Early theatre career Warchus has directed for the
National Youth Theatre,
Bristol Old Vic,
Donmar Warehouse,
Royal Shakespeare Company,
National Theatre,
Opera North,
West Yorkshire Playhouse,
Welsh National Opera,
English National Opera in the
West End and on
Broadway. He won the Globe's Most Promising Newcomer Award for
Much Ado About Nothing in the West End, the Evening Standard Best Director award, and
Olivier Award nominations for
Henry V and
Volpone. Productions include
Sejanus his Fall (Edinburgh),
"Master Harold"...and the Boys (Bristol Old Vic),
The Suicide,
Coriolanus (National Youth Theatre),
Life is a Dream,
Plough and the Stars(West Yorkshire Playhouse),
True West, (West Yorkshire Playhouse, Donmar Warehouse, Broadway),
Henry V,
The Devil is an Ass,
Hamlet (RSC),
Volpone (RNT),
Troilus and Cressida (Opera North), ''
Rake's Progress (Welsh National Opera), Falstaff
(Opera North & ENO), and Art'' (West End and
Broadway). His 1997 productions of
Hamlet at the
Barbican Theatre and
Falstaff at the English National Opera have been nominated for several Olivier Awards including
Best Director.
Hamlet was also seen at the
Brooklyn Academy in New York and the
Kennedy Center in
Washington, D.C. Warchus directed
Yasmina Reza's plays
The Unexpected Man (RSC) and
Life x 3 (National Theatre) in London and New York (at, respectively, the Promenade Theatre and
Circle in the Square Theatre). In 2000 he directed
Sam Shepard's
True West starring
Philip Seymour Hoffman and
John C. Reilly. In 2002 he directed
Our House, at the
Cambridge Theatre, a new musical written by
Tim Firth featuring the music of
Madness which won the
Olivier Award for Best New Musical. In 2007 he directed
The Lord of the Rings, the stage adaptation of the novel
The Lord of the Rings, which played at the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane from May 2007 to July 2008 and which he wrote the music and book for. It was the most expensive stage production ever at the time of its debut. In 2008 he directed
David Mamet's
Speed-the-Plow, starring
Kevin Spacey and
Jeff Goldblum and
Alan Ayckbourn's trilogy of plays
The Norman Conquests at London's
The Old Vic, and
Boeing Boeing at New York's
Broadhurst Theatre for which he received a
Tony Award nomination for
Best Direction of a Play. During the 2009
Broadway season, Warchus directed two productions. One was the critically lauded,
2009 Tony Award winner for
Best Revival of a Play transfer of his Old Vic production of
The Norman Conquests, for which he won the
Drama Desk Award for
Outstanding Director of a Play. The other was the 2009 Tony Award winner for
Best Play, Yasmina Reza's
God of Carnage, for which Warchus won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play. In 2010, Warchus directed the acclaimed
Royal Shakespeare Company musical
Matilda, with a book by
Dennis Kelly and music and lyrics by
Tim Minchin, which transferred to the West End in October 2011 at the
Cambridge Theatre, before opening at the
Shubert Theatre on
Broadway in March 2013. The musical has since gone on to tour the US, Australia and New Zealand, winning multiple awards with a record-breaking seven
Olivier Awards including Best New Musical and Best Director for Warchus. Warchus's production of
Ghost: The Musical, a stage adaptation of the
Academy Award winning 1990 film
Ghost, premiered at the
Manchester Opera House in March 2011, and opened at the West End's
Piccadilly Theatre in July 2011 and closed on 6 October 2012. The show transferred to
Broadway beginning at the
Lunt Fontanne Theater on 15 March 2012 and closed on 18 August 2012.
Ghost The Musical was on tour in UK and USA in 2013 while also playing in Budapest. It opened in Korea in November 2013. In September 2024 he will direct a revival of
Seán O'Casey's
Juno and the Paycock starring
J. Smith-Cameron and
Mark Rylance at the
Gielgud Theatre in
London's
West End. In 2026, he will direct a new musical
Pride, based on the 2014 film in which he also directed at the
Sherman Theatre and
Royal National Theatre.
Artistic Director of The Old Vic (2015–26) In May 2014 Warchus was appointed Artistic Director of The Old Vic in London, succeeding
Kevin Spacey. His first season began in September 2015 directing a new play,
Future Conditional by Tamsin Oglesby, starring
Rob Brydon. In 2016 he also directed
The Master Builder by
Henrik Ibsen starring
Ralph Fiennes,
The Caretaker by
Harold Pinter starring
Timothy Spall,
Daniel Mays and
George Mackay, and the world premiere of the new musical
Groundhog Day with book by
Danny Rubin and music and lyrics by
Tim Minchin. The musical ran for 8 weeks from July to September 2016 before transferring to the
August Wilson Theatre on
Broadway from April to September 2017. The musical later returned to the Old Vic from May to August 2023 before playing at the
Princess Theatre, Melbourne from January to April 2024. His second season at the Old Vic saw him direct the 20th anniversary revival of ''
'Art''' starring
Rufus Sewell,
Tim Key and
Paul Ritter from December 2016 to February 2017 (followed by UK tours in 2018 and 2019). For the 2017 Christmas season, Warchus directed a new adaptation of
Charles Dickens'
A Christmas Carol by
Jack Thorne starring
Rhys Ifans as Scrooge which has since returned to The Old Vic every year due to its popular demand starring
Stephen Tompkinson,
Paterson Joseph,
Stephen Mangan,
Owen Teale and
Christopher Eccleston as Scrooge. It has also played the
Lyceum Theatre, Broadway for the 2019 season a US tour in 2021 and the
Comedy Theatre, Melbourne in 2022 and 2023. In 2019 he directed a revival of
Noël Coward's
Present Laughter starring
Andrew Scott, followed by
Duncan Macmillan's
Lungs starring
Claire Foy and
Matt Smith. In 2020, Warchus was planned to direct
Amy Herzog’s
4000 Miles starring
Eileen Atkins and
Timothée Chalamet in April to May 2020, however due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the production has been postponed with the rescheduled dates to be announced. Also his production of
Lungs which was due to transfer with
Claire Foy and
Matt Smith reprising their roles to the
Brooklyn Academy of Music,
New York in March to April 2020 was also cancelled due to the pandemic. During the
COVID-19 pandemic a series called
Old Vic: in Camera began broadcasting performances from the empty auditorium of The Old Vic live to audiences around the world via
Zoom, beginning with a social distanced version of
Lungs with
Claire Foy and
Matt Smith returning. This was followed by
Three Kings by
Stephen Beresford starring
Andrew Scott,
Faith Healer by
Brian Friel starring
Michael Sheen,
David Threlfall and
Indira Varma and
A Christmas Carol (which was due to return for a fourth consecutive season) starring
Andrew Lincoln as Scrooge. In summer 2024, Warchus will direct
The Constituent, a new political drama by
Joe Penhall starring
James Corden and
Anna Maxwell Martin. In January 2025, he co-directed with
Hofesh Shechter a new adaptation of
Oedipus by
Ella Hickson starring
Rami Malek and
Indira Varma. In September to November 2025, he will direct
Mary Page Marlowe starring
Andrea Riseborough and
Susan Sarandon. It was announced that he will step down as Artistic Director at The Old Vic from September 2026 after 11 years in the role.
Film career In 1999, Warchus completed his debut feature film – an
adaptation of
Sam Shepard's play
Simpatico – which he co-wrote and directed, starring
Nick Nolte,
Jeff Bridges,
Albert Finney and
Sharon Stone. His film
Pride was selected to be screened as part of the
Directors' Fortnight section of the
2014 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the
Queer Palm award on 23 May 2014. A film adaptation of
Matilda the Musical based on the stage musical, also directed by Warchus with screenplay by
Dennis Kelly and songs by
Tim Minchin was released by
Netflix on 23 November 2022 in the United Kingdom and 9 December 2022 in the United States. In December 2024, it was announced that Warchus will direct a remake of
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for
Amazon MGM Studios and
Eon Productions, with
Enda Walsh writing the screenplay. ==Personal life==