In February 2003, Kevin Spacey announced that he was returning to London, England, to become the artistic director of The Old Vic Theatre Company. While appearing at a press conference with Dame Judi Dench and Sir Elton John, Spacey made the commitment to remain in the post for a full ten years. He promised to both appear on stage and to bring in big-name talent. The Old Vic Theatre Company currently stages shows eight months out of the year.

Spacey's first season started in September 2004, and opened with the British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos and directed by Kevin Spacey. In the 2005 season Spacey made his UK Shakespearean debut, to good notices, in the title role of Richard II which was directed by Trevor Nunn. In mid-2006, Spacey performed in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre, and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry, in which he played C. K. Dexter Haven, the Cary Grant role in the film version.

In the 2006 season, Spacey suffered a major setback with a production of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues, directed by Robert Altman. Despite an all-star cast and the pedigree of Miller's script, the play opened to a critical panning, and closed after only a few weeks. Later in the year, Spacey starred in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best. The play received excellent reviews for Spacey and Best, and was transferred to Broadway in 2007.

Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly joined Spacey as the three characters in David Mamet's 1988 play Speed-the-Plow. In January 2009, Kevin directed the premiere of Joe Sutton's Complicit with Richard Dreyfuss, David Suchet and Elizabeth McGovern. From September through December 2009, Trevor Nunn directed Kevin Spacey in a revival of Inherit The Wind. Based on a true story of a teacher arrested for teaching his students evolution, also known as the "Scopes Monkey Trial". Kevin Spacey was cast as defense lawyer Henry Drummond, a role that was made famous by actor Spencer Tracy in the 1960 film of the same name.

Kevin Spacey can remember the exact night he decided to become the artistic director of the Old Vic. It was in November 1999, and American Beauty — for which the actor would go on to win a second Academy Award — had premiered the day before at the London Film Festival. The following evening, there was Spacey, chairing an industry powwow, in a rehearsal room above the Old Vic, about the future of the venerable theatre, on whose board he sat. "What is the Old Vic?" says the actor, recalling the meeting’s topics of conversation nearly five years later. "Why is it held in such affection? Why has it gone into the period it’s gone into?" Which is to say, into decline. Later that same evening, Spacey, back in his hotel, found himself unable to sleep. Heading downstairs at 2.30am to go for a walk, he instead hailed a cab in the rain and asked the driver to take him to the National.

I walked to the South Bank and just sat and looked at that building, and was thinking about Laurence Olivier and about what he did when he started a national theatre," he says. "Then I walked down the four or five blocks to this theatre and sat in the cement park across the street. I looked up at the Vic, and I thought, ‘What are you doing? You’re on this committee making all these lists when, in your heart of hearts, what you have wanted to do since you were 13 years old is run a theatre.’" And at that moment, the die was cast, even if, smiles Spacey, "we kept it a secret for four years". – TimesOnline, September 05, 2004

Watch the Charlie Rose Interview:
A conversation with actor Kevin Spacey, October 13, 2005.

Charlie Rose and Kevin Spacey discuss Kevin's work as the artistic director at London's 'Old Vic Theatre' and the production of 'Richard II'. This is an informative and interesting 39 minute interview where Kevin talks in depth about his work at The Old Vic.

I never, ever want to lose touch with when I was fourteen or fifteen years old and I was dreaming about building a theater and I was dreaming about doing plays and writing things with friends and watching them perform. I never went through a period where I thought, 'Oh, I'll do something else,' or 'Maybe this isn't right.' Never. -- Kevin Spacey, Cigar Aficionado, February 2003

There is also a great focus on young people through an education program called Old Vic New Voices (OVNV), which supports young actors, directors, writers and producers to learn their craft; invests in ground breaking programs in schools to raise aspiration among young people; and works with charities and local organizations to enable those in the community to participate. Thousands of local people have taken advantage of the £5 ticket offers and the program also offers 100 seats for every performance to young theatre-goers who are 26 years of age and under at only £12. Thus providing all young people an opportunity to experience the wonders of the theatre.

Old Vic New Voices aims to nurture young actors, writers and directors, to source and develop new work for production on The Old Vic stage, and to open up the building to new and diverse audiences.

This is done in a variety of ways, such as:

• Creative Learning
• Creative Community
• New Voices Club
• The 24 Hour Plays: New Voices
• The New Voices Network New York
• TS Eliot US/UK Exchange Programme

The Old Vic Theatre Trust, a registered charity set up in 1998, has saved the building from closure, funded capital repairs, and supported many of the Theatre's on-going activities, such as Old Vic New Voices and education and outreach work. The Old Vic does not receive public funding and would not have survived without their many donors.

Find out more about how to support The Old Vic »