Lyric Hammersmith Theatre has unveiled its 2026 season, featuring three razor-sharp comedies set across a single day. Each production explores vivid, pressurised worlds and the complexities of human connection.
Opening the season is the UK premiere of Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, written by Tony Award-winner Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Monique Touko. The production reunites the creative team behind School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play.
Following this is a bold new staging of Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband, directed by Lyric Associate Director Nicholai La Barrie. This marks the 100th anniversary of the play’s last appearance at the Lyric in 1926.
The season concludes with the world premiere of Relics, a darkly comic family drama by Ben Ockrent, directed by Michael Longhurst. The play centres on four siblings who reunite to clear out their mother’s house, confronting the legacy of their childhoods and long-held family secrets.
Rachel O’Riordan, Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, said:
“I’m excited today to be announcing a new season of three shows for 2026 which exemplify the true spirit of the Lyric: bold, entertaining stories which bring audiences into seemingly familiar settings, and then turn them on their heads.
We’re delighted to be reuniting Jocelyn Bioh and Monique Touko for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. This writer-director team brought us Schools Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play in 2023 and this new play has all the same ingredients to be a great night out at the theatre.
At the Lyric, we’re committed to taking classic works and reimagining them for the audiences of today. Nicholai La Barrie’s major new production of An Ideal Husband will do exactly that, taking Oscar Wilde’s enduring comedy and setting it in an opulent, modern-day London.
It is always a thrill to programme a world premiere and Ben Ockrent’s Relics is no exception. Directed by Michael Longhurst, this dark comedy explores the long shadow of family secrets, shared history and sibling rivalries. Buckle up for a delicious family drama.
From a Harlem hair braiding salon, to the highest echelons of modern-day London, and a family home haunted by secrets: I cannot wait for audiences to see these worlds come to life on our beautiful stage.”
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
