The Lyric Hammersmith has announced its Spring 2016 season
KEY HIGHLIGHTS:
• The first professional production of Simon Stephens’ Herons since the play premiered in 2001, to be directed by Sean Holmes.
• The Lyric and Filter’s irreverent and riotous production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream returns.
• The Royal Opera presents two contemporary operas, Pleasure by Mark Simpson featuring well-known British soprano Lesley Garrett and the world premiere of Sarah Kane’s 4:48 Psychosis by Philip Venables, both presented in association with the Lyric.
Herons
By Simon Stephens
15 January 2016 – 13 February 2016
Fifteen years after its first production Simon Stephens’ unflinching and incendiary play Herons returns to the London stage in this new production directed by the Lyric’s Artistic Director Sean Holmes. Herons is the disturbing and moving story of fourteen-year-old Billy, whose life has been made a misery by a gang. Their brutal campaign of terror finally pushes him towards a terrible and violent act.
Directed by Sean Holmes, with design by Hyemi Shin, lighting by Paule Constable and sound by Nick Manning
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By William Shakespeare
20 February 2016 – 19 March 2016
The Lyric and Filter’s riotous reinterpretation of one of Shakespeare’s best loved plays returns to the Lyric, after its critically acclaimed 2012 run. Featuring music from members of The London Snorkelling Team, this classic tale of young lovers and warring fairies is given a unique and irreverent twist.
Created by Filter, co-directed by Sean Holmes & Stef O’Driscoll with design by Hyemi Shin and sound design & original music by Tom Haines & Chris Branch
Pleasure
By Mark Simpson
Libretto by Melanie Challenger
12 May 2016 until 14 May 2016
Val works the toilets in ‘Pleasure’, a hedonistic gay club in the north of England. For years, she has been a shoulder to cry on and a confidante – much loved but viewed as an enigma. Why is she still there? Why does she never leave? When a young man, both beautiful and unpredictable, arrives from the city and leaves a gift for Val – performed in this premiere production by the well-known British soprano Lesley Garrett – it marks the start of a passionate and violent night.
Conducted by Nicholas Kok, directed by Tim Albery with design by Leslie Travers, lighting by Malcolm Rippeth and Orchestra Psappha
4.48 Psychosis
By Philip Venables
Based on the play by Sarah Kane
24 May 2016 until 28 May 2016
This new opera by the British composer Philip Venables is an important adaptation of a radical and much-discussed 20th-century play by British playwright Sarah Kane, who took her own life in 1999 at the age of 28. Kane felt that 4.48 in the morning was a time of great clarity, when one’s mind could realise its darkest thoughts. This new work is the first time any of Kane’s work has been adapted.
Conducted by Richard Baker, directed by Ted Huffman with design by Hannah Clark, lighting by D.M. Wood, movement by Sarah Fahie and Orchestra CHROMA ensemble
