Sir Rufus Norris
Norris in 2012
Born	(1965-01-16)16 January 1965 (age 60) Cambridge, England
Education	RADA
Occupation	Theatre director
Spouse	Tanya Ronder ​ (m. 1995)​

Sir Rufus John Norris (born 16 January 1965) is a British theatre and film director, who was the artistic director and chief executive of theNational Theatre from 2015 to 2025. He received theSociety of London Theatre Special Award in 2025 for his services to theatre.

Norris grew up in Africa and Malaysia, attendedNorth Bromsgrove High School and Kidderminster College of Further Education, and later trained as an actor atRADA before turning to directing.

In 2001 he won theEvening Standard Award for Outstanding Newcomer for his production ofDavid Rudkin'sAfore Night Come at theYoung Vic.^[1]

In 2004, Norris won another Evening Standard Award, a Critic's Circle Award and anOlivier Award nomination for Best Director, for his production ofFesten.^[2][3]

In 2006 he made his National Theatre debut directingMarket Boy byDavid Eldridge. From 2002 to 2007 Norris was an Associate Director at the Young Vic, where his productions have includedFeast by Yunior Garcia Aguilera,Rotimi Babatunde, Marcos Barbosa,Tanya Barfield andGbolahan Obisesan (2013),Vernon God Little byDBC Pierre (2007), adapted by Tanya Ronder (2009 and 2011),Hergé's Adventures of Tintin, which Norris adapted, withDavid Greig (Barbican, 2005; UK tour & West End, 2007) and his own adaptation ofSleeping Beauty (Young Vic, 2002; Barbican, 2004, UK & international tour).

His production of theKander and Ebb musicalCabaret, produced byBill Kenwright, ran at theLyric Theatre in London'sWest End from 2006 to 2008. The production toured in 2008 and 2009 before being revived at theSavoy Theatre in 2012, followed by another UK tour. Another UK tour began in 2017.

In 2009, Norris's first filmKing Bastard, written by his wife Tanya Ronder, was produced byBBC Films. In the same year, he directed the National Theatre's production ofWole Soyinka'sDeath and the King's Horseman, which played in theOlivier Theatre.^[4]

He created the 2011 productionDr Dee for theManchester International Festival, in collaboration with musicianDamon Albarn, which was subsequently performed atENO in 2012. In 2010 he directedMozart'sDon Giovanni, also for ENO.^[5]

Norris was made an associate director at the National Theatre in 2011. His production ofLondon Road byAlecky Blythe and Adam Cork opened at the Cottesloe in 2011, before transferring to the Olivier in 2012, winning the Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical.

His 2012 filmBroken premiered at theCannes Film Festival and received the Golden Eye Award for best international film at theZurich Film Festival. At the 2012British Independent Film Awards it won the award for Best British Independent Film.

In 2013 his production of Tanya Ronder's playTable launched the new space, The Shed, at the National Theatre. He subsequently directedJames Baldwin'sThe Amen Corner at the National Theatre.

In March 2015, Norris replacedNicholas Hytner as artistic director of the National Theatre.^[6] During his first season, he directed the medieval playEveryman in a new adaptation byCarol Ann Duffy starringChiwetel Ejiofor in the title role and for the Christmas season, the premiere of a new musical,Wonder. Land (following a run in summer of 2015 at theManchester International Festival and before a run at theThéâtre du Châtelet in summer of 2016) with music byDamon Albarn and lyrics and book byMoira Buffini, inspired byLewis Carroll's novelsAlice's Adventures in Wonderland andThrough the Looking-Glass.^[7]

In summer 2016 he directedBertolt Brecht andKurt Weill'sThe Threepenny Opera, in a new adaptation bySimon Stephens and starringRory Kinnear as Macheath. In spring 2017 he directedMy Country; a work in progress by Carol Ann Duffy, using the words of people across the UK regardingBrexit, which was followed by a UK tour. In the Dorfman Auditorium in July 2017 he directed a new playMosquitoes byLucy Kirkwood, starringOlivia Colman andOlivia Williams.^[8] In 2018 he directed his firstShakespeare play in 25 years,Macbeth, with a cast including Rory Kinnear as Macbeth andAnne-Marie Duff as Lady Macbeth.

In 2019, Norris directedHelen Edmundson's adaptation ofAndrea Levy's bookSmall Island in the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre.^[9] The critically acclaimed production^[10][11] was broadcast to cinemas worldwide byNational Theatre Live.^[12] Following its initial sold-out run,Small Island was scheduled to return to the Olivier Theatre in late 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic delayed its return until spring 2022.^[13]Small Island was also shown as part of the free National Theatre at Home steaming programme during the UK 2020 Covid-19 lockdown.^[14]

Hex opened in December 2021 but the production was curtailed in January 2022 due to a resurgence of Covid-19. It was restaged at the end of 2022 and ran into January 2023. The critical reaction was favourable,^[15]

In June 2023, Norris announced that he would be stepping down from his position in spring 2025.^[16] In March 2025, Norris was awarded theSociety of London Theatre Special Award.^[17]

In November 2023, Norris received the honorary degree, Doctor of Letters (DLitt),^[18] from theUniversity of St Andrews.

On 16 August 2018, he condemned the destruction of the Said al-Mishal Cultural Centre in Gaza, which was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes on 11 August 2018.^[19][20]

• 2009King Bastard
• 2012Broken
• 2015London Road

• "Curtis Brown: Rufus Norris".curtisbrown.co.uk.

• 1965 births
• Living people
• British theatre directors
• British film directors
• Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
• Knights Bachelor

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• Use dmy dates from October 2020
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