The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a nonprofit theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street,

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, London. "History"">"About the Lyric" > "History"
''Lyric'' official website. Retrieved January 2024.

Background

The Lyric Theatre was originally a music hall established in 1888 on Bradmore Grove, Hammersmith. Success as an entertainment venue led it to be rebuilt and enlarged on the same site twice, firstly in 1890 and then in 1895 by the English theatrical architect

Frank Matcham Francis Matcham (22 November 1854 – 17 May 1920)Mackintosh, Iain"Matcham, Frank" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 7 July 2019 was an English architect who specialised in the design of theatres and ...

. The 1895 reopening, as The New Lyric Opera House, was accompanied by an opening address by the famous actress

Lillie Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isla ...

. In 1966 the theatre was due to be closed and demolished. However, a successful campaign to save it led to the auditorium being dismantled and reinstalled piece by piece within a modern shell on its current site on King Street a short distance from the former Bradmore Grove location. The relocated theatre opened in 1979.John Earl
"Presidential Address: The Crest of a Wave"
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Society Magazine'', n.d.. Retrieved 19 January 2011. It has two main performance areas: the ''Main House'', a 565-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

Rachel O'Riordan Rachel O'Riordan (born 1974) is an Irish theatre director. She is the artistic director at the Lyric Hammersmith, London. Early life and education Born in Cork, Ireland to poet and novelist Robert Anthony Welch and Angela O'Riordan Welch, O ...

, and its executive director is Amy Belson."About the Lyric: Our Team"
''Lyric'' official website. Retrieved 26 April 2023. The Lyric has recently gone through a major redevelopment project, with new facilities for young people and the local community completed in 2015, designed by

Rick Mather Rick Mather (May 30, 1937 – April 20, 2013) was an American-born architect working in England. Born in Portland, Oregon and awarded a B.arch. at the University of Oregon in 1961, he came to London in 1963 and worked at the architectural firm ...

Architects"Capital Development"
''Lyric'' official website. Retrieved 20 January 2014. and was nominated in the 'community benefit' and 'tourism and leisure' categories at the RICS Awards 2016, London. In 2011, the Lyric won the

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Aw ...

for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for Sean Holmes' production of

Sarah Kane Sarah Kane (3 February 1971 – 20 February 1999) was an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. She is known for her plays that deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture—both physical and psychological ...

's ''

Blasted ''Blasted'' is the first play by the British author Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1995 at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London. Synopsis The play is set in an expensive hotel room in Leeds. Ian, a foul-mouthed middle-aged tablo ...

''. In September 2018, it was announced that Sean Holmes would be succeeded as artistic director in February 2019 by

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"Lyric website"
''Lyric'' official website. Retrieved 19 January 2011.) * '' A Doll's House'' 2019 * '' Noises Off'' 2019 * '' Ghost Stories'' 2019 * ''City of Glass'', 2017 * ''The Seagull'', 2017 * ''Herons'', by

Simon Stephens Simon Stephens (born 6 February 1971) is a British-Irish playwright, musician and Professor of Scriptwriting at Manchester Metropolitan University. Having taught on the Young Writers' Programme at the Royal Court Theatre for many years, he is ...

, 2016 * ''Cinderella'', 2015 * ''Tipping The Velvet'', 2015 * ''Bugsy Malone'', 2015 * ''Secret Theatre'', 2015 * ''Secret Theatre'', 2014 * ''Secret Theatre'', 2013 * ''Steptoe and Son'' produced by

Kneehigh Theatre Kneehigh Theatre was an international touring theatre company founded in 1980 by Mike Shepherd and based in Cornwall, England. The company was based in barns on the southern Cornish coast, at Gorran Haven, but the administration was in Truro. ...

, 2013 * ''

Metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and different ...

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Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

, adapted by Gísli Örn Garðarsson and David Farr, 2013 * ''

Alice by Heart ''Alice by Heart'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Duncan Sheik, lyrics by Steven Sater, and a book by Sater with Jessie Nelson (filmmaker), Jessie Nelson. The musical is inspired by Lewis Carroll, Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel ''Alice's ...

'' by

Steven Sater Steven Sater is a Tony Award, Grammy Award, and Laurence Olivier Award-winning American poet, playwright, lyricist, television writer and screenwriter. He is best known for writing the book and lyrics for the Tony Award-winning 2006 Broadway musi ...

and

Duncan Sheik Duncan Sheik (born November 18, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Sheik is known for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing", which earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. He has com ...

, 2012 * ''

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...

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Raymond Briggs Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story ...

, adapted by Pins and Needles Productions, 2012 * ''Cinderella'' by

Joel Horwood Joel Horwood is a British playwright. He has been a member of the Royal Court/BBC 50 scheme and has also been on attachment at Hampstead Theatre. His plays include ''I Caught Crabs in Walberswick'', ''Mikey the Pikey'', ''Food'', and ''I Hea ...

and

Morgan Lloyd Malcolm Morgan Lloyd Malcolm is an Olivier-winning British playwright and screenwriter. Early life and education Morgan Lloyd Malcolm was born in Westminster, London, and grew up in London. She is the daughter of actor and West End producer Christoph ...

, 2012 * ''

Desire Under the Elms ''Desire Under the Elms'' is a 1924 play written by Eugene O'Neill. Like ''Mourning Becomes Electra'', ''Desire Under the Elms'' signifies an attempt by O'Neill to adapt plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy to a rural New England settin ...

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Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

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, 2012 * ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

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William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

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Abi Morgan Abigail Louise Morgan (born December 1968) is a Welsh playwright and screenwriter known for her works for television, such as '' Sex Traffic'' and '' The Hour'', and the films ''Brick Lane'', '' The Iron Lady'', ''Shame'' and ''Suffragette''. ...

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Steve Marmion Steve Marmion is an English theatre director. He trained at the University of Glamorgan and the Welsh College of Music and Drama. He was the artistic director of the Soho Theatre, having taken over from Lisa Goldman in 2010. He is a former associ ...

, 2011 * '' Saved'' by

Edward Bond Thomas Edward Bond (18 July 1934 – 3 March 2024) was an English playwright, theatre director, poet, dramatic theorist and screenwriter. He was the author of some 50 plays, among them '' Saved'' (1965), the production of which was instrument ...

, 2011 * ''The Wild Bride'' created by

, 2011 * ''

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

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Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

's Twisted Tales'', 2011 * ''

Dick Whittington and his Cat ''Dick Whittington and His Cat'' is the English folklore surrounding the real-life Richard Whittington ( 1354 – 1423), wealthy merchant and later Lord Mayor of London. The legend describes his rise from poverty-stricken childhood with the for ...

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Punk Rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

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, 2010 * '' Lifegame'' (7 – 17 July 2010) * ''

Tightrope Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope ...

'' (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 A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...

'' (24 February – 3 April 2010) * '' Three Sisters'' (6 January – 20 February 2010) *

Jack and the Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale with ancient origins. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition :File:Round about our Coal Fire, or, Christmas Entertainments, 4th edn, 1734.pdf, On C ...

(21 November 2009 – 9 January 2010 *

Comedians A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who ...

(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 "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'' (6 – 24 November 2007) * '' Casanova'' (16 October – 3 November 2007) * ''

Water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

'' (25 September – 13 October 2007) * '' Rough Crossings'' (5 – 22 September 2007) * ''

The Bacchae ''The Bacchae'' (; , ''Bakkhai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumou ...

'' (2 – 4 August 2007) * '' Accidental Heroes'' (21 June – 22 July 2007) * ''

Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a 1991 American two-part Play (theatre), play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The two parts of the play, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', may be presented separate ...

: Part 2'' (20 June – 22 July 2007) * ''

: Part 1'' (7 – 9 June 2007) * ''

Elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

'' (26 April – 26 May 2007) * '' Absolute Beginners'' (3 – 14 April 2007) * '' St George and the Dragon'' (13 – 31 March 2007) * ''

Don't Look Now ''Don't Look Now'' () is a 1973 English-language thriller film directed by Nicolas Roeg, adapted from the 1971 short story by Daphne du Maurier. Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland portray Laura and John Baxter, a married couple who trav ...

'' (9 February – 10 March 2007) * ''

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

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Cymbeline ''Cymbeline'' (), also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in British Iron Age, Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concer ...

'' (23 November 2006 – 13 January 2007) * ''

Watership Down ''Watership Down'' is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Hampshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natur ...

'' (31 October – 18 November 2006) * ''

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

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'' (16 May – 17 June 2006) * Aurélia's ''

Oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

'' (12 – 29 April 2006) * ''

The Wolves in the Walls ''The Wolves in the Walls'' is a book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, published in 2003, in the United States by HarperCollins, and in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury. The book was highly praised on release, winning three awards for that year ...

'' (24 February – 1 April 2006) * ''

The Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' (20 January – 18 February 2006) * '' Nights at the Circus Christmas'' (2 December 2005 – 14 January 2006) * '' The Magic Carpet'' (1 – 26 November 2005) * '' Brontë'' (1929 October 2005) * ''

Road to Nowhere "Road to Nowhere" is a song by the American band Talking Heads from their 1985 album '' Little Creatures''. The song was written by David Byrne and released as a single in 1985. It reached on the US '' Billboard'' Album Rock Tracks chart and ...

'' (2 September – 15 October 2005) * ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

'' (30 June – 23 July 2005) * '' Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others'' (17 June 2005) * ''

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Hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

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'' (5 – 26 March 2005) * ''

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'' (18 February – 26 March 2005) * ''

A Raisin in the Sun ''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known as "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a black family's experiences in south Ch ...

'' (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) * ''

'' (30 September – 30 October 2004) * ''

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. The original version of the story of Don Juan appears in the 1630 play (''The Trickster of Seville and t ...

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A Passage to India ''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th-century English liter ...

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National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and charity in London, created with the aim of developing young people's artistic skills via theatrical productions and other creative endeavours. Founded in 1956 as the world ...

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The Master and Margarita ''The Master and Margarita'' () is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published posthumously in ''Moscow (magazine), Moscow'' magazine in ...

'' (20 August – 11 September 2004) * ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

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Sandy Wilson Alexander Galbraith "Sandy" Wilson (19 May 1924 – 27 August 2014) was an English composer and lyricist, best known for his musical '' The Boy Friend'' (1953). Biography Wilson was born in Sale, Cheshire, England, and was educated at Harrow ...

, 1979

Artistic directors

References

External links

*
Lyric
' – Official website of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre.
Artistic Associates Named
*The collection o
Lyric Theatre Hammersmith box office returns
from 1964 to 1966 is held by the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

Theatre and Performance Department.
History of the Lyric, Hammersmith
{{Authority control Theatres in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Producing house theatres in London Theatres completed in 1895 Rebuilt buildings and structures in the United Kingdom Theatres completed in 1979 Hammersmith