Today we announce that our artistic director David Lan will step down after leading the company for almost two decades.
David Lan in rehearsals for Why It's All Kicking Off. Photo by Leon Puplett.David was appointed in 2000. Over the 17 years of his tenure, the Young Vic’s ambitious and adventurous work has reached millions of people on The Cut and around the world.
David spearheaded the 2006 redevelopment of the building you know today featuring our three spaces, the Main House, the Maria and the Clare. Designed by architects Haworth Tompkins, we were named RIBA London Building of the Year, were short-listed for the Sterling Prize and won many design and industry awards.
The last decade has been the most successful in our company’s history. David has consistently produced pioneering shows, nurtured the careers of younger theatremakers and won acclaim from critics and audiences across the globe. Through David’s vision the scope of Young Vic productions has widened to include opera, music theatre, dance and short films.
Many Young Vic productions have gone on to great success in the West End, on Broadway and in other theatres round the world. Since winning an Olivier Award for the entire 2003 season, the Young Vic has won every major London and New York theatre award, several many times over.
David will continue as artistic director and CEO until a new artistic director is appointed towards the end of this year and will continue to take responsibility for the 2017/18 season, his last at the Young Vic, which will be announced next month.
Lucy Woollatt will continue to lead the company as executive director as she has done for the last 7 years.
David Lan said: “There is never an easy time to slip away but I wanted to leave at a time of our greatest strength and success. The Young Vic is now admired and emulated internationally as well as loved by our audience in our local communities of Lambeth and Southwark, in London and across the UK. It’s the right moment for it to set off on a new journey and a new adventure.”
Lucy Woollatt said: “We will greatly miss David’s passion, vision and leadership. He has transformed this company into a world-class destination for artists and audiences from around the world. His tireless dedication has set us up for success in the coming years, and we look forward to the next exciting chapter of the Young Vic’s story.”
Chair of the YV Board, Patrick McKenna, said:
“David has made such a big contribution to the Young Vic success story that it's hard to do justice to his transformative leadership. The fact that the Young Vic is currently one of the most successful independent producing theatres in the world is significantly down to David's ability to attract the very best talent in world theatre to work here.”
