lyric to make more of its
own shows. I want to create a body of new work that pushes the boundaries
of what theatre can do. I want to work with the best theatre makers
- from writers and performers, to circus artists and video artists.
And I want to ensure that these shows, whilst innovative and pioneering,
appeal to a large audience, some of whom will not be regular theatre-goers.
Cutting-edge, intelligent work that is joyfully welcoming."
2 September - 15 October
Lyric Hammersmith
Julius Caesar
By William Shakespeare
By arrangement with the Royal Shakespeare Company
Caesar's tyrannical rule of Rome divides the city, the senators and
his friends. His assassination sends the people into warring factions
as the city descends into bloody civil chaos.
David Farr opens his first season at Lyric Hammersmith with his acclaimed
21 strong production of Julius Caesar. The show, originally
produced for the Royal Shakespeare Company, has already been a huge
success around the UK and in the USA. This will be the first opportunity
for London audiences to see this characteristically ambitious show
by David Farr. Set in an emerging and fragile democracy, this large-scale
contemporary production resonates with today's conflicts in the ex-Soviet
republics.
"I am very proud of this vivid, muscular and imaginative production
by David Farr and delighted that at the start of his artistic directorship
we are reaffirming our relationship with the Lyric Hammersmith".
Michael Boyd, Artistic Director, Royal Shakespeare Company.
19 - 29 October
Lyric Hammersmith and LIFT present
Young @ Heart Chorus
Road to Nowhere
Staged by No Theater
This extraordinary 28-strong company, who range in age from 73 to
92, take the music of their children and grandchildren's generation
and sing it like you've never heard sung it before. From The Beatles
and The Rolling Stones to Radiohead and Outkast, they dispel the myth
that the 'golden years' are spent gardening, playing bingo and cruising
round the Med.
This is Young @ Heart's long awaited second visit to the UK - in
2000 Lyric Hammersmith and LIFT (London International Festival of
Theatre) collaborated to bring their show, Road to Heaven,
to London, when it sold out before opening night. These will be the
only performances of Road to Heaven anywhere in the world this year.
A co-production by the Rotterdamse Schouwburg, LIFT - London International
Festival of Theatre and Lyric Hammersmith with additional support
from Hebbel Theater, Berlin and Brugge 2002. Young @ Heart is supported
by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the National Endowment for
the Arts.
1 - 26 November
Shared Experience in association with Guildford's Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
and Lyric Hammersmith
Brontë
By Polly Teale
Brontë chronicles the story of the three Brontë
sisters and their brother Bramwell. Set in 1845, it begins when Bramwell
returns home in disgrace. Plagued by alcohol and drug addiction, he
has been dismissed from domestic service following an affair with
the mistress of the house. As their brother descends into alcoholism
and insanity, bringing chaos to the household, the sisters write.
Polly Teale has worked on this piece with the renowned artist Paula
Rego on a series of images for Brontë that form one of
the creative starting points for the production. Portuguese-born Paula
Rego became the first Associate Artist of the National Gallery in
London in 1990. She also produced a mural in the Sainsbury Wing of
the gallery in 1991, and has exhibited in the Saatchi Gallery and
Tate Britain.
2 December - 14 January
Lyric Hammersmith
The Magic Carpet
By Ben Hopkins / Stage version by Ben Hopkins and David Farr
Continuing the Lyric Christmas show tradition, The Magic Carpet
is an epic production full of magic, music and thrilling theatricality,
and, like all classic works, has a genuine moral and emotional drive.
Arabia - a very long time ago, a long way away. Two adventurous young
thieves, Miloshin and Zhitva, meet while trying to steal the magnificent
treasure of the Sultan of Arabia. So begins an epic journey of adventure
as the pair team up and set off across the desert to sell their loot
and make a fortune. Amongst the treasure is the ring of Solomon, a
jewel of immense magical power. If it were to fall into the wrong
hands it could destroy the world. The dark and terrifying wizard Du-Shou
wants the ring . . . and is prepared to kill to get it! Only Miloshin
and Zhitta's cunning and bravery can save the world from destruction.
Oh, and a certain dusty old carpet . . .
20 January - 18 February
Lyric Hammersmith and Bristol Old Vic in association with Kneehigh
Theatre
Nights at the Circus
Based on the novel by Angela Carter
A new adaptation by Tom Morris and Emma Rice
Emma Rice, Artistic Director of Kneehigh Theatre whose recent productions
include the remarkable Tristan
and Yseult (National Theatre) and The
Bacchae (Lyric Hammersmith) adapts and directs one of the
most critically acclaimed novels of the twentieth century.
One of David Farr's first acts as the new Artistic Director of the
Lyric was to ask Emma Rice to create a new show for the Lyric. Her
response was to suggest that she create the first ever stage version
of Angela Carter's mythic novel Nights at the Circus - a fabulous,
erotic work that appears virtually impossible to stage!
24 February - 1 April
Lyric Hammersmith
The Odyssey
A retelling by David Farr after Homer
A bedraggled and desperate stranger is washed up on the shores of
a great city. Challenged by two immigration officers, he claims to
be Odysseus, sacker of Troy.
Originally created 'in the round' for Bristol
Old Vic, David Farr is radically re-working The Odyssey
for the Lyric, its proscenium stage and its young, diverse audience.
He brings Homer's great epic crashing into the twenty first century
by setting it within a contemporary regime of asylum and immigration
controls.
Ensemble acting, live music (from Kneehigh's Stu Barker) and puppetry
combine to tell the story of one of history's most enduring heroes,
who won a war but lost everything in his search for home.
