What began as a tiny space above the founder’s stables became the beating heart of the city’s performing arts. Its leader Jimmy Fay reflects on recent hits and reveals what audiences can expect from the theatre’s anniversary year

‘The Lyric gives voice to everyone in Northern Ireland,” says the theatre’s boss, Jimmy Fay. “It’s a beacon.” Fay views the 2026 programme, celebrating 75 years of the Lyric, as an opportunity to showcase current creative talent, as well as honouring the theatre’s past.

One of the plays from the repertoire that Fay was keen to revive is Christina Reid’s Tea in a China Cup, from 1983. With a cast including Marie Jones, the new production – which runs in May – is directed by Dan Gordon, who performed in the original. Reid’s play traces the daily lives of Protestant working-class women in Belfast across three decades, from the second world war to the Troubles, with humour and poignancy.

LOS ANGELES, April 29 — Disney Animation is giving some of its most iconic songs a new voice — one spoken through hands, faces and movement — reimagining classic numbers in American Sign Language to mark National Deaf History Month.

Songs We Don’t Talk About Bruno from Encanto, Beyond from Moana 2 and The Next Right Thing from Frozen 2 were recreated using Deaf West Theatre performers as models for the animation.

The performances are bundled with behind-the-scenes footage in Songs in Sign Language, which premiered Monday on Disney+.

DJ Kurs, artistic director of Deaf West Theatre, said the project challenges the common misconception that deaf people and music don’t mix.

“That’s actually not true — quite the opposite,” he signed during an interview with Reuters, noting that deaf and hearing-impaired artists have long signed and performed music, and that modern captions, assistive technology and high-powered headphones have made music more accessible than ever.

Hyrum Osmond, who also worked on Disney films Zootopia and Raya and the Last Dragon, said that this project was deeply personal for him.

Osmond’s father is deaf, and he said not learning ASL growing up created a barrier he wanted to address.

“This came about as a way to connect and bring down barriers, especially between Disney Animation and the deaf community,” he said.

The production presented unique challenges.

We Don’t Talk About Bruno features multiple characters signing overlapping parts, while The Next Right Thing required the character Anna to sign while climbing a mountain.

Kurs emphasised that ASL relies on facial expressions and full-body movement, details the animators carefully incorporated — from raised eyebrows to subtle shifts in posture.

The Deaf West Theatre artistic director added that each song went through an intensive process of translation, rehearsal and filming, with performers’ movements captured from multiple angles and refined shot by shot.

Osmond praised the collaboration, calling the final result “art.” “It’s less about signing individual words and more about conveying emotion,” he said.

The project took four years to develop, with animation completed in six months.

Osmond said the lessons learned could open new creative possibilities.

“Just working through this sparked ideas and solutions,” he said.

“I think it’s going to lead to things we haven’t even imagined yet.” — Reuters

LONDON, April 27 — Zhao Xintong beat Ding Junhui 13-9 in the Chinese showdown at the World Snooker Championship as the defending champion booked his place in the quarter-finals on Sunday.

Zhao led 9-7 after Saturday’s action before Ding reduced the deficit to a single frame by taking the opener on Sunday.

The 29-year-old, looking to become the first first-time winner to retain the world title at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre, quickly snuffed out any danger to his title defence.

Ding was the first Chinese player to win a ranking event, but Zhao capitalised on a series of mistakes by his compatriot to pull away.

A break of 108 in the penultimate frame helped seal a last eight clash with former world champion Shaun Murphy.

“Today I think there was more pressure,” Zhao told BBC Sport. “I know Ding didn’t play very well in the last session but the pressure is very big.

“This year I just don’t want to lose any match so it feels very different.”

The clash was expected to draw a big television audience in China and Zhao admitted he felt the tension of playing in such a high-profile match.

“This was a very special match for us that everybody knows about and wants to keep eyes on it. It was very different last year when I was a nobody guy,” he said.

Ding, the 2016 runner-up at the World Championship, added: “It was not good enough. I was a little bit disappointed in the first two sessions.

“It’s hard when I’m 7-9 down and he found his game quickly. I tried, it was just not working.”

World number one Judd Trump moved closer to booking his place in the quarter-finals after building a 9-7 lead against Iran’s Hossein Vafaei. — AFP

MALAYSIA: Universiti Malaya has apologised after a theatre scene deviated from the vetted script and violated competition rules, resulting in the performance being ruled ineligible.

But some are saying this is nothing new, and it has happened before, but this time it is getting more attention because it happened at the UM, a very prestigious institution in Malaysia.

The institution also says it will investigate the suggestive theatre scene that went viral after public outcry.

The controversy arose from a clip filmed during the Universiti Malaya Theatre Carnival (KARVITER).

The footage showed a male and female actor alone together on a bed under dimmed lighting. The male actor is seen slowly crawling forward suggestively while the female actor begins to lie down, shortly before the sequence is interrupted.

The university said it takes the matter seriously and acknowledges the concerns raised by the public. It said the scene constitutes a clear violation of competition rules.

Users on X are saying this is not the first time a university play runs out of script, particularly when it comes to suggestive acts.

The user posted a video showing what they say is a student in a sexually explicit act.

One commenter said that besides UM, UPM isn’t spared either. “This theatre issue has actually been around for a long time. It’s only viral now because UM did it.

“Here’s an old video from UPM in 2019. This time it’s the woman on top of the man… kind of the reverse .”

Another had this to say on the moral standing in Universities:

UM’s Karviter. Doing indecent acts openly, and being afraid of being criticised openly.”

The user also asked what type of education is being dispensed at the institution to make students act the way they did during the play.

They twisted the title of the play, ‘Asrama-ra’ to ‘berasmara’, meaning (making love).

The story went wild on threads, with some saying they thought UM was a great university, while others stated the acts during the play showed serious failings, blaming the lecturers in the process.

Another commenter shared: “Surely those students should have rehearsed. Why wasn’t it filtered? As lecturers, why didn’t you advise that it was inappropriate to be staged? Only after it went viral did a statement come out… Very embarrassing. This is serious, not a joke. Issues like this seem to encourage immorality. Back then, if we performed, we would be corrected — okay, this part needs to be cut off. So I think UM lecturers were very careless.”

The incident has since drawn wider discussion about creative boundaries and supervision in student productions.

This article (Universiti Malaya apologises after theatre scene deviates from script, sparks backlash) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.