FAUSTUS: THAT DAMNED WOMAN Comes to Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Headlong and the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in association with Birmingham Repertory Theatre today announced Faustus: That Damned Woman a new play from award-winning playwright and theatre maker Chris Bush (Standing at the Sky's Edge) which will premiere at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in January 2020 and at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in February 2020 before touring the UK.

Drawing on the works of Marlowe, Goethe, and other versions of the Faustus myth, Chris's urgent reimagining asks what we must sacrifice to achieve greatness and the legacy that we leave behind.

"My name is Johanna Faustus. I was born almost four hundred years ago.
I gave my soul to achieve the impossible.
I watched this city grow sick and I swore to heal it.
I might be damned, but I would save the world to spite the Devil."

Faustus: That Damned Woman is the first work to be commissioned as part of Headlong and the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre's long-term commitment to commissioning and producing work of scale by women playwrights.

Caroline Byrne directs this radical new work in which the iconic character of Faustus is reimagined as a woman who makes the ultimate sacrifice to traverse centuries and change the course of history. The creative team are set designer Ana Inés Jabares-Pita, costume designer Line Bech, lighting designer Richard Howell, sound and composition designer Giles Thomas, video and projection designer Ian William Galloway and casting director Annelie Powell CDG.

The piece will have its world premiere at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre on 22 January 2020, before playing at Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 26 February. The production will then tour throughout the Spring visiting Bristol Old Vic, Leeds Playhouse and Northern Stage from March and April 2020.

Chris Bush is an award-winning playwright, lyricist and theatre maker. Her writing credits include Standing at the Sky's Edge, a collaboration with musician Richard Hawley, Steel (both Sheffield Crucible Theatre), The Assassination of Katie Hopkins (Theatr Clwyd), Pericles (NT) and The Changing Room (NT Connections).

Caroline Byrne is known for her distinctive and innovative direction. Her theatre credits include Spring Awakening (Young Vic), All's Well That Ends Well (Sam Wanamaker Theatre), Katie Roche (Abbey Theatre, Dublin) Oliver Twist (Regents Park) and Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare's Globe Theatre). Her upcoming work includes Portia Coughlan starring Ruth Negga (Young Vic).

Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
Lyric Square, King St, Hammersmith, London W6 0QL
22 January - 22 February 2020
Press Night: Tuesday 28 January
https://lyric.co.uk/
Studio Talk: Faustus: That Damned Woman - I'd sell my soul for...
Tuesday 18 February, 6pm
Panel to include Fiona Mountford (host) and Chris Bush.

Studio Talk is a new programme of pre-show events hosted by Fiona Mountford, each inspired by the Lyric's Main House productions, as part of Rachel O'Riordan's first season as Artistic Director.

Free First Night (Wednesday 22 January): The Lyric is proud to call Hammersmith their home. In 2016 they celebrated the 20th anniversary of their Free First Night scheme, part of their long term partnership with the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, through which they give free tickets to people who live or work locally.

Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Centenary Square, Birmingham B1 2EP
26 February - 7 March, 2020
Press Night: Wednesday 26 February
https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/