Bush Theatre announces new artistic director

Taio Lawson has been appointed as the new artistic director and co-CEO of the Bush Theatre.

He will take up the position in summer 2025, succeeding Lynette Linton, who departs in March 2025. Lawson’s first season will launch in early 2026, and he will lead the theatre alongside executive director and co-CEO Mimi Findlay.

Lawson is currently the Genesis Fellow and associate director at the Young Vic. His previous roles include associate director at Kiln Theatre and resident director positions at Sheffield Theatres, the Almeida, and the West End production of Hamilton.

His directing credits include an unfinished man at the Yard Theatre, NW Stories at Kiln Theatre, HOME Digital at the Young Vic, Macbeth at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Hang at Sheffield Theatres, White Devil at East 15 Acting School, and Home – Installation at the Young Vic. In 2026, he will direct Seagulls at Kiln Theatre, a contemporary Black British reimagining of The Seagull, co-written with Dipo Baruwa-Etti.

Lawson is a trustee for PiPA (Parents and Carers in the Performing Arts), an organisation advocating for those with caring responsibilities in the industry.