RUNNING WITH LIONS at Lyric Hammersmith to star Bridgerton's Ruby Barker

Photo credit: Steve Piper

The Lyric Hammersmith and Talawa Theatre Company have announced full casting for the world premiere of Running with Lions, running from 10 February-12 March 2022.

Sian Carter’s debut stage play will star Ruby Barker (Bridgerton), Wil Johnson (Waking the Dead), Suzette Llewellyn (EastEnders), Nickcolia King-N’da (The Death Of A Blackman) and Velile Tshabalala (Call The Midwife).

Director Michael Buffong said: "Sian Carter is a brilliant new writer; her story of an intergenerational family learning to overcome the challenges we all face today is, I think, life-affirming. To be able to co-produce this play with the Lyric is a welcomed dream. We have an amazing cast and I believe this is going to be an absolute treat for audiences."

Artistic Director of Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, Rachel O’Riordan, said: “I’ve long admired the work of Talawa Theatre Company and Michael Buffong and it’s a joy to be working with them on Running with Lions, our very first co-production together, and championing an exceptional new writer, Sian Carter. We can’t wait to welcome an incredible cast and team to the Lyric and share this bold, exciting work with audiences in the New Year.”

The production features set and costume design by Soutra Gilmour, lighting by Aideen Malone, and sound by Tony Gayle.

Running with Lions is an intergenerational family drama about love, loss and hope: following three generations of women, it explores what it means to allow those we love to be themselves. It marks the first co-production between the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Talawa Theatre Company, the UK’s outstanding Black British Theatre Company. The production is based on the audio play of the same name originally commissioned by BBC Radio 4.

Following the death of a loved one, a British-Caribbean family struggles to come to terms with their grief. Isolated by their generational beliefs and challenges to their faith and mental health, they live between the things they do and do not say. Running with Lions explores the journey of one family’s reconciliation after loss and the rediscovery of love and joy.

For more information and to book tickets, please click here.