The Lyric Players began in 1951 when a production of Robert Farren's Lost Light was given before an invited audience in the consulting room of Dr Pearse and Mrs Mary O'Malley's house at 117 Lisburn Road, Belfast.
In 1968 the Lyric Theatre opened its doors on the banks of the River Lagan. The Lyric currently aims to fulfil a broad role, offering fifty weeks a year of varied programming, with a particular commitment to the classics, work by Irish writers and the commission and presentation of new plays, most recently by Colin Teevan, Gary Mitchell, Marie Jones, Jennifer Johnston and Graham Reid.
The last few years have seen the broadening of the theatre’s role within the community and in education. In 2002 Prime Cuts 10th Year Anniversary production of 'Macbeth' at the Lyric Theatre played to sold out houses over a four week run. This production was targeted towards secondary schools and university drama students as this was a key text on the NI curriculum. Recent seasons have included a greater concentration on developing younger audiences. Targeting key age groups with curriculum texts such as 'The Crucible', 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' and 'Juno and the Paycock', backed up by a series of workshops, has proven very successful.
The theatre aims to tour its productions as widely as possible. Recent tours have included 'Pygmalion', 'Translations' and October 1996 saw an historic tour of the United States with our revival of Brian Friel’s 'Philadelphia, Here I Come'. Recently the Lyric Theatre announced that its outstanding production of Marie Jones’s 'A Night in November' had been chosen to be one of the theatrical highlights of the prestigious Perth International Arts Festival in Australia in January 2003. This was the first time in nearly a decade that the Lyric had toured internationally, and the invitation to perform in Perth was a major coup for the theatre and for Northern Ireland.
The Internationally renowned 'Stones In His Pockets' (Oliver Award for ‘Best New Comedy’, Evening Standard Award for ‘Best New Comedy’), premiered at the Lyric Theatre and has since toured Ireland, England, Scotland, Sweden, Canada, America, Israel, Japan and Broadway New York.
The Lyric’s Summer Season has witnessed extraordinary box office success with 'Conversations on a Homecoming' written by Tom Murphy. The cast featured the best of international and home-grown talent featuring Adrian Dunbar, Vincent Higgins, Conleth Hill, and Lesley-Anne Shaw.
This production was followed by the sell out New York hit 'A Night in November' by Marie Jones. This one-man show staring local actor Dan Gordon captured the hearts of the Lyric’s audiences with a powerful insight into prejudice, destiny and awakening during the 1994 World Cup qualifying soccer match between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
In a picturesque setting on the banks of the River Lagan, the Lyric is one of the leading arts organisations in the north. Creating exclusive, indigenous product throughout the year, its work is at the cutting edge of creativity. Many famous local faces have been associated with the Lyric over its fifty years history, including its patron Liam Neeson, playwright Marie Jones, and stage and TV actors Adrian Dunbar, Ian McElhinney, Jimmy Ellis, and Dan Gordon.
The Lyric is presently on the threshold of a period of important development and change. With the purchase of the adjacent site, plans for the redevelopment of the theatre are underway, including a studio theatre, riverside restaurant and rehearsal studios, all of which will provide magnificent new facilities for audiences and actors alike. In 2000 the Lyric Theatre won the prestigious Irish Times 'Best Company' Award for it’s year round programme.