Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith)

Lyric Hammersmith

Lyric Hammersmith in 2009
Address King Street
London
 United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°29′35″N 0°13′35″W / 51.49306°N 0.22639°W / 51.49306; -0.22639
Owner Lyric Theatre Hammersmith Limited
Capacity 550 (Main House)
110 (Studio)
Construction
Opened 1895
Rebuilt 1979
Architect 1895 Frank Matcham, 2004-2015 Rick Mather Architects
Website
lyric.co.uk

The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre in King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions.[1]

The Lyric Theatre was built in 1895 by the English theatrical architect Frank Matcham, on a site located further up King Street from its current position. In 1966 the theatre was due to be closed and demolished, but after a successful campaign it was dismantled and re-built piece by piece on its current site close to the original location. The new theatre reopened in 1979.[2]

It has two main performance areas: the Main House, a 550-seat 19th-century auditorium maintaining the original design which hosts its main productions; and the 120-seat Studio, which houses smaller productions by up-and-coming companies. The Lyric also presents frequent Lyric Children and Lyric Music performances as well as Sunday Night Comedy.[1]

Its current artistic director is Sean Holmes, and its executive director is Sian Alexander.[3]

The Lyric has recently gone through a major re-development project, with new facilities for young people and the local community completed in 2015, designed by Rick Mather Architects[4] and was nominated in the 'community benefit' and 'tourism and leisure' categories at the RICS Awards 2016, London.[5]

In 2011, the Lyric won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for Sean Holmes' production of Sarah Kane's Blasted.[6]

Five strands

The Lyric’s programme is divided into five strands:

Production history

(Source: the Lyric official website[7])

Artistic directors of the Lyric Hammersmith

Name Period
... ...
Neil Bartlett 1994–2004[8]
David Farr 2005–2008[9]
Sean Holmes 2009–present[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About the Lyric", Lyric official website, accessed 9 May 2008.
  2. John Earl, "Presidential Address: The Crest of a Wave", Frank Matcham Society Magazine, n.d., accessed 19 January 2011.
  3. 1 2 "About the Lyric: Our Staff", Lyric official website, accessed 19 January 2011.
  4. "Capital Development", Lyric official website, accessed 20 January 2014.
  5. Surveyors, Royal Institution of Chartered. "RICS Awards, London". www.rics.org. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  6. http://www.olivierawards.com/nominations/view/item114061/Outstanding-Achievement-in-an-Affiliate-Theatre/
  7. "Lyric website", Lyric official website, accessed 19 January 2011.
  8. Taylor, Paul (26 January 2002). "Neil Bartlett - The Independent". London.
  9. Christiansen, Rupert (13 November 2002). "Innovator ready for a fight - Telegraph". London: telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 28 January 2011.

External links

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