David Lan

All my life, all your life, I've struggled with this - was what I did 'wrong'? Germany, 1945. Thomas, one of thousands of children stolen by the Nazis from Eastern Europe during WWII, is under the care of Ruth, a UN relief worker. She must choose whether to try to find his parents or leave him with those he's grown up with. The choice she makes will shape his life. London, 1990. Years later, Thomas visits Ruth. As they untangle the past, the decisions Ruth made as a very young woman are called powerfully into question. David Lan's remarkable play explores the shapeshifting nature of memory and morality. It opened at the National Theatre, London, in September 2025.

David Lan evokes a unique theatre of life. Sometimes hilarious, always deeply felt we travel with him to Peter Brook's Paris, to Chekhov's Yalta, to Lithuania in search of his great grandparents, to Broadway for the Tony Awards. There's escaping the South African army, the Royal Court in the 90s, spirit mediums in Zimbabwe. And his years running the Young Vic, drawing in great artists such as Ivo Van Hove, Jude Law, Gillian Anderson, Stephen Daldry and shows such as Yerma, The Jungle and The Inheritance.'Exceptional. Rich, warm and sparkling.' Peter Brook'He is the Chagall of theatre, hurtling over his colourful life and the world, his shirt flying, dreaming on behalf of humanity.' Fiona Shaw'Sincere, passionate, vulnerable, open, serious, loving. A great read for fans of theatre and of humanity.' Ivo Van Hove

A family day at the beach. There's a song, an argument, a dash across the white sand and into the high rolling waves. We're in Cape Town and David Lan is ten years old. Cut to 1969 and, visiting London fresh out of high school, he interviews theatre luminaries Sybil Thorndike, Tom Stoppard, Trevor Nunn, Paul Schofield before heading home to join the South African army. Now it's 1999. We're at the Young Vic where David is interviewed to be artistic director, a job he'd do for eighteen years, ensuring its flowering into a great world theatre. There's a redesign to be imagined, money to be raised, shows to be staged. And when the doors reopen in 2006 we meet the extraordinary artists he draws in: Ivo Van Hove, Jude Law, Richard Jones, Gillian Anderson, Patrice Chereau, Katie Mitchell, Stephen Daldry, the Isango Ensemble, Yerma, The Jungle, The Inheritance. We travel to Peter Brook's Paris, to Iceland in pursuit of a circus Romeo and Juliet, to Lithuania in search of his great grandparents, to a refugee camp in Congo with Joe Wright and Chiwetel Ejiofor, to Broadway for the Tony Awards. There's spirit mediums in the Zambezi Valley, Chekhov's Yalta, Luc Bondy's Vienna, making a BBC film in Angola, rehearsing a new play in Israel/Palestine. Along the way, memories constantly rise to the surface: the Royal Court in the 70s and 90s, school plays, his parents' complicated marriage. Woven through it all is his decades long relationship with playwright Nicholas Wright. At times hilarious and always deeply felt, David Lan's deft travels evoke a wildly varied life in theatre as well as a unique theatre of life.

David Lan's new version of Verga's classic play "Mothers like me? We should be burned alive. We should be fed to the pigs, mothers like me." A mother fumes about her daughter's love affair as they hurtle towards tragedy in Verga's passionate Italian drama, first performed in 1894.David Lan's acclaimed new version premiered at the RSC in June 2000.

The first volume of collected plays from acclaimed dramatist David Lan Painting a Wall: 'an essential theatrical image of the human condition' - Plays and Players Red Earth: 'Mature skill...in the course of a lunchtime, 70 years of South African history are played out with power and poignancy' - The Times Flight: 'a play that gives you faith in new writing' - City Limits Desire: 'a ballad and an act of faith' - Sunday Times The Ends of the Earth: 'The work of a genuine theatrical poet ...we should be so lucky to have ambitious, hypnotic writing in our theatre' - Observer 'These plays are unique in contemporary theatre; wonderful immersions into foreign worlds that touch our own' (John Lahr)

Almost every anti-colonial struggle this century has been led by an army of guerrillas. No such struggle has succeeded without a very high degree of cooperation between guerrillas and the local peasantry. But what does 'cooperation' between peasants and guerrillas really consist of? What effect does it have on the way they view the world for which they fight? In the struggle for Zimbabwe (1966-80), hundreds of thousands of peasants provided the guerrillas with practical help and support. But they went a good deal further. Throughout the country scores of spirit mediums, the religious leaders of Shona, gave active support to resistance. With their participation, the scale of the war expanded into an astonishing act of collaboration between ancestors and their descendants, the past and the present, the living and the dead. This book is a detailed study of one key 'operational zone' in the Zambezi valley.It shows that to understand the meaning the war and independence have for the people of Zimbabwe themselves, we must take into account not only the nationalist guerrillas and politicians, the bearers of guns, but also the mediums of the spirits of the Shona royal ancestors, the bringers of rain.

Lan shows that to understand the meaning that Zimbabwe's war of independence had for its people, the role of the spirit mediums must also be understood. Almost every anti-colonial struggle in the 20th century was led by an army of guerrillas, and no such struggle has succeeded without cooperation between the guerrillas and the local peasantry. This book examines what such 'cooperation' meant in the context of Zimbabwe's war of independence between 1966 and 1980 when hundreds of thousands of peasants provided the guerrillas with practical help and support. But throughout the country scores of spirit mediumsalso gave active support to the resistance, and with their help the scale of the war expanded into an astonishing act of collaboration between ancestors and their descendants, the past and the present, the living and the dead. North America: University of California Press

This book charts a twenty-year period in theatre design that maps the growth of large-scale adaptable theatre through Charcoalblue’s work, alongside the world's leading architects. From the remaking of London’s Young Vic Theatre in the mid-2000s, through larger scale projects for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House and many other cultural organisations worldwide, the practice have provided specialist expertise, collaborating with and mindful of everyone in the business, from actors and musicians, producers and directors, to engineers and architects. Highly illustrated with photos and drawings, the book includes sections on adaptable theatres, temporary spaces, anti-culture palaces, theatrical transformations, and hidden gems. Each case study provides insightful analysis. There are sections which focus on updating historic theatres and creating performance spaces for leading academic institutions. The book also includes useful technical sections which focus on acoustics, digital environments and even a section which discusses developing seating. It also features for the first time an analysis of the Perelman Center at the World Trade Center - David Lan, former director of the Young Vic and advisor to Manhattan's Perelman theatre, contributes a Foreword - and the forthcoming American Repertory Theatre. The ‘crazy adventures’ of Harry Potter at the Lyric Theatre on Broadway and the Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse in London are revealed. It also looks to the future of theatre, as the practice explores new territory in virtual and digital scapes, and discusses changes to space, materials, performance and presentation, as well as how Charcoalblue’s skills in venue design are extending their work beyond the cultural space into contemporary working environments.

At a time of turmoil, wise Tobit is struck blind. Suddenly penniless, he sends his son Tobias to reclaim an old debt. Tobias is afraid but a stranger arrives and offers to guide him ...An orchestra, a company of singers, a choir and two choruses drawn from Lambeth and Southwark accompany Tobias across mountains towards love and self-knowledge in this joyous musical tale. "Tobias and the Angel" opens at the Young Vic, London, in October 2006.