Daniel Evans

Daniel Gwyn Evans (born 31 July 1973) is a Welsh actor and director. He is the current co-Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (with Tamara Harvey) having previously been the Artistic Director for Sheffield Theatres (2010-17) and Chichester Festival Theatre (2017-23).

Background Evans was born in the Rhondda Valley in Wales in 1973. Evans started acting early in life, going to the Urdd Eisteddfod, and beginning to compete there from the age of five or six, as well as going to many amateur productions. He realised it was what he wanted to do aged 8, but joined the Royal Shakespeare Company before completing his course. With the RSC he had small roles in Coriolanus and Henry V, alongside Ian McKellen and Claudie Blakley.

Directed by Trevor Nunn, he appeared in The Merchant of Venice and Troilus and Cressida,

Returning to Shakespeare, he played Ariel in Michael Grandage's production of The Tempest at the Sheffield Crucible, with Derek Jacobi starring as Prospero. For this, and for his performance in the play Ghosts, he was awarded second prize for the Ian Charleson Award in 2003.

At the end of its short run at the Menier, Sunday transferred to the larger Wyndham's Theatre, where it continued until September 2006. It won five Olivier awards, The revival was nominated for, but failed to win, 9 Tony Awards,

He appeared in The Passion in Holy Week, as St Matthew. That year he also directed a reading of Total Eclipse, by Christopher Hampton, for the Royal Court Theatre's 50th Anniversary, a show which he starred in at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2007.

In 2007 Evans returned to Guildhall to direct a student production of Certain Young Men, also by Peter Gill, with a cast of eight final year students.

On 8 April 2009, Evans was named as successor to Samuel West as artistic director of Sheffield Theatres. He took up his new role following the refurbishment of the Crucible Theatre, with his first season in February 2010. Evans has stated that he does not plan on giving up acting for directing: "I don't intend to give up acting ... for the immediate future".

In 2013, Evans directed the Simon Beaufoy play The Full Monty which opened at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield before touring the UK and transferring to the Noël Coward Theatre in London's West End. In 2013, he also directed the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.

Evans directed American Buffalo at Wyndham's Theatre in 2015, and Show Boat at the Crucible Theatre in 2015, and again in 2016 at the New London Theatre following its transfer to the West End.

In December 2015, he was appointed the new artistic director at Chichester Festival Theatre and succeeded Jonathan Church in July 2016. His productions have included Forty Years On, Fiddler on the Roof, Quiz (2017, also West End 2018 and UK tour 2023), Me and My Girl, Flowers for Mrs Harris (2018), This Is My Family (2019), South Pacific (2021, also UK tour 2022) and Our Generation (2022 - also Royal National Theatre).

On 21 September 2022, it was announced that Evans with Tamara Harvey would become joint Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company succeeding Gregory Doran (as Emeritus Artistic Director) and Erica Whyman (Acting Artistic Director) from June 2023. Their first season was announced on 16 January 2024. Since taking on the role, Evans has directed Born with Teeth (2025) starring Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel in the West End, a new adaptation of Roald Dahl's The BFG (2026) and will direct an all-male production of As You Like It (2026) starring Jonathan Groff as Rosalind.

Personal life Evans saw becoming an actor as a vocation since childhood, and he has been openly gay since then, though it was difficult and he was bullied at school, ascribing it to a "macho culture". In 2011, Evans told The Guardian, regarding his upbringing in south Wales: "My family still live there. They were very liberal, thank God, and still are. They encouraged me."

Stage and screen credits Film Year Title Role Notes 1996 A Midsummer Night's Dream Lysander 1997 Cameleon Elfed Davis 1998 The Barber of Siberia Andrew (with mask) Original title: "Сибирский цирюльник" 1999 Great Expectations Herbert Pocket TV film 2001 Being Dom Joly TV film 2002 Tomorrow La Scala! Jonny Atkins 2003 Y Mabinogi Manawydan English title: "Otherworld" 2008 The Ramen Girl Charlie 2011 Seeds of Arkham Brave Thug Short 2012 Les Misérables Pimp 2016 Look Back in Anger Cliff 2025 Mr Burton Anthony Quayle

Television

Theatre (as actor)

Theatre (as director)

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2000 Laurence Olivier Awards Best Actor in a Musical Candide 2001 Laurence Olivier Awards Best Actor in a Musical Merrily We Roll Along 2002 Ian Charleson Awards Ghosts & The Tempest 2007 Laurence Olivier Awards Best Actor in a Musical Sunday in the Park with George 2008 Tony Awards Best Actor in a Musical Sunday in the Park with George Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding Actor in a Musical Sunday in the Park with George Drama League Awards Distinguished Performance Sunday in the Park with George 2013 UK Theatre Awards Best Touring Production The Full Monty UK Theatre Awards Best Musical This Is My Family 2014 WhatsOnStage Awards Best Regional Production My Fair Lady Laurence Olivier Awards Best New Comedy The Full Monty 2015 WhatsOnStage Awards Best Regional Production Oliver! 2016 UK Theatre Awards Best Musical Production Flowers for Mrs. Harris & Show Boat 2017 Laurence Olivier Awards Best Musical Revival Show Boat