Key Features
Northern Bank Stage
The main auditorium houses 389 seats in a single steep rake, with the actors in the same room as the audience. It has been designed to ensure optimum sightlines and encourage and intensify the intimacy which was the most successful characteristic of the old theatre. The layout is creased along one line, folding slightly like an open hand to hold the audience. An impressive array of technical features on the Northern Bank Stage in the main auditorium includes: a fourteen by nine metre playing space, two thirds of which can be removed to incorporate a single trap or a full size trench into production designs; forty full width bars overhead for flying scenery in and out; an elevator which can drop the forestage down to incorporate musicians at pit level; and a retractable proscenium arch.
The Naughton Studio
The Naughton Studio will provide opportunities for young people to participate in drama activities throughout the year. It is a six metre high flexible space which provides for end stage, traverse, thrust, in the round, cabaret and promenade performance possibilities. The studio has been sited along the street frontage with a picture window to provide visual communication between street and theatre activities. The Studio will also allow the Lyric to expand its artistic programme, providing more opportunities for artists and audiences.
The McGrath Suite
This versatile space will be dedicated to youth and education activities, including storytelling, script development, and drama classes. Distinguishing features of this beautiful space include floor to ceiling glazed timber windows overlooking the adjoining Lyric woods and the River Lagan. The room will be nestled among the trees and open out onto the riverfront.
Front of House
The public approach the new theatre up a gently rising sandstone stair from the street and enter a dynamic foyer space. A flowing stairway leads from the box office to the upper foyer which overlooks the River Lagan and provides access to both performance spaces. The new theatre will be a welcoming, sociable space which provides all the amenities expected in the 21st-century for a great night out. Spacious lobbies and a cafe/bar overlooking the river will help to make the Lyric a real visitor destination and improve revenue generation for the organisation.
The Rehearsal Room
The Rehearsal Room will continue to house the daily creative collaborations of our most exciting acting and directing talent. There’s nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of a busy rehearsal room bursting with energy and imagination in the quest to create work of the highest quality.