Lyric Hammersmith Theatre to reopen with triple bill of new plays

Lyric Hammersmith Theatre will reopen with a three-part new piece, Out West.

Featuring texts by three writers – Roy Williams, Tanika Gupta and Simon Stephens, Out West will run from 18 June to 24 July, while also being available to stream online.

Gupta's piece, The Overseas Student, is set towards the end of the 19th century and follows a young Mohandas K Gandhi as he arrives in the UK to study law. Stephens' Blue water and cold and fresh follows a man coming to terms with his father's racism, while Williams' Go Girl concerns female resilience, celebrating Black women and everyday heroism.

The creative team will feature directors Rachel O'Riordan (who is also artistic director of the venue) and Diane Page, with set and costume design by Soutra Gilmour, lighting design by Jessica Hung Han Yun and composition and sound design by Simon Slater. Poet Zia Ahmed will lead a new writing workshop to create work to coincide with the season.

O'Riordan said today: ""Out West is the production that reopens our doors after the enforced closure due to the pandemic. The three writers, Tanika Gupta, Simon Stephens and Roy Williams, are some of the most exciting voices in British theatre and I am so proud that they are sharing our stage and bringing the Lyric back to life. All three plays speak to our current moment; questions of race, geography, identity, belonging and hope run through all three. Theatre has the power to move, to challenge and to entertain. It is also the medium through which, for centuries, human beings have attempted to understand each other and the world around us. I cannot think of a more necessary moment for theatre than now. I look forward, with co-director Diane Page, to sharing Out West with you. We are back. We are here."

The show will operate with socially distanced seating for the entirety of the run.