Tipping The Velvet, Sarah Waters’ acclaimed debut novel, will be brought to the London stage later this year at the newly re-opened Lyric Hammersmith.
The 19th century-set, Betty Trask Award-winning novel, will be created by the team behind lauded Oxford University dining club drama Posh, writer Laura Wade and Olivier Award-winning director Lyndsey Turner.
Telling the story of Nancy Astley, whose life is given one hell of a shake up when she falls in love with Kitty Butler, a male-impersonating music hall performer, Tipping The Velvet runs at the Lyric Hammersmith from 18 September.
Speaking about the adaptation, Waters said: “I can think of no better setting for the play than the lush Lyric interior, and no more exciting creative talents than those of writer Laura Wade and director Lyndsey Turner. The production promises to be full of energy, fun and music hall sparkle.”
Casting for Tipping The Velvet is yet to be announced.
The Victorian drama will be the second production to play in the Lyric Hammersmith’s main house following the theatre’s multi-million pound redevelopment. The first, Bugsy Malone, is currently in previews. The theatre will officially re-open on 28 April when Alan Parker’s musical, which casts young performers as gangsters, meets the press.
Following Tipping The Velvet, the west London venue prepares for Christmas, bringing pantomime to the main house in the shape of Cinderella. The 2015 panto, which runs from 21 November, will be written by regular Lyric Hammersmith panto writer and Critics’ Circle Award winner Tom Wells. The Lyric Hammersmith studio welcomes back Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas for a festive season from 20 November.