Lyric life

The Lyric Hammersmith has been awarded £190,000 by the Arts Council to take its highly acclaimed and internationally successful co-production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on tour across the country, announced today (20 September).

The funding is from the National Lottery through the Arts Council’s Strategic Touring programme.

The widely praised show, co-produced with Filter Theatre, will tour seven venues over seven weeks in 2018. It will develop a mid-scale touring network, building and sustaining core audiences for quality drama including in areas of low engagement.

Joyce Wilson, London Area Director, Arts Council England, said:
“This ambitious tour will allow people in all corners of the country to see a stunning example of one of the world’s best-loved plays, and inspire more top-quality theatre touring, and more audiences for it in the future.”

Sian Alexander, Executive Director, Lyric Hammersmith, says:
“We can’t wait to take our riotous co-production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on national tour next year. The Lyric has a long history of touring on the mid-scale and of working with venues across the UK to bring our unique blend of radical yet popular theatre to new and established audiences. It’s brilliant to have the support of the Arts Council in this shared endeavour.”

This project sees the Lyric Hammersmith return to national touring at 7 venues over 7 weeks in response to venue demand with this accessible, popular and proven production: a revival of its highly acclaimed, internationally successful co-production with Filter Theatre, directed by Lyric Artistic Director Sean Holmes in an anarchic, highly comic and contemporary staging. This project acts as a pilot for the development of a new mid-scale strategic touring network focused on building and sustaining core audiences for quality drama including supporting areas of low engagement.