Indhu Rubasingham announced as new National Theatre director and co-chief executive

Indhu Rubasingham, the outgoing artistic director of the Kiln Theatre, will be the new director and co-chief executive of the National Theatre.

From spring 2024, Rubasingham will join the venue as artistic director designate, working alongside current director and chief executive Rufus Norris as he completes his final year at the theatre. She will then assume the roles in full from spring 2025, when Norris departs. Kate Varah, currently executive director, will also become co-chief executive from that date.

During her tenure at the Kiln, Rubasingham oversaw a major transformation and capital redevelopment of the north London theatre, formerly known as the Tricycle. She also directed a variety of critically lauded productions, including the award-winning Red Velvet, Handbagged and The Invisible Hand. The company presented Florian Zeller’s triptych of plays – The Father, The Mother and The Son, with both The Father and The Son receiving West End transfers.

She is also no stranger at the National Theatre, having directed a plethora of productions at the venue including The Motherf*cker With the Hat, The Great Wave, Ugly Lies the Bone, Kerry Jackson and, most recently, Anupama Chandrasekhar’s The Father and the Assassin.

Rubasingham said today: “It’s a huge honour to be appointed director of the National Theatre – for me, this is the best job in the world. The National has played an important part in my life – from tentative steps as a teenage theatregoer, to later as a theatre-maker, and to have the opportunity to play a role in its history is an incredible privilege and responsibility. Theatre has a transformative power – the ability to bring people together through shared experience and storytelling, and nowhere more so than the National.

“I’ve been fortunate to have directed on the National Theatre’s stages and to have witnessed firsthand the commitment, collaboration, brilliance and pride of those who bring the magic to the building, both on stage and off. There’s nowhere like it, and it will be a joy to be a part of this iconic building’s next chapter, leading the company alongside Kate. I am thrilled to be following in the footsteps of Rufus, and I look forward to working closely with him from next year as I plan my first season.”

Norris added: “Indhu is an exceptional artist who I respectand admire hugely, and I am so pleased that she will becomethe next Director when I step down in 2025. She has run Kiln Theatre expertly for over a decade and I know this experience will be invaluable as she moves to the NT – a place she knows well, having directed successfully in each of the three theatres.

“Together with Kate and the brilliant, dedicated team here, I know that the National will continue to thrive and remain at the heart of British cultural life. I look forward to working closely with Indhu over my last year as director.”

Sita McIntosh, chair of the board of the Kiln, told WhatsOnStage: “Indhu Rubasingham is simply brilliant – an amazing creative, a visionary artist and a truly kind woman who inspires all those around her. Her work ethic would exhaust most people but she’s relentless in her determination to make theatre for everyone. I should know because I’ve worked closely with Indhu over the last six years as a trustee at Kiln. Now she can add History Maker to her long list of achievements. We have a woman of colour at the helm of our National Theatre! I know how much this means to Indhu and I’m beyond thrilled and extremely proud.