Full Casting Announced For Stephens' PUNK ROCK At The Lyric Hammersmith

Olivier award-winning playwright Simon Stephens' powerful new play Punk Rock opens at the Lyric Hammersmith on 08 September 2009 with previews from 03 September 2009. Sarah Frankcom, the Co-Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange, Manchester will direct a talented, young cast which includes Nicholas Banks, Henry Lloyd Hughes, Harry McEntire, Jessica Raine, Tom Sturridge, Katie West and Sophie Wu.

Drawing on his experience as a teacher, Lyric Artistic Associate Simon Stephens' play follows a group of educated, articulate and aspirational young people in their final year together at an English grammar school. Punk Rock gradually exposes the dislocation, disjunction and latent violence simmering under the surface of success, resulting in a shocking and explosive finale.
Simon Stephens' work has been performed by companies in Europe, USA and Australia. His plays include Harper Regan (2008, National Theatre); Sea Wall (2008, Bush Theatre; 2009, Traverse Theatre); Pornography (2007, Deutsche Schauspielhaus, Hamburg; 2008, Traverse Theatre; 2009, Tricycle); Motortown (2006, Royal Court) which was awarded Best International Play in Theater Heute, Germany 2007 and On The Shore of the Wide World (2005, Royal Exchange/National Theatre) for which he received an Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2006.

Punk Rock is the second collaboration between Simon Stephens and director Sarah Frankcom who previously worked together on the award winning On The Shore of the Wide World at the National Theatre. Sarah's recent directorial credits for The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester include Strawgirl & The Adoption Papers, Pretend You Have Big Buildings, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Mary Barton, Separate Tables and Kes.

Featuring new, young, rising talent, the cast of Punk Rock includes Tom Sturridge (William Carlisle), making his stage debut having recently appeared in Richard Curtis' The Boat That Rocked (Working Title, 2008); Nicholas Banks (Nicholas Chatman); Jessica Raine (Lilly Cahill) who has appeared in Gethsemane at the National Theatre (2009) and is soon to be seen in the new feature film Robin Hood, directed by Ridley Scott; Henry Lloyd-Hughes (Bennett Francis) who appeared in Mark Ravenhill's Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat at the National Theatre (2008) and Channel 4's The Inbetweeners; Harry McEntire (Chadwick Meade) who recently starred in the Lyric Hammersmith's hit musical Spring Awakening which transferred to the West End; Sophie Wu (Cissy Franks) who appeared alongside Jamie Winstone in the film Kick-Ass (2008) as well as making appearances in the popular BBC series Hotel Babylon; Katie West (Tanya Gleason); and LyRic Young Company member Ghazaleh Golpira (Lucy Francis).

Punk Rock has set design by Paul Wills (The Man who had all the Luck, The Donmar Warehouse; Macbeth, The Royal Exchange; Pornography, Birmingham Rep / Traverse / Tricycle / Bath) and lighting by Philip Gladwell (Macbeth, The Royal Exchange; Amazonia and Ghosts, The Young Vic). 

Dates 03 - 26 September

Evenings Monday - Saturday, 7.30pm

Matinees Wednesday 23 September 1.30pm and Saturday 26 September 2.30pm

Tickets £10 - £25

Bookings 0871 22117 22 / www.lyric.co.uk

FORTHCOMING PRODUCTIONS AT THE LYRIC HAMMERSMITH

Comedians

07 October - 14 November 2009, 7.30pm

Press Night: Wednesday 14 October, 7pm

By Trevor Griffiths

Directed by Sean Holmes

Cast includes: Mark Benton, David Dawson, Matthew Kelly

With his first production as the Lyric's Artistic Director, Sean Holmes revives Trevor Griffiths' 1970s classic. Six budding comics embark on the most important evening of their lives. Failure or success? What will be the price of each?

Jack and the Beanstalk

21 November 2009 - 03 January 2010, times vary

Press Performance: Saturday 28 November 2009, 2pm

By Richard Bean, Joel Horwood, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm & Ché Walker

Directed by Steve Marmion
Pantomime is brought back to Hammersmith for a glitter-filled festive feast that immerses audiences in one of the country's best-loved art forms. Get ready to boo the baddies, cheer the hero, sing along, and double-up with laughter at Hammersmith's new Panto Dame.

Three Sisters

15 January - 20 February 2010, 7.30pm

Press Night: Monday 25 January, 7pm

By Anton Chekhov

Directed by Sean Holmes & Filter

The exhilarating theatre company Filter, together with Artistic Director Sean Holmes, take on Chekhov's classic and strip it bare. The youth, exuberance and creativity of Filter, combined with Holmes' attention to detail, will cherish the heart of the play whilst shedding new light on this classic.

Ghost Stories

24 February - 03 April 2010, Monday - Friday 8pm, Saturday 9pm

Special Late Night Press Performance: Monday 01 March, 9pm

Written and directed by Andy Nyman & Jeremy Dyson

Three men gather, each with an uncanny tale to tell: their chilling stories will bleed off the stage and into your dreams. Starting a little later than your traditional evening of theatre; as the dead of night approaches, the shades of past, present and future worlds are conjured under the Lyric's historic proscenium arch.

 

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