First for females at Royal Court

by Alice McShane

The theatre world is celebrating a triumph for women after the Royal Court Theatre in London appoints Vicky Featherstone as its first female Artistic Director.

45-year-old Featherstone will succeed Olivier-winning Dominic Cooke in Spring 2013.

Cooke said: "I couldn’t be happier with Vicky’s appointment and am really pleased to be able to hand over the company to such a brilliant and inspiring director.”

“I am thrilled to be able to take the Royal Court on the next stage of its precious and brilliant journey”, said Featherstone.

'Thrilled'

Anthony Burton, chairman of the Royal Court board, said he was "thrilled" the Sloane Square theatre was to have a woman at its helm for the first time in its 56-year history.

Jeremy Till, the newly appointed head of Central Saint Martins, strongly advocates the importance of female representation in big institutions, saying: “It is not just about the exclusion of women. You are just going to head into a real limited set of discussions.

“It is not about equality either. It is actually about getting more interesting voices. I am fed up with men speaking about themselves.”