David Lan

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, with his thesis Making history: spirit mediums and the guerilla war in the Dande area of Zimbabwe. He was the writer in residence at the Royal Court Theatre from 1995 to 1997. He was the artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London from 2000 until 2018. 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 has produced more than 200 shows. He initiated the Ge