Lyric turns to classic panto
The theatre that shocked audiences with swearing in its Christmas show last year will present a traditional pantomime for the first time in 30 years under its new artistic director.
Announcing his first season in charge of the Lyric, Hammersmith, Sean Holmes said he decided on a traditional pantomime after watching the success of the Hackney Empire's festive show.
Writers are working on a new script of Jack and the Beanstalk.
Last year some of the audience walked out of the Lyric's production of Cinderella after a character was called a "fat bitch". The scene was cut although others involving violence and the term "slut" were retained.
Holmes's first full season in charge of the 556-seat venue opens in September.
"I want to continue its reputation for work that is innovative and risky and surprising but marry that with a broader programme. It will be eclectic," he said.
"But it is not about doing a programme that is desperately about selling seats. We had a very successful year last year in terms of box office."
His own previous work includes The Entertainer at the Old Vic starring Robert Lindsay, Arthur Miller's early work The Man Who Had All The Luck at the Donmar and a string of plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
His ambition for the Lyric is to have new plays and revivals of classics alongside the more avant-garde collaborations for which the Lyric has become known.
The first new play will be Punk Rock, by the Olivier Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens about a group of 17 and 18-year-olds.
Matthew Kelly – the actor and TV show presenter of Stars in their Eyes - will then appear in Trevor Griffiths' landmark play Comedians about a group of would-be entertainers in a bingo hall.
After the panto, Holmes will direct a pared-down version of Chekhov's Three Sisters with the Filter theatre company.
And the first season will conclude with Ghost Stories, a new work from Andy Nyman, the co-creator of the magician Derren Brown's stage shows, and Jeremy Dyson, writer of the League of Gentleman.
