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Lyric Hammersmith stages O'Neill's Desire & Stephens' Morning

The Lyric Hammersmith has announced its autumn/winter lineup today, leading with a revival of a harrowing American classic by Eugene O’Neill, and the London premiere of Morning by Simon Stephens.

The season runs from September 2012 to February 2013, featuring the return of old favourites, including Kafka’s Metamorphosis and panto classic Cinderella, backed up with a host of shows aimed at children.

Returning to the venue following 2008’s Pornography and this year’s Three Kingdoms, Simon Stephens’ new play Morning will open the season. Running from 4 to 22 September 2012 following its premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe and directed by the Lyric’s artistic director Sean Holmes, it’s a coming-of-age story for young performers laced with the “strange savagery” of Stephens’ rhythmic dialogue.

Holmes also takes the helm of O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms, from 8 October 2012 (previews from 3 October). The Nobel Prize winner’s lesser-seen opus reworks the Greek tragedy of Hippolytus to the unsettling scenery of rural New England.

Returning for its third season at the Lyric, Metamorphosis returns for a limited run in January. Having previously been seen in 2006 and 2008, the Vesturport Theatre production marks the 100th anniversary of Kafka’s original story. Directed by David Farr and Iceland’s Gísli Örn Garšarsson, the archetypal tale of transformation is down for a limited run from 17 January to 9 February 2013.

Family theatre flourishes in turn this season, with an adaptation of Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas presented by Pins and Needles Productions, which enjoys a festive run from 30 November to 5 January, shored up by a substantial children’s season featuring Rumpelstiltskin, Grimm Tales and Dumbshow’s acclaimed Clockheart Boy.

As previously reported, the Lyric’s now-annual panto returns from 1 December to 5 January (previews from 24 November). Cinderella will be written by Joel Horwood and Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, directed by Sean Holmes and star Julie Atherton in the title role alongside Steven Webb as Buttons.

- by Kieran Corcoran

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