The Young Vic has announced the appointment of Nadia Fall as the new Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive of the Young Vic. Nadia will join the Young Vic in January 2025 and will succeed Kwame Kwei-Armah who steps down from the role following his final production, A Face in the Crowd, in September. She will lead together with Executive Director Lucy Davies who also becomes Joint Chief Executive.
Speaking about her appointment, Nadia Fall said:
“The Young Vic was first built as a pop-up theatre for a younger, bolder generation of artists and audiences. Today it is a celebrated cornerstone of London theatre but that mischievous spirit of a makeshift, anti-establishment theatre still courses through its veins, and I find that incredibly compelling. The Young Vic is not afraid to ask the difficult questions, and it’s particularly exciting to me that its audiences have an appetite for that provocation.
I was born in Southwark and raised in and around the borough as well as the Middle East to South Asian parents, and I love that the Young Vic holds hands with its local community of Southwark and Lambeth whilst looking out towards the rest of the world through its artists and stories. It’s exactly who we are in London – both local and international.
I am thrilled to be leading the team at a theatre where I was first taken into the fold as a young student director when Associate Artistic Director Sue Emmas watched the first night of the very first show I ever directed in a pub theatre in Kennington. It’s one of life’s full circle moments and I cannot wait to get started.”
Glenn Earle, Chair of the Board, said:
“I am thrilled that Nadia will join us as our next Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive alongside Lucy Davies, our brilliant Executive Director. Nadia has a proven and long-standing record not only of theatre leadership, but also of significant artistic success, at the National Theatre, at Stratford East and as a freelance director. Critically, Nadia also shares our core Young Vic values of commitment to community and to broadening access to theatre and creative education.
My fellow Board members and I look forward to the exciting next chapter of the Young Vic story under the leadership of Nadia and Lucy, who we are sure will build confidently, creatively and inclusively on the extraordinary legacy of their illustrious forebears.”
Lucy Davies, Executive Director, said:
“I can’t wait to welcome Nadia to the brilliant Young Vic team. She’s a leader and artist of great flair, ideas and intelligence, with roots in our borough and ambitions for the world. She’s a fantastic successor to stand on Kwame’s mighty shoulders and take us into future adventures. Very exciting times.”
Kwame Kwei-Armah, current Artistic Director, said:
“I congratulate Nadia and the Young Vic. Nadia will get to work with some of the most dedicated and skilled theatre people in our sector, and they will get to work with a fearless artistic leader.”