Tom Morris to step down as Bristol Old Vic artistic director

Tom Morris is to leave Bristol Old Vic after 12 years as artistic director.

Morris will step down later this year, he confirmed, as he unveiled the theatre’s 2022 season, which will be his last at the Bristol venue.

It will include a production of Hamlet starring Billy Howle and a new family version of The Nutcracker, as well as a ticketing initiative offering free seats for first-time visitors to the theatre.

Morris joined Bristol Old Vic in 2009 from the National Theatre, where he was associate director, and today (February 2) said he hoped his final season for the venue would be "about rebuilding our business after the pandemic and creating a platform for a fully engaged civic theatre in Bristol over the next decade".

"Everything we’ve done over the last 12 years has been the preparation for this transformation," he said,  adding that there was "no job in British theatre as exciting as this one".

Morris added: "There have been many points since March 2020 when it has seemed questionable whether the theatre industry, which contributes so much to our economy, our international reputation and the health and well-being of our communities, would survive at all. Thanks to the investment of the Culture Recovery Fund, we and many others have survived, and the next, urgent and thrilling priority is to work out how theatre can contribute to the economic, social and environmental recovery over the next decade."

Morris has not given any details about his plans after leaving the venue, but told a press conference that he would not "go straight into running another organisation".

"There is a rhythm for me of running an organisation and then needing to have a fallow period or a different rhythm, in which I am not thinking about those organisational things. Frankly, that’s where I’m going to get my next ideas," he said.

Morris said he was "really excited about what someone else might do with this vehicle", and that the theatre was "in a good place to recruit".

Bernard Donoghue, Bristol Old Vic’s chair, praised Morris for transforming the theatre “physically and artistically" during his tenure, and said he had "enhanced its national and global reputation".

"Most recently, with co-chief executive Charlotte Geeves, he has navigated one of the most challenging and difficult periods in the theatre’s history as our work, productions and indeed our very existence was threatened by the consequences of the pandemic.  He has done all this with energy, flair, boundless enthusiasm and real passion. We owe him a great deal and thank him," Donoghue added.

The full 2022 season, which began this month with Dr Semmelweis starring Mark Rylance, includes a major new production of Hamlet, with Howle in the title role.

Howle, who trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, is best known for screen roles in the BBC and Netflix series The Serpent and the 2017 film adaptation of On Chesil Beach.

Hamlet will be directed by John Haidar, and will run from October 13 to November 12.

The autumn line-up also includes Malaika Kegode’s Outlier, staged in partnership with rock band Jakabol. The production came out of the theatre’s Bristol Ferment initiative, and first ran last year.

It will return from September 14 to 24.

Its Christmas show will be a new family theatre version of The Nutcracker, for which the creative team is yet to be announced.

The Nutcracker will open on November 24, running until January 7.

Prior to this, the theatre will revive its production of A Monster Calls in April and will also stage the return of Mayfest, featuring work by companies including Figs in Wigs. 

Elsewhere, Bristol Old Vic is launching Bristol New Tix – offering 100 free tickets to every show for anyone visiting the theatre for the first time – while it has struck a new partnership with Digital Theatre Plus to make its productions available digitally to schools and colleges.

Its digital plans also include live broadcasts of Wonder Boy – written by Ross Willis and directed by Sally Cookson – and The Meaning of Zong, written by and starring Giles Terera, which both run this spring. The theatre said it also planned to announced broadcasts for Hamlet and The Nutcracker.

Unveiling the plans, Morris said: "The future of Bristol Old Vic has never looked more full of excitement, opportunity, and enriching creative challenges.

"This theatre, with all its history and potential, is a superb place to explore what theatre might be in the future and what role it might play in shaping our society over the next decade. This season is just a foundation for that change. I can’t wait to see what unforeseen discoveries and creations emerge from it in the coming years."