A new play by Chris Bush, Faustus: That Damned Woman, will première at Lyric Hammersmith and at Birmingham REP before touring the UK.
The play is the first work to be commissioned as part of Headlong and the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre’s long-term commitment to commissioning and producing work of scale by women playwrights.
Drawing on the works of Marlowe, Goethe and other versions of the Faustus myth, Bush’s reimagining asks what we must sacrifice to achieve greatness and change the course of history.
Chris Bush’s writing includes Steel in 2019 and Standing at the Sky’s Edge, a collaboration with musician Richard Hawley in 2018, both at the Crucible Theatre Sheffield, The Assassination of Katie Hopkins for Theatr Clwyd and a new version of Shakespeare’s Pericles for the National Theatre, both in 2018.
Caroline Byrne directs. Her work includes All’s Well That Ends Well in the Sam Wanamaker Theatre at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2018 and The Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2016.
Set designer is Ana Inés Jabares-Pita, costume designer Line Bech, lighting designer Richard Howell, sound and composition designer Giles Thomas and video and projection designer Ian William Galloway.
Faustus: That Damned Woman will have its world première at Lyric Hammersmith from 22 January until 22 February 2020 before playing at Birmingham REP from 26 February until 7 March. The production will then tour to Bristol Old Vic, Leeds Playhouse and Northern Stage.