TIPPING THE VELVET, CINDERELLA and More Set for the Lyric Hammersmith from Sept 2015

The Lyric Hammersmith today announces its programme from September 2015. Laura Wade and Lyndsey Turner reunite after the success of Posh, to bring a new adaptation of Sarah Waters' Tipping the Velvet to the Lyric's main stage in September.

Over the festive season, a new pantomime of Cinderella, written by Tom Wells will delight audiences on the main stage and Raymond Briggs' Father Christmas returns to the Studio.

The Lyric officially re-opens following a multi-million pound capital development and creation of the new Reuben Foundation Wing on 28 April with a new stage production of Alan Parker's Bugsy Malone, directed by Sean Holmes. Bugsy Malone runs until 01 August 2015, while The Adventure, an interactive site specific performance created by Bad Physics, will run from 23 May - 06 June and throughout June, Theatre in the Square returns with four new productions including two Lyric co-commissions from Puppets with Guts and The Human Zoo.

Sean Holmes, Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith said: 'We are delighted to announce another typically eclectic Lyric season. As well as our much loved Seasonal favourites Father Christmas and Lyric Panto returning we have a world premiere with the stage adaptation of Tipping The Velvet . Sarah Waters Laura Wade and Lyndsey Turner - what a team.'

---

In the Main House

World Premiere

Tipping the Velvet

by Sarah Waters

Adapted by Laura Wade Directed by Lyndsey Turner

A Lyric Hammersmith & Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh co-production

Friday 18 September - Saturday 24 October 2015

Press Night: Monday 28 September 2015

Acclaimed playwright Laura Wade brings Sarah Waters' audacious bestselling novel to the stage for the first time in an electrifying new adaptation, directed by Lyndsey Turner.

It's 1887 and Nancy Astley sits in the audience at her local music hall: she doesn't know it yet, but the next act on the bill will change her life. Tonight is the night she'll fall in love... with the thrill of the stage and with Kitty Butler, a girl who wears trousers. Giddy with desire and hungry for experience, Nancy follows Kitty to London where unimaginable adventures await.

Sarah Waters said: "I am absolutely thrilled that Tipping the Velvet is to be brought to life on the stage of the Lyric Hammersmith. I can think of no better setting for the play than the lush Lyric interior, and no more exciting creative talents than those of writer Laura Wade and director Lyndsey Turner. The production promises to be full of energy, fun and music-hall sparkle - in other words, everything I could hope for. I am simply delighted."

Casting to be announced.

Sarah Waters has written six novels: Tipping the Velvet (1998, Betty Trask Award); Affinity (1999, Somerset Maugham Award, the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award); Fingersmith (2002, short-listed for the Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize, and won the South Bank Show Award for Literature and the CWA Historical Dagger); The Night Watch (2006, shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Man Booker Prize); The Little Stranger (2009, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the South Bank Show Literature Award) and The Paying Guests (2014, shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction).

She was included in Granta's prestigious list of 'Best of Young British Novelists 2003', and in the same year was voted Author of the Year at the British Book Awards and the BA Conference, and won the Waterstone's Author of the Year Award. TV and film adaptations include Tipping the Velvet, Fingersmith and The Night Watch for the BBC and Affinity for ITV. For the stage, Sarah co-wrote, with Christopher Green, The Frozen Scream which premiered in December 2014 at the Cardiff Millennium Centre and Birmingham Hippodrome. A new stage adaption of Fingersmith (written by Alexa Junge, directed by Bill Rauch) also premiered in February 2015 at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Laura Wade most recently wrote the screenplay for The Riot Club, an adaption of her 2010 play Posh, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2014. Directed by Lone Scherfig the film stars Max Irons, Sam Claflin and Douglas Booth. Posh, opened at the Duke of York's in the West End in 2012 having originally played at the Royal Court in 2010. Her other work includes the Australian Chamber Orchestra's Kreutzer vs Kreutzer (Sydney Opera House and Australian national tour); Alice, a new adaptation of Alice in Wonderland (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield) directed by Lyndsey Turner and Other Hands (Soho Theatre). In 2006 she won the Pearson Most Promising Playwright Award and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for her plays Colder Than Here (Soho Theatre) and Breathing Corpses (Royal Court).

Lyndsey Turner's credits include Chimerica (Almeida & West End), Fathers and Sons (Donmar Warehouse), Contractions, A Miracle, Our Private Life (Royal Court); Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Edgar And Annabel, There Is A War (National Theatre); Joseph K and Nocturnal (Gate Theatre); My Romantic History (Traverse, Bush, Sheffield Theatres) and The Lesson (Arcola). She has worked at the Royal Court as Trainee Associate Director and International Associate and as associate director at Sheffield Theatres where her work includes Alice and The Way of the World. Later in 2015 Lyndsey will also be directing Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet at The Barbican.

Written by Sarah Waters
Adapted by Laura Wade
Directed by Lyndsey Turner
Design by Lizzie Clachan
Choreography by Alistair David
Lighting by Jon Clark
Music by Michael Bruce
Sound by Nick Manning
Casting by Julia Horan

In the Main House

Cinderella

By Tom Wells

A Lyric Hammersmith Production

Saturday 21 November 2015 - Sunday 03 January 2016

Press Night: Saturday 28 November 2015

Grab your glittery Converse and put the pumpkin into top gear as Cinderella heads to the biggest party of the season to meet a very charming Prince. Following the success of Jack and the Beanstalk and Dick Whittington and his Cat, Award winning playwright Tom Wells pens another traditional panto with plenty of festive fun in true Lyric style.

Casting to be announced.

Tom Wells theatre credits include Dick Whittington and his Cat (Lyric Hammersmith 2014/5), Symphony (Co-written with Ella Hickson and Nick Payne. Edinburgh Festival then Soho Theatre, 2014), Jumpers for Goalposts (Paines Plough - Watford Palace Theatre and UK tour, 2013/14); Jack and The Beanstalk (Lyric Hammersmith 2013 /14); Cosmic (Ros Terry / Root Theatre, E. Yorkshire tour, 2013); Jonesy (Nabakov, 2012); The Kitchen Sink (Bush Theatre, 2011, winner of the Most Promising Playwright -Critics Circle, 2011and the2012 George Devine Award); Spacewang (Hull Truck, 2011); Me, As A Penguin (West Yorkshire Playhouse, 2009 and Arcola Theatre / UK Tour, 2010); About a Goth (Paines Plough / Oran Mor, 2009) and Notes For First Time Astronauts (Paines Plough, later at Soho Theatre, 2009). Ben & Lump, which Tom wrote as part of the Coming Up season (Touchpaper) was broadcast on Channel 4 in 2012 and his play Jonesy was broadcast on Radio 4 last year. Tom is currently under commission to Hull Truck /Birmingham Rep/Watford Palace Theatre; Plymouth Festival Theatre and Northern Broadsides and he is developing a new idea for Leftbank Pictures.

In the Lyric Studio

Raymond Briggs' Father Christmas

Adapted by Pins and Needles

A Lyric Hammersmith and Pins and Needles Production

Friday 20 November - Thursday 24 December 2015

The Lyric's beloved production for young children returns for the fourth year to the Lyric Studio. Suitable for under 6's, Raymond Briggs' Father Christmas has become a must-see Christmas show for families, especially as a great introduction to theatre for young children.

Raymond Briggs' Father Christmas follows Santa as he awakes from a dream of sun, sea and sand only to find it is the busiest day of the year: Christmas Eve. This timeless festive story bursts into life with live music, playful puppets and a masterfully magical set.

Based on the book by Raymond Briggs
Adapted by Pins and Needles Productions
Directed by Emma Earle
Design by Zoe Squire
Lighting by George Ogilvie
Music and Sound by Lucy Rivers
Puppet Designer and Maker Max Humphries

Bugsy Malone

Booking until 1 August 2015

Previews: from 11 - 27 April 2015. £15 for all preview tickets.

Fat Sam's Grand Slam comes to Hammersmith to reopen the Lyric after a £20 million redevelopment. Olivier Award-winning director, Sean Holmes, will bring to life the first professional production in over a decade with a cast of exciting young talent.

Mon - Sat at 7.30pm; Wed & Sat at 2.30pm. (No matinee performance on Wed 15 April. No performance on Mon 20 April. No evening performance on Mon 04 May & Mon 25 May. Additional matinee at 2.30pm on Mon 04 May & Mon 25 May.) Tickets: £15 - £35 | £40 premium seats. No booking fee.

The Adventure

23 May - 06 June 2015

Join an intrepid gang of young detectives to explore backstage in the new, exciting Lyric Hammersmith and help solve a fiendishly puzzling mystery. The Adventure is an interactive mystery story for 7-13 year olds and grown-ups who refuse to grow up.

Sat 23 May, Sat 30 May & Sat 06 June at 11am, 1pm, 3pm; Mon 25 May, 12pm, 2pm, 4pm; Tue 26 - Fri 29 May 11am, 1pm, 3pm; Mon 01 - Fri 05 Jun, 11am, 1pm, 5pm. Running time: 60mins. Tickets: Adults £12| Children £10. No booking fee.

Theatre in the Square

Monotone Man

The Human Zoo Theatre Company

16 - 17 June

Commissioned by the Lyric Hammersmith, Imagine Watford, Greenwich & Docklands International Festival and Latitude Festival.

Monotone Man lives in a monochrome world. He spends his time walking the straight and narrow, ticking boxes and avoiding unnecessary contact with strangers. In a world where we so often go out of our way to disconnect from the people around us, The Human Zoo brings this explosive, interactive celebration of connection and colour to Lyric Square.

Free

Citizen Squid Puppets with Guts

23 - 24 June

Commissioned by the Lyric Hammersmith and Watford Palace Theatre.

A gigantic squid is discovered in the most unlikely of places and is in need of a home. This immersive theatrical debate about unwanted arrivals and shifting cultural identities, examines our moral responsibilities as citizens, people and our politics. Three politicians are dispatched to respond to the situation, and contest our social ambiguities, fishy politics, and to avoid responsibility. And all the while, a gigantic squid waits indefinitely. You will leave with the facts but demanding answers, skilled in squid bucket hydration, and more empathetic about an ever increasingly complex world.

Free

Citizen Squid is supported by Arts Council England.

Tipping the Velvet - 18 September - 24 October 2015. Mon-Sat 7.30pm; Sat 2.30pm. Additional matinee Wed 14 October at 2.30pm. No Sat matinee on Sat 19 September. Tickets: £15 - £30 | £35 premium seats. No booking fee.

Cinderella - 21 November 2015 - 03 January 2016. For performance schedule, see www.lyric.co.uk. Tickets: £15 - £30| £35 premium seats. No booking fee.

Raymond Briggs' Father Christmas - 20 November - 24 December 2015. For performance schedule please see www.lyric.co.uk Tickets: £10. No booking fee.

Tickets: 020 8741 6850 or online at www.lyric.co.uk. The Lyric Square is located at King Street, London, W6 0QL.