RADA director Edward Kemp to step down after 14 years

Harriet Clifford
Friday, January 22, 2021

Edward Kemp has announced that he is to step down as the director of RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) after 14 years at the helm.

Kemp will leave the role during this current academic year, with details of future leadership and exact timings to be announced in due course.

He said: ‘Running RADA is one of the best jobs in the world and I have relished my time at the helm. Over the last 14 years the Academy has changed and progressed, and our many achievements have come from the combined efforts of staff, students, graduates, supporters and friends: to all of whom I would like to express my gratitude.’

Having joined RADA in 2007 as artistic director before assuming the directorship in 2008, Kemp oversaw the drama school’s transition to becoming an independent higher education institution, the establishment of a Film, TV and Radio department, and the creation of the RADA Studios facility on Chenies Street, currently on hold due to Covid.

Kemp continued: ‘I believe now is the right moment to pass to someone else the privilege of guiding the future of this remarkable institution. It is a time of great change in the industry and RADA faces new and exciting opportunities, which will benefit from new perspectives and fresh thinking.’

He added that he has personal writing and directing projects he hopes to pursue, but that leaving the drama school will be a ‘wrench’.

RADA’s chair of council Sir Stephan Waley-Cohen will also retire in 2021, but will remain actively involved to support the new chair and the next leadership.