With three World Premieres, three London Premieres and a returning smash hit, this new season showcases bold storytelling from a wide range of artists across a rich diversity of form. From musicals, to stage adaptations, to animation, to new classics, this season reaches across the world while remaining firmly rooted in West London and its local communities.

Rachel O’Riordan, Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, said: “This 2027 season at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is a statement of intent: a big, bold celebration of our audience and the artists who make such incredible work here. Three World Premieres, three London Premieres and one returning favourite, this year of incredible work represents the Lyric’s eclectic, imaginative, ambitious spirit.

New plays are the lifeblood of theatre and this year we are proudly sharing six major new works, including Stewart Pringle’s innovative Brock’s Mill and Inua Ellams’s Once Upon a Time in Sokoto. Adaptations of much loved novels, both contemporary and classic, are a vibrant part of our programme. These stories have moved, delighted and challenged readers on the page; now we look at them again on-stage, relensed by exceptional artists. Conor McPherson adapts global sensation Before the Coffee Gets Cold; we present the London premiere of the musical based on the beloved bestseller The Book Thief; and Alistair McDowall brings Shirley Jackson’s iconic We Have Always Lived in the Castle to life. Sarah Frankcom will direct this World Premiere production, who joins the extraordinary group of directors whose work will appear on our stage in 2027: Monique Touko, Roy Alexander Weise, Tom Jackson Greaves and Rufus Norris, with his first London show since his tenure at the NT. We cannot wait to welcome them and their work to West London next year.

Personally, I am so proud to be directing Kieran Hurley’s stage version of The Young Team by Graeme Armstrong. The novel is a cultural phenomenon – heartbreaking, vital and hilarious – and I cannot wait to bring this new version to audiences in Scotland and London in partnership with National Theatre of Scotland.

Partnership is also at the heart of this season. I am so pleased to be working with NTS, RSC. Fuel, Melting Pot, Deus Ex Machina Productions and more. In addition, we are introducing a brand-new creative partnership with the powerhouse Hackney Showrooms. Watch this space for cutting edge new work in our Studio throughout 2027. We can’t wait to welcome you. Come in and be moved, thrilled, entertained and delighted. ”

The Tony Award-winning Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, which ran to critical acclaim at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in 2026 is remounted, driven by powerhouse director-writer duo Monique Touko (Wedding Band, Marie and Rosetta) and Jocelyn Bioh (The Ladykillers Love Story, Nollywood Dreams), the team behind smash hit School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play.

Internationally acclaimed poet and playwright Inua Ellams’ (Barber Shop Chronicles) Once Upon a Time in Sokoto has its London Premiere at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. Roy Alexander Weise (Nine Night, Hot Wing King) directs this Alfred Fagon Award-winning epic story about the beautiful but unlikely friendship forged between an enslaved woman and her former master, produced by Fuel.

In association with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stewart Pringle’s (The Bounds, Trestle) Brock’s Mill brings former National Theatre Artistic Director Rufus Norris back to direct in London for the first time since leaving his post. Brock’s Mill is a poignant new family drama and a love letter to the craft of stop-motion film-making, with animation by award-winning stop-motion animator Astrid Goldsmith.

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s international bestselling novel Before the Coffee Gets Cold is adapted for the stage by Conor McPherson (The Weir), transporting the iconic time-travelling Funiculi Funicula to London. Before the Coffee Gets Cold began its life as a play, before it was adapted into the hit novel, so this production returns Kawaguchi’s modern classic to its original form in this brand new adaptation.

The critically acclaimed musical adaptation of Markus Zusak’s global hit The Book Thief has its London premiere, with music and lyrics from Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson, libretto by internationally renowned author Jodi Picoult (My Sister’s Keeper) and award-winning playwright Timothy Allen McDonald (Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka, The Musical), and directed by Tom Jackson Greaves (FAME The Musical).

Graeme Armstrong’s ground-breaking, bestselling debut novel The Young Team is adapted by Kieran Hurley (Beats) in a searing world premiere production which brings this cultural phenomenon to the stage for the first time, directed by Lyric Hammersmith Theatre Artistic Director Rachel O’Riordan in co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland.

Alistair McDowall (all of it, The Glow), adapts Shirley Jackson’s seminal gothic thriller and final novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle, directed by Sarah Frankcom in a world premiere production about the social and psychological implications of societal ostracisation and family tragedy on two sisters.

Tickets for the season are on-sale now, starting from £10.

Also announced today is a brand new partnership as Hackney Showroom and the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre join forces to launch a major new residency which sees Hackney Showroom take over the Lyric’s Studio Theatre with two world premieres (to be announced) and a festival, creating a new home for innovative, genre-defying, risk-embracing theatre. The festival – NICE PAIR – will present, from an open call, four double acts to create original work in collaboration with Hackney Showroom‘s artistic team. Each pair will receive a fee of £6,000, work with an exceptional creative team and have their show presented for a week’s run at the festival running from 8-20 March 2027. For more information, visit the Hackney Showroom website. 

Read the full press release here.