David Byrne has been announced as the new director of London’s Royal Court theatre.
Much speculation had been circulating about which theatremaker would step into the role at the UK’s leading new writing theatre, following news that long-term artistic director Vicky Featherstone is stepping down after 10 years.
On Thursday (20 July), it was announced that Byrne, the CEO of New Diorama, would be taking over from Featherstone.
The playwright is both the current CEO and artistic director of new writing theatre New Diorama, which was the original home of 2023 West End hits Operation Mincemeat and For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy.
Byrne will take over from Featherstone at the start of 2024.
Speaking about his appointment, Byrne said: “At its founding, George Devine imagined the Royal Court to be where ‘the experimentalists of the modern era could be seen’, often ‘in advance of public taste.’
“For over a decade at New Diorama, I’ve embraced those ideals, seeking out and supporting the boldest and most exhilarating artists so that, together, we could re-write the theatre rule book.
“In this new role, I’m excited to continue working in service of the playwrights and artists raring to take big swings. Together, we’ll shape a rejuvenating culture from which the experimentalists of this new era are safe to take risks, can gamble like they’re never going to lose, and where audiences can glimpse the future of theatre, today.”
Byrne went on to describe his new role as “an honour, a privilege, and… the adventure of a lifetime”, adding: “I can’t wait to get started.”
The cast of ‘For Black Boys...’, which began life at New Diorama under Byrne’s leadership— (Ali Wright)
During his decade at New Diorama, Byrne took the theatre to critical success, with the venue being named The Stage Fringe Theatre of the Year on multiple occasions and Byrne supporting thousands of playwrights, theatre-makers and artists.
Byrne’s own plays have been performed in London, off-Broadway and at the Edinburgh Fringe, with a new adaptation of George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London, The Incident Room and Secret Life of Humans among his recent shows.
In a recent interview with The Independent, the Court’s outgoing artistic director Featherstone spoke about the difficulty of the job, where she and theatre all felt “the weight of not giving artists good news”.
Responding to comments by playwright David Eldridge suggesting that writers are often ignored or ghosted by artistic directors, she said: “Obviously it’s not as hard as it is for the writers,” she said. “But literary managers have left because all they were doing was saying no and they couldn’t really handle that.
“We live off the hopes and dreams of writers and their optimism and it is a failure on us that writers feel like that.”
