Bristol Old Vic has announced that Nancy Medina will be Bristol Old Vic’s new Artistic Director, taking up her role full time from Spring 2023 and following Tom Morris who steps down from the role after 12 years.
Nancy Medina said: “I feel a great sense of awe and excitement to be embarking on a journey that will contribute to the great legacy of leading England’s oldest working theatre. I feel gratitude to be joining the amazing team at Bristol Old Vic and to further the outstanding work that Tom Morris and Charlotte Geeves have initiated for excellence in creativity, innovation, artist development and engagement with the wider city of Bristol.
“I have lived in Bristol for 14 years, have grown as a person, as an artist, and I am happily raising my children here. It will be a great honour to listen, reflect, and engage with the people of Bristol and together imagine what the future of theatre and the arts can be in this shining city of the South West.”
Tom Morris, outgoing Artistic Director, Bristol Old Vic, stated, “This is a brilliant appointment made by an outstanding board through a groundbreaking and incisive process. Nancy is a landmark director at the height of her powers and a visionary creative leader. Through her own rehearsal rooms and the extraordinary achievement of setting up the Bristol School of Acting, she has established an unmatched reputation in combining radical change with artistic excellence. This combination is precious and rare.
“To survive and flourish over the next decades, British theatre is going to have to change and that will need outstanding leadership. Through this appointment, Bristol Old Vic has put itself in the best possible position to be in the vanguard of that process.”
As a director, Nancy Medina’s recent credits include Moreno (Theatre503), Trouble in Mind (National Theatre), Two Trains Running (Royal & Derngate/ETT), Strange Fruit (Bush Theatre), (Kiln Theatre/Fuel/Birmingham Rep), and Yellowman (Young Vic). Her forthcoming production of the world première of The Darkest Part of the Night by Zodwa Nyoni opens at Kiln Theatre on 14 July.
Nancy is the recipient of the following awards:
- 2020/2021 Peter Hall Bursary (National Theatre),
- 2018 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award (Royal & Derngate/English Touring Theatre),
- 2017 Genesis Future Director Award (Young Vic),
- 2014 Emerging Director’s Prize (Tobacco Factory Theatres).
She is a visiting director at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and Joint Artistic Director of the Bristol School of Acting.
Photo credit: Manuel Harlan
