Theatre News

Lyric Hammersmith announces new season

A European premiere of a new play by Matthew Whittet and this year’s pantomime have both been announced

Artist's impression of the redeveloped Lyric Hammersmith
Artist's impression of the redeveloped Lyric Hammersmith

The Lyric Theatre Hammersmith's new season will feature a new UK production of Matthew Whittet's play Seventeen directed by Anne-Louise Sarks.

The piece is a play about teenagers on the cusp of adulthood with the teenagers played by a cast of septuagenarians. It will be the first time Seventeen has played in Europe.

Elsewhere in the season, the theatre's annual pantomime will be Aladdin, which will run between 19 November and 7 January. The theatre is also host to Duncan Macmillan's new adaptation of City of Glass, which will open at HOME in Manchester and is the first ever stage adaptation of one of Paul Auster's novels in the UK. City of Glass runs 20 April to 13 May.

Fantastic Mr Fox, which is a co-production with Nuffield and Curve, will also arrive at the Lyric on 25 January and run to 19 February. The show has been adapted for the stage by Sam Holcroft in time for the Roald Dahl centenary this year. Maria Aberg directs the show and Arthur Darvill has composed the music.

The Lyric Hammersmith’s artistic director Sean Holmes said: "True to our unique vein of bold and eclectic programming that crosses from large scale family theatre to hard hitting contemporary drama, I’m delighted to announce three ambitious new productions for spring '17.

"Each individual show pushes at the boundaries of theatre in different ways, bringing together world class creative teams in national and international collaborations. Together these shows will entertain, provoke and challenge our audiences in classic Lyric style."