Lily Allen will star as the enigmatic and destructive Hedda Gabler, one of theatre’s most irresistible heroines, in a thrilling new version of Ibsen’s masterpiece which will open at Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio from Friday 25 July – Saturday 23 August 2025.
Returning from her honeymoon and already bored with her marriage, Hedda finds herself shattered by a destructive attraction to a seemingly brilliant but dissolute writer and blackmailed by an older predatory man. Suffocated and betrayed by these violent forces, there is only one choice left to her….
The multi award-winning star of stage, screen and music, Lily Allen has established herself as one of our most popular actresses and performers. Her recent appearance in the stage phenomenon 2:22 A Ghost Story earned her an Olivier Award nomination and the Whatsonstage Award for Best Actress, before starring in the highly-acclaimed The Pillowman. On screen she has portrayed the iconic Elizabeth Taylor in How To Build A Girl and her music career has seen her win more than 30 music awards, including Grammys, Ivor Novello and BRIT awards, and a succession of number one hit singles and albums.
The creative team will be led by sought-after director and writer Matthew Dunster. A former Associate Director of Shakespeare’s Globe and the Young Vic, he has been nominated for four Olivier Awards and his Broadway production of Hangmen was nominated for five Tony Awards. His West End productions include Hangmen, True West, Shirley Valentine and The Pillowman. His production of 2:22 A Ghost Story, where he began his working relationship with Lily Allen, broke records in the West End and went on to achieve international acclaim. In January 2025 he will direct Conor McPherson’s highly anticipated stage adaptation of The Hunger Games.
Lily Allen says: “I am absolutely thrilled to be given the chance of playing Hedda Gabler. I adore working with Matthew Dunster and can’t wait to explore this piece with him. I’m very excited to bring her to Bath next summer, in the intimacy of the Ustinov Studio, it’s going to be great.”
Matthew Dunster says “Lily and I were talking about women we knew that were trapped in relationships where men had all the power, and how these twenty first century women were still being controlled and destroyed. The conversation turned to plays where we could explore those ideas. We thought of Hedda Gabler and the connections were obvious, exciting and devastating. I relish watching Lily challenge herself, she pushes me, and I really value our ongoing collaboration. We want to offer up a Hedda that is absolutely for now.”
This announcement reinforces the Ustinov’s reputation as the country’s leading studio space. This Spring two Ustinov productions will play simultaneously in the West End – Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal at the Old Vic and A View from the Bridge starring Dominic West at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Pinter’s The Lover and The Collection starring David Morrissey and Mathew Horne has just finished an acclaimed sell out run in the Ustinov and Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea starring Tamsin Greig and Oliver Chris is currently in preview. Later in the year Richard Jones – director of Machinal – will return to the Ustinov to direct Pinter’s The Birthday Party starring Jane Horrocks. ‘ Further cast and creative team are to be announced.
Tickets go on sale to Theatre Royal Bath Priority Bookers at 10am on Saturday 4 May 2024.
