Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey have been announced as the RSC’s co-artistic directors. Picture: Seamus Ryan
Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey will take over as co-artistic directors of the Royal Shakespeare Company from June 2023.
Frequent collaborators on major productions, Evans, the current artistic director of Chichester Festival Theatre, and Harvey, the artistic director of Theatr Clwyd, jointly applied for the prestigious position which was publicly advertised in April 2022.
Announcing the appointments, Shriti Vadera, chair of the RSC Board, said: “The Board is delighted to appoint Daniel and Tamara as co-artistic directors from an exceptionally strong field of candidates. They bring a brilliant track record of artistic achievement with a strong commitment to education, communities and championing diverse talent and voices, alongside a proven strategic ability to lead major companies.
“Their partnership heralds an exciting vision for the future of the RSC to attract world-class artistic talent, captivate today’s audiences with Shakespeare, classics and new work, and increase radically the reach and impact of our pioneering learning, partnerships and digital work.”
Looking forward to the arrival of Evans and Harvey, Catherine Mallyon, RSC executive director, said: “I am excited to start a new leadership relationship with Daniel and Tamara who have a profound understanding of the RSC as a theatre and learning charity, combined with the high levels of the skill, imagination, talent and commitment required to make captivating theatre, unlock potential and inspire change.”
Commenting on his new role, Evans said: “I was fortunate to see so many inspiring performances at Stratford during my teenage years; and later celebrated my 21st birthday there during my first professional job post-drama school. So, to be returning to the RSC as its co-artistic director is immensely meaningful to me. To do so alongside Tamara is a joy and a privilege. We share deep-rooted values and an ambitious vision for the Company, and we’re both looking forward to working with Catherine and the team to begin this new, exciting chapter in the RSC’s story.”
Harvey added: “Being taken to Stratford to see Murder in the Cathedral at the Swan when I was fifteen was one of the most vivid moments of my childhood. A sense of awe, but even then, a desire to get in there and start making plays: two feelings I continue to hold today.
“Stepping into this job is both the most exciting and the most daunting thing I’ve ever done. The great joy of working in partnership with Daniel, an artist I admire beyond measure, is that we share both that excitement and that awe at becoming the next custodians of this amazing company. We bring a shared belief in all that the RSC can be – a home for radical, relevant theatre made by artists from across the UK and the wider world. A global community inspired by Shakespeare, bringing together myriad voices to tell the stories of our time – and of all time.”
The role became available after Gregory Doran announced his decision to step down after 35 years. Doran will remain at the RSC as artistic director emeritus until the end of 2023 and will direct his 50th production for the company in the spring of 2023.
At the request of the Board, Erica Whyman will continue as acting artistic director until June 2023 when she will leave the company to pursue a freelance career. Details of the 2023 season which is programmed by Whyman will be unveiled on 27 September.
Paying tribute to Whyman’s work at the RSC, Vadera said: “We are enormously grateful for Erica’s generous and inclusive leadership and significant contribution to the Company over the last decade, including her championing of new work, her commitment to the RSC as a truly national organisation with our ground-breaking national partnerships, and of course as director across all our stages.”
Angela Thomas
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