"What is gonna happen, when we can’t take it anymore?"
Stumbling down the street drunk at 11.30am Effie is the kind of girl you avoid making eye contact with. You think you know her, but maybe you don’t know half of it.
Effie’s life is a mess of drink, drugs and drama every night, and a hangover worse than death the next day – ’til one night gives her the chance to be something more.
Gary Owen’s critically acclaimed and powerful monodrama inspired by the Greek myth opens at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre after a smash-hit run at the Sherman Theatre in Wales and later the National Theatre. Artistic Director Rachel O’Riordan directs Sophie Melville, who reprises her role as ‘Effie’ after winning The Stage Award for Acting Excellence and an Evening Standard Award nomination for Best Actress.
Iphigenia in Splott was originally commissioned and produced by the Sherman Theatre.
Everyone should see this shattering modern classic. No one will remain unmoved.The Guardian
Rarely is theatre so shattering; rarely does it feel so utterly indispensable.The Stage
This acclaimed production returns with blistering biteWhatsOnStage
It is story-telling of the highest order.The Review Hub
Volcanically powerfulTime Out
RemarkableThe Telegraph
Make a point of seeing Iphigenia In SplottDaily Mail
A fast and furious productionNew York Times
Cast
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Sophie Melville
Effie
Creatives
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Director
Rachel O’Riordan
Director
Rachel O’Riordan is Artistic Director and CEO of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre where she launched her critically acclaimed debut season in Autumn 2019 with a triumphant adaptation of A Doll’s House by Tanika Gupta.
She recently directed an acclaimed revival of Brian Friel’s Faith Healer at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. Her most recent collaboration with Gary Owen was on Romeo & Julie at the National Theatre which is currently in development for a film adaptation. She also directed the sold-out remount of Iphigenia in Splott at the Lyric, which was featured as one of The Guardian’s 50 best theatre shows of the 21st century and was Number 1 in The Guardian’s Top 10 Theatre Productions of 2022, Other Lyric shows include: co-directing the Lyric’s 2020 post covid reopening production Out West; Timberlake Wertenbaker’s seminal play Our Country’s Good, which saw Timberlake revisit the play for the first time; Love, Love, Love by Mike Bartlett, in the 10 year anniversary revival; Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane with Chichester Festival Theatre. Previously, she was Artistic Director and CEO of Sherman Theatre, Wales and transformed the venue which won The Stage’s Regional Theatre of the Year Award under her leadership. Directing credits include: the Olivier Award-winning Killology, Bird, The Cherry Orchard and Iphigenia in Splott. She was Artistic Director of Perth Theatre, Scotland between 2011 and 2014 and won The Critics’ Award for Theatre in Scotland for Best Director and Best Ensemble for The Seafarer by Conor McPherson. From 2002 to 2011, she co-founded and ran Ransom Productions in Northern Ireland. This year, she will direct End, by David Eldridge for the National Theatre.
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