The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre have announced their forthcoming season, moving from the autumn into 2024.
The west London venue’s season will open with a new revival of Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage, which will be directed by Nicholai La Barrie and will run from 1 to 30 September 2023.
As announced earlier this month in the RSC’s autumn plans, the season will also feature the London transfer of Tanika Gupta’s The Empress. This will be directed by Pooja Ghai and will run from 4 to 28 October. Joining this will be the previously announced adaptation of Kafka’s Metamorphosis by Len Sissay. The coproduction between Frantic Assembly, Theatre Royal Plymouth, MAST Mayflower Studios and the Lyric Hammersmith will play form 1 February to 2 March 2024.
Artistic director and CEO of Lyric Hammersmith Theatre Rachel O’Riordan will direct a new production of Faith Healer by Brian Friel. This will run from 14 March to 13 April.
In addition to the announced productions, it was also revealed that Vikki Stone will return to the theatre as the writer for the pantomime, Cinderella. 2023 will also see the return of the Lyric Hammersmith’s multidisciplinary festival, which will take place in the autumn and celebrates Black joy, talent, culture and creativity.
O’Riordan said: “This new season is interrogative and imaginative, with plays by bold and exceptional writers—Brian Friel, Tanika Gupta, Yasmina Reza, Lemn Sissay and Vikki Stone. These plays are an interrogation of identity, truth and the power of storytelling. How reliable are the stories history tells us, or those that we tell each other and ourselves?
Words by Jess Boot-Cowie
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