Lily Allen Preps for West End Return as Tragic Heroine Hedda Gabler

Lily Allen is hard at work preparing to make her return to the West End, as she shared a slew of snaps from her rehearsals to play the famous role of Hedda Gabler.

The singer, 40, is set to star in a new re-imagining of Henrik Ibsen’s iconic play, Hedda, at the end of this month at the Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio.

The production is being adapted and directed by Matthew Dunster, who also directed both of Lily’s previous West End shows, and will run from 25 July to 23 August.

And the Not Fair star gave fans a glimpse into her preparation process, as she shared selfies of her learning her lines in a rehearsal space.

She also snapped a shot of her legs as she lounged on a sofa, with her hefty script open on her lap and her lines highlighted.

Captioning the post, Lily teased her excitement at returning to the stage, as she wrote: ‘WEST END GIRL’.

Lily Allen is hard at work preparing to make her return to the West End, as she shared a slew of snaps from her rehearsals to play the famous role of Hedda Gabler

The singer, 40, is set to star in a new re-imagining of Henrik Ibsen’s iconic play, Hedda, at the end of this month at the Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio

And the Not Fair star gave fans a glimpse into her preparation process, as she shared selfies of her learning her lines in a rehearsal space 

The BRIT Award winner will star in Hedda opposite Imogen Stubbs, Ciaran Owens, Julia Chan and Tom Austen.

A synopsis of the production reads: ‘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…’

Lily’s casting was announced in May last year, with her gushing she was thrilled to be playing the tragic heroine in a the intimate Ustinov Studio, which has a maximum capacity of just 126.

While director Matthew explained at the time: ‘Lily and I were talking about women we knew that were trapped in relationships where men had all the power, and how these 21st-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.’

He added that their version of the famous Norwegian tragedy, would be ‘absolutely for now’.

It marks Lily’s third turn at treading the boards, after making her West End debut in the summer of 2021, in supernatural thriller, 2:22 A Ghost Story.

Captioning the post, Lily teased her excitement at returning to the stage, as she wrote: ‘WEST END GIRL’

It marks Lily’s third turn at treading the boards, after making her West End debut in the summer of 2021, in supernatural thriller, 2:22 A Ghost Story 

She was the first to play the character of Jenny – a part that has since been played by the likes of Cheryl, Constance Wu, and Stacey Dooley – and received rave reviews for her ‘terrific stage presence’ (pictured on stage)

The mother-of-two came back to the stage in 2023, starring in Martin McDonagh’s production of The Pillowman as Katurian (pictured)

She was the first to play the character of Jenny – a part that has since been played by the likes of Cheryl, Constance Wu, and Stacey Dooley – and received rave reviews for her ‘terrific stage presence’.

Critics praised her as ‘magnetic’ and ‘superb’ and declared she gave ‘a notably confident performance that belies her newcomer status.’

She bagged her first Oliver Award nomination for the role and won the Best Actress gong at the WhatsOnStage Awards in 2022.

The mother-of-two came back to the stage in 2023, starring in Martin McDonagh’s production of The Pillowman opposite Steve Pemberton.

She played Katurian in the revival of the 2003 play, which follows the fiction writer as she is imprisoned by a totalitarian state.

She was the first woman to take on the role, after David Tennant portrayed the leading character in the original 2003 Olivier award-winning play.

Speaking about the decision to cast a woman in the role, Lily told The Telegraph: ‘I think it will add an extra layer of horror, because we’re not used to seeing women being beaten up. 

‘It will be shocking, in that sense. I also feel that men don’t necessarily get the same c**p for their artistic output that women do.’