Kenneth Tynan theatre critic until mid-1963 when he joined the National Theatre. In 1963, Laurence Olivier became the British National Theatre Company's first artistic director. Tynan had been highly dismissive of Olivier's achievements as artistic director of the Chichester Festival Theatre, which had opened in 1962, but he recommended himself for the role of literary manager. Olivier was initially outraged by Tynan's presumption but Olivier's wife, Joan Plowright, convinced him that Tynan would be an asset at the National Theatre Company, then based at the Old Vic theatre. When he became the National Theatre's literary manager, Tynan ceased to be the theatre
The Old Vic to the stage. Since 2015 Matthew Warchus has been Artistic Director of The Old Vic. His debut season opened in September 2015 with Warchus's production of a new play about education, "Future Conditional" by Tamsin Oglesby. On 24 October 2017 The Old Vic announced its bicentenary season. The theatre celebrated its 200th birthday on Friday 11 May 2018 with a free performance of Joe Penhall's Mood Music, featuring Ben Chaplin. Productions with Kevin Spacey as artistic director include: 2011 season 2012 season 2013 season 2014 season 2015 season Productions with Matthew Warchus as artistic director include: 2015-16 season 2016-17 season