Spacey Will Leave Old Vic ‘Within Five Years’???

Kevin Spacey told the Evening Standard recently that he will leave his position as artistic director of the Old Vic “within the next five years”. The Oscar-winning American actor has worked tirelessly to turn around the fortunes of the Old Vic since his appointment at artistic director in 2003, starring in many of its productions such as Inherit the Wind, Richard II, Speed-the-Plow and A Moon for the Misbegotten. Despite early artistic and box-office flops Cloaca and Resurrection Blues, Spacey has succeeded in reversing the fortunes of the unsubsidised venue during his projected ten-year tenure. He proudly stated “I am so pleased with how things have gone, I feel so terribly lucky to be doing what I am”. Spacey insists that the theatre needs “new blood, a new vision and a fresher take on it all” to continue his success. He did express the preference, however, that his successor would ensure that the Old Vic would remain a “company house, not a booking house”.