PLAYWRIGHT Rosemary Jenkinson has been named writer in residence at the Lyric. The second woman to take the post, which is funded by a private patron, Jenkinson follows in the footsteps of the likes of Owen McCafferty (2015), Abbie Spallen (2012) and Peter Wilson aka Duke Special (2016). Her plays, including last year’s hit Here Comes the Night, have formed part of the Lyric Theatre’s creative output in recent years.
Making the announcement and unveiling the theatre's spring programme, executive producer Jimmy Fay said the Lyric had made an “indelible cultural mark on Belfast” and was looking forward to celebrating its 50th year in 2018.
Since 2011, when it reopened following extensive redevelopment, the Lyric has attracted more than half a million theatre-goers through its doors and played to a further 60,000 on tour. As the north’s only full-time producing theatre, it appoints a playwright-in-residence annually as part of its aim to support new writing.
Belfast woman Jenkinson said she was thrilled. “It’s a rare privilege for a writer to have a monthly wage and I think you’ll see me in the theatre café writing away like JK Rowling,” she said. She will be working on one big new project this year, already agreed with the theatre, that is currently under wraps.
Spring season highlights at the Lyric include Red, a play about artist Mark Rothko by US writer John Logan and starring Belfast actor Patrick O’Kane; Sinners, a new satire by Marie Jones, starring Alan McKee and Christina Nelson, about a farming community embroiled in the tangled disputes of local politics, religion and relationships; Nivelli’s War, the story of a Holocaust survivor, which stars Dan Gordon and Willy Russell's Educating Rita, in which Kerri Quinn takes centre stage once again following the production's record-breaking run last year.
A new six-month programme of development support for playwrights established in conjunction with the Lyric's main funder, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, has also been announced.
:: The full spring season includes 27 productions – full details at www.lyricbelfast.co.uk; box office 028 9038 1081.
