New Old Red Lion artistic director launches first season

New artistic director Stewart Pringle has announced his inaugural season at the Old Red Lion Theatre, with ambitions to be "unpredictable, loud and constantly surprising".

The season kicks off with a new revival of Philip Ridley's Piranha Heights, which premiered at the Soho Theatre in 2008. The "pre-apocalyptic" play is directed by Max Barton and will open on 11 November 2014, running until 6 December.

December features two Christmas shows. The main evening slot will be taken by Ross Howard's panto Charming: A Fascicle Fairytale, which will be followed in the late slot by a new revival of Neil Bartlett's take on Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Charming runs from 9 December 2014 til 3 January 2015, A Christmas Carol joining it from 11 December 2014.

The new year kicks off with the world premiere of Ella Carmen Greenhill’s new play Made in Britain (6-11 January 2015), which tells the story of "two lost souls who find common ground in a world that denies them a voice".

Next up is the London premiere of Dhanil Ali’s The Liz and Dick Show (13-31 January), centring on the story of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s disintegrating relationship, which premiered at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe.

And rounding off the season is the world premiere of Mark Stone's comedy Lardo (3-28 March), telling the "tragic" story of a "wannabe wrestler determined to hit the big-time in Scotland’s Tartan Wrestling Madness".

"The Old Red Lion has always been so much more than just a theatre above a pub, but I want to take that even further," Pringle said today.

"I want it to be unpredictable, loud and constantly surprising. I'm so excited to see it transform into a run-down flat at the edge of the apocalypse, a Christmas wonderland and a wrestling pit spattered with lager and tonic wine."

Look out for our 'Changing of the Guard' interview with Stewart Pringle