Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith)

Lyric Hammersmith

Lyric Hammersmith in 2009
Address	King Street London United Kingdom
Coordinates
Owner	Lyric Theatre Hammersmith Limited
Capacity	550 (Main House) 110 (Studio)
Construction
Opened	1895
Rebuilt	1979
Architect	1895 Frank Matcham, 2004-2015 Rick Mather Architects
Website
lyric.co.uk

The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre in King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions.

The Lyric Theatre was built in 1895 by the English theatrical architect Frank Matcham, on a site located further up King Street from its current position. In 1966 the theatre was due to be closed and demolished, but after a successful campaign it was dismantled and re-built piece by piece on its current site close to the original location. The new theatre reopened in 1979.

It has two main performance areas: the Main House, a 550-seat 19th-century auditorium maintaining the original design which hosts its main productions; and the 120-seat Studio, which houses smaller productions by up-and-coming companies. The Lyric also presents frequent Lyric Children and Lyric Music performances as well as Sunday Night Comedy.

Its current artistic director is Sean Holmes, and its executive director is Jessica Hepburn.

The Lyric has recently gone through a major re-development project, with new facilities for young people and the local community completed in 2015, designed by Rick Mather Architects.

In 2011, the Lyric won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for Sean Holmes' production of Sarah Kane's Blasted.

Five strands

The Lyric’s programme is divided into five strands:

• Main House
• Studio
• Music & Comedy
• Lyric Children
• Lyric Young Company

Production history

(Source: the Lyric official website)

• Secret Theatre, 2013
• Steptoe and Son produced by Kneehigh Theatre, 2013
• Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, adapted by Gísli Örn Garðarsson and David Farr, 2013
• Alice by Heart by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, 2012
• Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs, adapted by Pins and Needles Productions, 2012
• Cinderella by Joel Horwood and Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, 2012
• Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O'Neill, 2012
• Morning by Simon Stephens, 2012
• Three Kingdoms by Simon Stephens, 2012
• A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, 2012
• Lovesong by Abi Morgan, 2012
• Aladdin by Joel Horwood, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and Steve Marmion, 2011
• Saved by Edward Bond, 2011
• The Wild Bride created by Kneehigh Theatre, 2011
• Mogadishu by Vivienne Franzmann, 2011
• Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales, 2011
• Dick Whittington and his Cat, by Joel Horwood, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and Steve Marmion, 2010
• Blasted by Sarah Kane, 2010
• The Big Fella (21 September – 16 October 2010)
• Punk Rock by Simon Stephens, 2010
• Lifegame (7 – 17 July 2010)
• Tightrope (17 – 19 June 2010)
• A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky (7 May – 5 June 2010)
• Spymonkey's Moby Dick (20 April – 1 May 2010)
• Ghost Stories (24 February – 3 April 2010)
• Three Sisters (6 January – 20 February 2010)
• Jack and the Beanstalk (21 November 2009 – 9 January 2010
• Comedians (7 October – 14 November 2009)
• Punk Rock 2009 (3–26 September 2009)
• Spyski/The Importance of Being Ernest (3 October – 1 November 2008)
• Christmas For the Under 7s (29 November 2007 – 5 January 2008)
• Beauty and the Beast (6 – 24 November 2007)
• Casanova (16 October – 3 November 2007)
• Water (25 September – 13 October 2007)
• Rough Crossings (5 – 22 September 2007)
• The Bacchae (2 – 4 August 2007)
• Accidental Heroes (21 June – 22 July 2007)
• Angels in America: Part 2 (20 June – 22 July 2007)
• Angels in America: Part 1 (7 – 9 June 2007)
• Elegy (26 April – 26 May 2007)
• Absolute Beginners (3 – 14 April 2007)
• St George and the Dragon (13 – 31 March 2007)
• Don't Look Now (9 February – 10 March 2007)
• Ramayana (17 January – 3 February 2007)
• Cymbeline (23 November 2006 – 13 January 2007)
• Watership Down (31 October – 18 November 2006)
• pool (no water) (29 September – 28 October 2006)
• Metamorphosis (16 May – 17 June 2006)
• Aurélia's Oratorio (12 – 29 April 2006)
• The Wolves in the Walls (24 February – 1 April 2006)
• The Odyssey (20 January – 18 February 2006)
• Nights at the Circus Christmas (2 December 2005 – 14 January 2006)
• The Magic Carpet (1 – 26 November 2005)
• Brontë (19 – 29 October 2005)
• Road to Nowhere (2 September – 15 October 2005)
• Julius Caesar (30 June – 23 July 2005)
• Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others (17 June 2005)
• Asterisk (10 – 13 June 2005)
• Stars Are Out Tonight (19 April – 7 May 2005)
• Hymns (30 March – 16 April 2005)
• Aurelia's Oratorio (5 – 26 March 2005)
• Rhinoceros ( 18 February – 26 March 2005)
• A Raisin in the Sun (27 January – 12 February 2005)
• Strictly Dandia Christmas for 7+s (26 November 2004 – 22 January 2005)
• The Firework-Maker's Daughter (2 – 20 November 2004)
• The Bacchae (30 September – 30 October 2004)
• Don Juan (14 – 25 September 2004)
• A Passage to India/National Youth Theatre Guest Season/The Master and Margarita (20 August – 11 September 2004)
• Aladdin by Sandy Wilson, 1979

Artistic directors of the Lyric Hammersmith

Name	Period
...	...
Neil Bartlett	1994–2004
David Farr	2005–2008
Sean Holmes	2009–present

External links

• Lyric – Official website of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre.
• Lyric Hammersmith at The London Theatre Guide
• Artistic Associates Named
• The collection of Lyric Theatre Hammersmith box office returns from 1964-66 is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum Theatre and Performance Department.
• History of the Lyric, Hammersmith