Stage career Evans trained at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1991 to 1994, but joined the
Royal Shakespeare Company before completing his course. With the RSC he had small roles in
Coriolanus and
Henry V, alongside
Ian McKellen and
Claudie Blakley. Directed by
Trevor Nunn, he appeared in
The Merchant of Venice and
Troilus and Cressida, Returning to Shakespeare, he played
Ariel in
Michael Grandage's production of
The Tempest at the
Sheffield Crucible, with
Derek Jacobi starring as
Prospero. For this, and for his performance in the play
Ghosts, he was awarded second prize for the
Ian Charleson Award in 2003. At the end of its short run at the Menier,
Sunday transferred to the larger
Wyndham's Theatre, where it continued until September 2006. It won five Olivier awards, The revival was nominated for, but failed to win, 9
Tony Awards, He appeared in
The Passion in
Holy Week, as
St Matthew. That year he also directed a reading of
Total Eclipse, by
Christopher Hampton, for the
Royal Court Theatre's 50th Anniversary, a show which he starred in at the
Menier Chocolate Factory in 2007. In 2007 Evans returned to
Guildhall to direct a student production of
Certain Young Men, also by Peter Gill, with a cast of eight final year students. On 8 April 2009, Evans was named as successor to
Samuel West as artistic director of Sheffield Theatres. He took up his new role following the refurbishment of the
Crucible Theatre, with his first season in February 2010. Evans has stated that he does not plan on giving up acting for directing: "I don't intend to give up acting ... for the immediate future". In 2013, Evans directed the
Simon Beaufoy play
The Full Monty which opened at the
Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield before touring the UK and transferring to the
Noël Coward Theatre in
London's
West End. In 2013, he also directed the Lionel Bart musical
Oliver! at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. Evans directed
American Buffalo at
Wyndham's Theatre in 2015, and
Show Boat at the
Crucible Theatre in 2015, and again in 2016 at the
New London Theatre following its transfer to the West End. In December 2015, he was appointed the new artistic director at
Chichester Festival Theatre and succeeded
Jonathan Church in July 2016. His productions have included
Forty Years On,
Fiddler on the Roof,
Quiz (2017, also West End 2018 and UK tour 2023),
Me and My Girl,
Flowers for Mrs Harris (2018),
This Is My Family (2019),
South Pacific (2021, also UK tour 2022) and
Our Generation (2022 - also
Royal National Theatre). On 21 September 2022, it was announced that Evans with Tamara Harvey would become joint Artistic Director of the
Royal Shakespeare Company succeeding
Gregory Doran (as Emeritus Artistic Director) and
Erica Whyman (Acting Artistic Director) from June 2023. Their first season was announced on 16 January 2024. Since taking on the role, Evans has directed
Born with Teeth (2025) starring
Ncuti Gatwa and
Edward Bluemel in the
West End, a new adaptation of
Roald Dahl's
The BFG (2026) and will direct an all-male production of
As You Like It (2026) starring
Jonathan Groff as Rosalind. == Personal life ==