Rufus Norris, former director of the National Theatre, has said his knighthood is “an extraordinary privilege” and an “honour” he shares with the people he has worked with.
The 60-year-old has been made a knight in the King’s Birthday Honours for services to theatre.
He told the PA news agency: “It’s lovely. It’s an extraordinary privilege to be recognised in this way, particularly because, for me, the recognition is really of the many hundreds of people that I’ve been working closely with over the last decade.
“It’s an honour, but it’s an honour for the theatre as much as it is for me, and the work that we’ve done together.”
Before he became a theatre director, Sir Rufus, who spent much of his childhood in Ethiopia, Malaysia and Nigeria, studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada), graduating in 1989.
He came to prominence in 2001 with his production of Afore Night Come at the Young Vic, for which he won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for outstanding newcomer.
He has since directed a host of critically acclaimed shows, including London Road at the National Theatre, which won the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for best musical in 2011.
He also directed a screen adaptation of the same name, released in 2015 and starring Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman and Venom star Tom Hardy.
The same year he became artistic director of the National Theatre, a position he held for a decade.
He steered the performing arts venue through the coronavirus pandemic and brought in talent including Cate Blanchett.
He also oversaw more than 170 productions including The Lehman Trilogy, Grenfell: In The Words Of Survivors, Small Island, Follies, Dear England and Nye.
Sir Rufus told PA: “It’s been very intense, and it’s been hugely enjoyable, and it’s been extremely challenging, all wrapped up into one.
“Of course, a lot of things have happened over the last 10 years, notably Covid landing in the middle of it, which was, for all of us, difficult.”
He continued: “Over the 10 years, I think we’ve managed to move the dial pretty significantly, and in a few key areas that have been very important to me and the people that I’ve been working with, I would say predominantly, they are in representation.
“I think we’ve quite significantly changed the range of people that work at this organisation, particularly on stage, and the writers, and that’s been very important for us to reflect the country and the city that we are a national theatre for.
“We’ve really significantly moved forward our reach. Tried to be as national as we can. We’ve done work all over the country, lots of co-productions, lots of touring, huge amount of educational work.”
In April, the theatre director received a special gong at the Olivier Awards for his services to the theatre industry.
He is married to playwright Tanya Ronder and the couple have two sons.
