Headshot of David Byrne. He wears an orange, corduroy shirt. He has grey hair, bushy eyebrows and is slightly smiling, looking upwards of the camera.

Photo: Tom Jamieson

Changing Faces

Byrne becomes Royal Court’s Artistic Director

Arts Professional
2 min read

DAVID BYRNE will become Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre at the start of next year.

He will replace VICKY FEATHERSTONE, who announced intention to step down after a decade in post earlier this year.

Byrne is a theatre director, playwright and founding Artistic Director & CEO of London’s New Diorama Theatre. 

Under Byrne’s leadership, New Diorama has produced work on international and national stages, including the production of Nouveau Riche’s For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy, which ran at the Royal Court in 2022 before being transferred to the West End earlier this year. 

He has led the theatre in supporting new writers, playwrights, theatremakers and artists over the past decade through initiatives such as NDT Broadgate, launched at the beginning of the pandemic, which provided free rehearsal space for creatives. 

His productions, including adaptations of Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London have garnered acclaim in the UK and worldwide. The Incident Room and Secret Life of Humans secured Off-Broadway transfers and are scheduled for multiple international productions in 2023. 

Chair of the Royal Court ANTHONY BURTON CBE said he is “thrilled” Byrne is joining the theatre.

“He has a reputation for artistic excellence, creative disruption and innovation in artist support. 

“We are very excited by the prospect of his leadership which will be fresh and surprising, whilst building on the groundbreaking legacy of his predecessor Vicky Featherstone.”

“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’,” Byrne said. 

“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.
 
“Becoming the Artistic Director of the Royal Court is an honour, a privilege, and is going to be the adventure of a lifetime. I can’t wait to get started.”