A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM To Run At Lyric Hammersmith, Feb 11

Lyric Hammersmith Artistic Director Sean Holmes presents a new collaboration with Filter; exposing the heart of Shakespeare's most magical play in a production which will be designed by the 2011 Linbury Prize winner Hyemi Shin.

Filter and Sean Holmes have previously worked together to reimagine Twelfth Night (Filter/RSC), The Caucasian Chalk Circle(National Theatre) and Chekhov's Three Sisters (Lyric Hammersmith) amongst others, forming an alliance which has resulted in the most refreshing and irreverent stagings of some of theatre's greatest works.

The production will be designed by the overall winner of the 2011 Linbury Prize, Hyemi Shin. Hyemi last year completed the Theatre Design course at Wimbledon Art College where alumni include the Olivier Award-winning set designer of The Lion King, Richard Hudson. Her design for A Midsummer Night's Dream was considered alongside designs by 11 other finalists before she was crowned the overall winner by judges and acclaimed designers Jon Bausor, Miriam Buether and Ian MacNeil. Her design will now be created for the production on the Lyric Hammersmith's main stage.

With an original score written and performed live by Tom Haines and Chris Branch of the London Snorkelling Team and performers from Filter's core ensemble including John Lightbody (Ghost Stories, West End), Poppy Miller (The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Almeida) and Victoria Moseley (His Dark Materials, National Theatre), this is a sonically surprising, visually arresting and respectfully mischievous version of Shakespeare's best-known comedy.

Filter was formed in 2003 by actors Ferdy Roberts and Oliver Dimsdale, and musician Tim Phillips. Filter's shows fuse live and recorded music to create their trademark ambitious soundscapes. The company works to bring out the central theme in their plays, often discarding sections of original text for the sake of exposing the heart of a story. Filter's credits include Three Sisters,Water (both with Lyric Hammersmith) Twelfth Night (RSC/Tricycle), Silence (RSC at Hampstead) and Faster (BAC/UK Tour/NYC).

Sean Holmes recently directed the first major London revival of Edward Bond's Saved for 27 years. His other productions at the Lyric include the 2011 Olivier Award-winning Blasted, Ghost Stories (Lyric/West End), A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky and Three Sisters starring Romola Garai. He has directed plays for the RSC, National Theatre, Royal Court and Donmar Warehouse and his other credits include Joe Orton's Loot (Tricycle) and the UK premiere of Simon Stephens' Pornography(Traverse/Birmingham Rep). In April, Holmes will team up with Edward Bond to present The Chair Plays; a trilogy of the playwright's short works.

Cast: Jonathan Broadbent, Ed Gaughan, John Lightbody, Simon Manyonda, Poppy Miller, Victoria Moseley, Ferdy Roberts and Rebecca Scroggs.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Dates Saturday 11 February – Saturday 17 March 2012

Times Evenings 7.30pm & 8pm (02, 09 & 16 Mar) / Matinees 1.30pm (22, 28 Feb, 01, 06, 08 & 14 Mar) & 2.30pm (25 Feb & 17 Mar)

Tickets £12.50 - £35

Bookings 0871 22 117 22 / www.lyric.co.uk

Accessible performances

Open Captioned Thursday 01 March 7.30pm

Audio Described Saturday 10 March 7.30pm

Free First Nights

As part of the Lyric Hammersmith's aim to further engage with the community, anyone who lives or works in Hammersmith and Fulham can claim two free tickets to see A Midsummer Night's Dream on Saturday 11 February at 7.30pm. They just need to come to the Ticket Office with proof of their home or work address, on either the Friday or Saturday before the performance to pick up their free tickets.

 

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