David Lan

In his final season at the Young Vic, all five shows that he produced received five star reviews. These were ‘The Suppliant Women’, ‘The Jungle’, ‘The Brothers Size‘, ‘The Inheritance‘ and ‘Fun Home’. ‘The Jungle’ and ‘The Inheritance‘ both transferred to the West End and won numerous awards including South Bank Sky Arts Awards in successive years.

His memoir ‘As If By Chance: Journeys, Theatres, Lives’ will be published by Faber & Faber in early 2020.

Also in 2018 he received the Laurence Olivier Special Award in recognition of his 'outstanding contribution in leading the Young Vic since 2000, his work within the local community around the theatre, and his commitment to internationalism and diversity.'

He received the 2018 Marsh ‘Anthropology in the World’ Award given by the Royal Anthropological Institute. The citation read ‘David is a polymath parallel who has built connections between the world of the social sciences, inter-continental understandings and the humanities and performing arts. He has applied these talents while leading theatre companies both artistically and practically with their building projects. David First trained as an actor before beginning to write and direct for the theatre. When he moved to London in the 1970s, he took a degree in Social Anthropology, followed by a PhD which would be published in 1985 as Guns and Rain: Guerrillas and Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe, an original study of the role of rural, religious practitioners in the struggle to bring an end to the Rhodesian racist regime. The book made an enormous impact at the time and thirty years later has become an undisputed modern classic. Following his PhD, David travelled extensively in Africa writing films and drama documentaries for the BBC and continuing to write plays for major companies and venues. David has connected scholarship, and geographical and cultural differences with complete disregard for conventional boundaries: educating through performance and taking every opportunity to help younger and less well-placed artists at each stage of a career that is currently at its height. He is a fine example of practising the characteristics of an anthropological informed mindset appraising the contemporary world.’

In the 2016 survey in The Stage of the 100 most influential people in the UK theatre he was ranked 6th.

In 2014 he was appointed a CBE for services to theatre.

Between 2013 and 2016 he was Consulting Artistic Director of the soon to be built Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center in New York, where he is now an artistic associate.

In 2010 he co-founded the What Next? alliance of arts organisations which now has 35 chapters across the UK.

In 2010 he was awarded an honorary D.Litt. for services to theatre and community by the University of the South Bank.

The re-design and rebuild of the Young Vic, for which he wrote the brief and which took place under his leadership, was named RIBA London Building of the Year 2007 and was short-listed for the Stirling Prize as well as winning many other awards.

At the Young Vic, he led the campaign to rebuild the theatre (architects Haworth Tompkins) which reopened to acclaim in October 2006. He also led the 24 shows in 31 cities 'Walkabout' season during the 2-year rebuild.

He was co-director of the 'Young Genius' season at the Barbican in 2005 and of 'World Stages London' at theatres across London in 2012.

He received an Olivier Award for the entire 2004 Young Vic season.

He was the artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London from 2000 until 2018.

He was the writer in residence at the Royal Court Theatre from 1995 to 1997.

In addition to his many plays, libretti, and films, he published an anthropological study after two years of field research in the Zambezi Valley in the extreme north of Zimbabwe. Guns and Rain: Guerrillas & Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe (1985) describes the influence of religious practice on Zimbabwe's struggle for independence from colonial rule. It has been described as 'an undisputed modern classic' and is taught in universities all over the world. Some of his stage works reflect his interest in politics and religion, including spirit possession and cargo cults.

Guns and Rain: Guerrillas and Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe 1985, re-issued in Zimbabwe 2018

Born in Cape Town, he trained as an actor and gained a BA at the University of Cape Town. He has lived in London since 1972, apart from two years in Zimbabwe 1980–1982. He was awarded a BSc first class (1976) and a PhD (1984) in Social Anthropology from LSE.