Michelle Terry to step down as Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Globe

Michelle Terry will be stepping down as Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Globe in 2027.

Summary

• Michelle Terry will be stepping down as Artistic Director of the Globe at the end of 2027
• She will have been in the role for ten years
• Terry will be returning to the Globe stage in *Mother Courage*

Michelle Terry will be stepping down as Artistic Director of the Globe at the end of 2027 after ten years in the role.

As part of her final summer season, she will be returning to the Globe stage to play one of theatre’s most iconic female roles, Mother Courage.

During her tenure, Terry commissioned 25 new plays, including Emilia, written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, which transferred from Shakespeare's Globe to the West End's Vaudeville Theatre in 2019. This was followed by productions such as After Edward, I, Joan, Metamorphoses, Hakawatis, Princess Essex, and Deep Azure.

She also introduced non-Shakespearean productions to the space, such as Ibsen’s Ghosts, Miller’s The Crucible, Brecht’s Mother Courage, Chekhov’s Three Sisters, and the upcoming production of The Seagull.

Terry said: “Next year it will be ten years since I began this seminal role and 20 years since I first performed on that incredibly special stage.

I can say in no uncertain terms that it has been the greatest privilege of my life to have been a part of these formative years. These theatres are the most extraordinary theatres in the world. We have the privilege of being able to ask: what can we do here that cannot be done anywhere else.

Every single day I have had the privilege to witness first-hand the benefits of theatre and Shakespeare on the young and the young at heart, to experience the socially cohesive power of arts engagement and the long-term impact this can have on the individual and the collective.

And every day I have had the privilege to work with artists practicing at the top of their game across all areas of theatre-craft. It is the alchemy of these people, the material of these plays, the deep understanding of our spaces and the unique presence of the audience that will always produce new interpretations and fresh perspectives.

I applied for this job because of my love of Shakespeare’s plays and these spaces. It is because of the people who I have had the honour to work with that I leave more astonished by Shakespeare’s plays, more excited about the potential of these playhouses, and more convinced than ever that Theatre is the most necessary of AI-proof art forms.

The ache I feel at saying goodbye is only equal to the love and pride I feel for having been here. I look forward immensely to the next year and to championing Shakespeare and The Globe forever.”