Rufus Norris’s departure from the National Theatre leaves a gap at the top of British Theatre but there is no shortage of potential successors.
Here are some of theatreland’s biggest talents who might fancy seeing their name up in lights on the Southbank:
•Rupert Goold has run the Almeida in Islington for a decade and under his regime it has scored hits including Chimerica, King Charles III and A Streetcar Named Desire.
He is currently directing James Graham’s Dear England – about Gareth Southgate’s time in charge of the England football team - at the National and could be tempted to make the arrangement permanent though may prefer the freedom of the Almeida which also allows him to direct films including 2019’s Oscar-winning Judy which starred Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland.
•Josie Rourke worked her way up through London’s theatres – first at the Bush then the Donmar Warehouse – scoring hits along the way with Saint Joan, starring Gemma Arterton, and Dangerous Liaisons with Dominic West.
But she has also embraced Hollywood – making her directorial debut with Mary Queen of Scots starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie – and may not want to tie herself down to the huge job that is running the National.
•Clint Dyer, currently Deputy Artistic Director at the National, would be a natural choice if it decided to promote an internal candidate. He co-wrote Death of England which starred Rafe Spall in a one man state of the nation play and pulled in the crowds in the West End where he directed Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley musical.
But he is not the only internal candidate who could have a claim – current associate directors including Lyndsey Turner may decide they want to step up to take charge.
•Sam Mendes, the award-winning film director, whose hits include American Beauty, Skyfall and 1917, made his name in theatre where he ran Covent Garden’s Donmar Warehouse for more than a decade.
His successful film career has never completely taken him away from the stage and he enjoyed a stand out success at the National in 2018 with the Lehman Trilogy which went on to Broadway success.
•Kenneth Branagh would not be the first actor to take charge. Sir Laurence Olivier, to whom Branagh was regularly likened in the early years of his career, was the theatre’s first artistic director.
A busy film career has never quite taken over his love of the stage and he set up his own company in 2015 and later this year will play the title role in King Lear in the West End.
•Rob Hastie – If the powers that be want to look outside London for their candidate then Hastie, who is currently Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres, could be their pick.
A former Associate Director at the Donmar Warehouse he worked at the National on the Sheffield-set Standing at the sky’s edge and is currently directing cult musical Operation Mincemeat in the West End.
•Lynette Linton – Another graduate of the Donmar Warehouse talent school, Linton has run The Bush Theatre since 2019 and made her name as one to watch with a series of acclaimed shows.
She has also worked with the National where she won plaudits directing Blues for an Alabama Sky but the move from west London may have come too soon.
