Toyah Willcox to star in new season at Lyric Hammersmith

The Lyric Hammersmith has announced its 2018 season with highlights including a new stage adaptation of Derek Jarman's punk film Jubilee.

The new season will kick off with Frantic Assembly's Thing I Know To Be True, which returns to the venue following an acclaimed run last year.

Then from 20 February to 10 March, Toyah Willcox will star in a new staging of Derek Jarman's seminal film, Jubilee, adapted and directed by Chris Goode. Wilcox starred in the original film about the height of punk, forty years later the piece has been remixed for the social and political turmoil of 2017. The Royal Exchange, Lyric Hammersmith and Chris Goode & Company co-production will see the Lyric's main house reconfigured to recreate the Royal Exchange's theatre-in-the-round.

This will be followed by Sean Holmes‘ production of Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars (20 March to 7 April), a story of ordinary lives amid the tumult of the Easter Rising, ripped apart by the idealism of the time.

Then the Royal Opera’s award-winning operatic production of Sarah Kane‘s 4.48 Psychosis will be revived from 24 April to 4 May. Philip Venables‘ operatic adaptation – sung in English – was directed by Ted Huffman at the Lyric last year and went on to win the award for Achievement in Opera at the 2016 UK Theatre Awards.

Renowned choreographer Hofesh Shechter then presents a double-bill of his black comic Clowns and a new piece, performed by his Shechter II company of young dancers (8 to 12 May).

After its premiere at the Manchester International Festival earlier this year, Simon Stephens, Karl Hyde and Scott Graham's Fatherland runs from 31 May to 23 June. Co-commissioned by the Lyric with MIF, Frantic Assembly, the Royal Exchange and LIFT, Fatherland is a verbatim piece about fatherhood in all its complexities and contradictions.

Later next year, Holmes and Jude Christian will direct o t h e l l o m a c b e t h (10 October to 3 November), a new condensed staging of Shakespeare's two plays, performed as one production.

On the new season, artistic director Holmes said: "It’s a real pleasure to announce such a vibrant and provocative season. Punk rebellion, Irish revolt, ground-breaking opera, electrifying dance, Shakespeare doubled and Frantic Assembly at their best make for a rich and compelling Lyric season: one that promotes emerging talent and celebrates the artistic benefits of collaboration in all its forms."