Published Monday, 28 March 2011
With just over a month to go until the official opening, a cast of 19 actors took part in the first rehearsal for the first production, Arthur Miller's The Crucible.
The £18m revamp includes a 389-seat auditorium and a new studio. The stage is one and a half times bigger than the original.
The director and actors will work on The Crucible for four weeks in the theatre's rehearsal room before moving onto the Northern Bank Stage.
A final week of technical rehearsals including costume, set, lighting and sound will culminate in dress rehearsals and previews before the opening gala performance in May, followed by a five week run that is expected to play to packed houses.
Director Conall Morrison said: "There are special and rare moments in a director's career when a perfect job comes along.
"The combination of one of my favourite plays and this highly auspicious moment makes the whole enterprise thrilling for me. The Lyric Theatre has chosen a very big and exciting play for a very big and exciting moment, and - together with the first rate cast that has been assembled - I will do my very best to rise to the occasion."
Leading actor Patrick O'Kane said: "I'm thrilled to be playing such an iconic role in one of the outstanding plays of the 20th Century. The Crucible resonates just as profoundly today as it did in America in the 1950s. Miller's story of a community terrorised by its own paranoia, his rich characterisations and his relish of a muscular, theatrical language, mark The Crucible out as a genuine classic."
As well as the new auditorium, the new Lyric also includes youth and education rooms.
It is the only full-time producing theatre in Northern Ireland.