Photo Flash: LOVESONG Plays Lyric Hammersmith

Frantic Assembly will present Lovesong, a brand new play by writer Abi Morgan (The Hour, BBC; Shame, Film4), in a newly extended run at the Lyric Hammersmith following its recent national tour.

Frantic Assembly returns to the Lyric having previously presented numerous productions including its radical reworking of Othello and its first project with Morgan, Tiny Dynamite.

Actress Siân Phillips Siân Phillips is joined on stage by Sam Cox Sam Cox, Edward Bennett Edward Bennett and Leanne Rowe Leanne Rowe.

About the show: "Frantic Assembly and Abi Morgan join forces to present a stirring tale of one couple’s lifelong love, contrasting the effervescence of youth with the experience of a lifetime together."

Abi Morgan’s film work includes The Invisible Woman, Steve McQueen’s Shame, The Iron Lady and
Brick Lane. For television, she has written two series of flagship BBC drama The Hour and the
BAFTA-winning Sex Traffic (Channel 4). Her last play with Frantic Assembly, Tiny Dynamite, made its premiere at the 2001 Edinburgh Festival and her other credits for the stage include The
Night Is Darkest Before The Dawn (The Great Game, Tricycle), Fugee (NT New Connections),
Splendour (Paines Plough) and Tender (Hampstead) for which she received an Olivier nomination for Most Promising Playwright.

Leanne Rowe (Franco Zeffirelli’s Jane Eyre; Talent, Menier Chocolate Factory) and Edward Bennett Edward Bennett (Plenty, Sheffield Crucible; Hamlet, RSC) play young couple William and Margaret, with Siân Phillips (I Claudius, BBC; Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Broadway) and Sam Cox Sam Cox (Inherit the Wind, Old Vic; Arcadia, West End) as the same couple a lifetime later.

About Frantic Frantic Assembly: "Founded by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett, Frantic Frantic Assembly is known for their work combining movement, design, music and text; collaborating on original ideas with some of theatre’s most exciting artists, this year contributing choreography to Dr Dee, a new opera created by Damon Albarn and Rufus Norris. Other recent work includes Beautiful Burnout (with National Theatre of Scotland), Stockholm by Bryony Lavery, and Dirty Wonderland, a site specific show for the Brighton Festival."

By Abi Morgan
Direction and choreography by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett
Design by Merle Hensel
Lighting by Andy Purves
Sound by Carolyn Downing
Video design by Ian William Galloway 

LISTINGS INFORMATION
Dates Wednesday 11 January – Saturday 04 February 2012
Times Evenings 7.30pm / Matinees 1.30pm (18, 25, 31 Jan & 02 Feb) & 2.30pm (21 & 28 Jan)
Tickets £12.50 - £35
Bookings 0871 22 117 22 / www.lyric.co.uk
Accessible performances
Audio Described Saturday 21 January 7.30pm
Open Captioned Monday 23 January 7.30pm
Free First Nights First Nights
As part of the Lyric Hammersmith’s aim to further engage with the community, anyone who lives or works in Hammersmith and Fulham can claim two free tickets to see Lovesong on Wednesday 11 January at 7.30pm. They just need to come to the Ticket Office with proof of their home or work address, on either the Friday or Saturday before the performance to pick up their free tickets.

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Leanne Rowe and Edward Bennett

Edward Bennett and Leanne Rowe

Sam Cox and Siân Phillips

Sam Cox and Leanne Rowe