Rourke, Josie

Josie Rourke grew up and attended school in Salford, where a love of the theatre developed through frequent visits to the local Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester and trips to Stratford. Rourke went on to read English at Cambridge, and upon leaving in 2000 she moved to London and got a year's appointment as assistant director at the Donmar Theatre, working under the then artistic director Sam Mendes. Here she assisted such eminent directors as Michael Grandage, Nicholas Hytner and Phyllida Lloyd.

Upon leaving the Donmar, Rourke assisted director Peter Gill on Luther at the National Theatre. The York Realist, their second production working together went on tour with the English Touring Company and transferred to the Royal Court. The success of this production led to Rourke being offered the post of trainee associate director at the Royal Court.

After her stint at the Court, Rourke worked for a long period as a freelance director, building up a range of productions including The Life and Death of King John and Believe What You Will for the RSC, Twelfth Night and The Taming of the Shrew for the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, managing the UK tour of Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues, 24 Hour Plays at the Old Vic and a revival of David Mamet's Cryptogram at the Donmar starring Kim Cattrall.

In-between freelance work Rourke served as an associate director at Sheffield Theatres under Sam West from 2004 to 2006, where she helped programme his opening season and directed him in the first production of his tenure in charge, Much Ado About Nothing .

Rourke joined the Bush Theatre as artistic director in 2007 and during her productive five years there managed to secure a permanent home for the theatre in the former Shepherd's Bush Library building as well as directing a variety of productions including If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet and Like a Fishbone .

Recently Rourke made her National Theatre debut with Men Should Weep, and in the spring of 2011 made her West End debut with the hotly anticipated production of Much Ado About Nothing at Wyndham's Theatre starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate.

In March 2011 it was announced that Rourke would take over from Michael Grandage as Artistic Director at the Donmar Warehouse, a post she will officially take over in 2012.

From the guide to the Josie Rourke Collection, 1999-2011, (V&A Department of Theatre and Performance)