Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey are to be co-artistic directors of the Royal Shakespeare Company, taking up the post from June 2023.
Evans is currently artistic director of Chichester Festival Theatre and Harvey holds a similar position at Theatr Clwyd. They applied together for the position.
The RSC advertised the role of artistic director in April 2022 after Gregory Doran’s decision to step down. He has taken on the role of artistic director emeritus until the end of 2023 and will direct his 50th production for the company in spring 2023.
Erica Whyman will continue as acting artistic director until June 2023. She will then leave the company to pursue a freelance career. She has programmed the 2023 season.
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 (Mallyon, executive director) 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 (by T S Eliot) in the Swan when I was 15 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.”