Rufus Norris returns to London with Brock's Mill as Lyric Hammersmith unveils 2027 season
Rufus Norris, the former artistic director and chief executive of the National Theatre, will direct a London production for the first time since leaving that job. The play is Brock's Mill, and it will run at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in west London from 13 May to 5 June 2027. The theatre announced its 2027 season on 27 October 2026, according to WhatsOnStage.
Brock's Mill is a Royal Shakespeare Company production, made in association with the Lyric. It opens first in Stratford-upon-Avon. Stewart Pringle wrote it, and it explores stop-motion filmmaking, the craft of photographing objects frame by frame to create movement. The animation is by Astrid Goldsmith.
The season opens earlier in the year with a London premiere. Inua Ellams' Once Upon a Time in Sokoto runs from 13 April to 8 May, directed by Roy Alexander Weise and presented by Fuel, a production company. The play won the 2024 Alfred Fagon Award, a prize for new plays by Black British writers.
Two more premieres follow. Before the Coffee Gets Cold is Conor McPherson's stage adaptation of Toshikazu Kawaguchi's novel. It has its world premiere at the Lyric from 17 June to 17 July. The theatre also confirmed a London premiere for a musical version of Markus Zusak's novel The Book Thief, though no dates were given.
In late summer, Kieran Hurley's adaptation of Graeme Armstrong's novel The Young Team runs from 31 August to 25 September, directed by O'Riordan. It is a co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland. The show starts at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and moves to the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow after London.
Autumn brings We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Alistair McDowall's adaptation of Shirley Jackson's novel. Sarah Frankcom directs it from 7 October to 6 November.
Jaja's African Hair Braiding returns to the Lyric. Jocelyn Bioh wrote it, and Monique Touko directs the UK production. It won a Tony Award on Broadway, and it is set in a Harlem hair salon where West African immigrant braiders style the hair of their neighbourhood women. The theatre's website lists it for 28 January to 27 February 2027.
The Lyric has also agreed a residency with Hackney Showroom, which will use the studio theatre. The partnership includes two world premieres and a festival called Nice Pair, running from 8 to 20 March 2027. Four pairs of artists will each develop original work and present it for a week. Each pair receives a £6,000 fee. The open call for applicants runs from 27 October to 29 November 2026.
Smaller programmes sit alongside the productions. The longlist for the 2027 Bill Cashmore Award was picked from more than 200 submissions. In April 2027 the Lyric will also work with Bristol Old Vic on the Bill Cashmore Award: One Act Play Prize. SPRINGBOARD, the theatre's training scheme, is now taking applications. Its 2027 group will train from January to November.
For a theatre with a full stage calendar, the season sets out a long run of new work, from a premiere in April to a festival in March and a late-year run in the autumn. Applicants for the Nice Pair open call and SPRINGBOARD have until late November to apply.
