Tamara Harvey is to become The Royal Shakespeare Company’s first permanent female artistic director.
Currently Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd in North Wales, she’ll be working alongside co-Artistic Director, Daniel Evans from June next year.
“Being taken to Stratford to see Murder in the Cathedral at 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,” she said.
“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.”
Harvey was born in Botswana and grew up in Massachusetts before heading to the UK. Her first professional theatre job was as Assistant Director at Shakespeare’s Globe under Mark Rylance.
She became Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd in 2015 and has since built partnerships and co-productions across the country, including with the National Theatre and Sheffield Theatres.
Co-Artistic Director Daniel Evans joins from Chichester Festival Theatre. Prior that he was Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres, where he directed Shakespeare and Ibsen as well as acting in Sondheim – performances which earned him 2 Olivier awards.
Harvey and Evans are regular collaborators and applied together for the position.
