Sian Alexander takes the helm at Hammersmith's Lyric Theatre
The Lyric theatre has appointed a new executive director who will take up the reins in the autumn. Sian Alexander will take charge of the award-winning venue in King Street, Hammersmith.
“I'm delighted Sian Alexander will soon join us as our new executive director,” said the Lyric’s artistic director Sean Holmes.
“2015 has been monumental for the Lyric with the reopening of the building following its £20 million capital development and the coming years will be a very exciting time.
“I look forward to working with Sian as we take the Lyric on into its next chapter.”
Sian will join on October 5, during the theatre’s production of Tipping the Velvet, an adaptation of Sarah Water’s bestselling novel.
Set in 1887, it follows the love story of Nancy Astley (played by Sally Messham) who falls in love with music hall performer Kitty Butler (Laura Rogers) and follows her to London where adventures await.
It runs from Friday 18 September to Saturday 24 October, following on from the theatre’s highly-acclaimed production of Bugsy Malone which will come to an end on September 5.
Sian was executive director at the Bush Theatre in Uxbridge Road, Shepherd’s Bush, from 2012 to 2014 and has been a senior management consultant in the arts for the past five years. She has also worked as associate director of Julie’s Bicycle, a charity which works to reduce the impact of the creative industry on the environment, for three years and was head of London theatre at Arts Council England for 10 years.
Her continuing roles include chair of trustees for theatre company Frantic Assembly and board member of Julie’s Bicycle and the Gate Theatre.
She said “The Lyric is my local theatre and I’ve been a huge fan of its work for years. It is an honour now to lead the theatre alongside Sean Holmes and to work together to realise the fantastic potential of the Lyric’s new spaces for artists, audiences and young people.”
Sian succeeds Jessica Hepburn who is leaving the Lyric after nearly a decade as executive director to focus on her writing career and who, as her last act for the Lyric, is swimming the English Channel to raise money for the theatre’s work with disadvantaged children.
Further details on how to sponsor Jessica Hepburn’s swim across the English Channel can be found on her JustGiving page.
