Background
Norris grew up in Africa and Malaysia, attended North Bromsgrove High School and Kidderminster College of Further Education, and later trained as an actor at RADA before turning to directing.
Norris grew up in Africa and Malaysia, attended North Bromsgrove High School and Kidderminster College of Further Education, and later trained as an actor at RADA before turning to directing.
In 2006 he made his National Theatre debut directing Market Boy by David Eldridge. In the same year, he directed the National Theatre"s production of Wole Soyinka"s Death and the King"s Horseman, which played in the Olivier Theatre. He created the 2011 production Doctor Dee for the Manchester International Festival, in collaboration with musician Damon Albarn, which was subsequently performed at ENO in 2012.
In 2010 he directed Mozart"s Don Giovanni, also for ENO. In 2013 his production of Tanya Ronder"s play Table launched the new space, The Shed, at the National Theatre.
He subsequently directed James Baldwin"s The Amen Corner at the National Theatre. In March 2015, Norris replaced Nicholas Hytner as Artistic Director of the National Theatre.
During his first season he directed a new version of the medieval play Everyman and the premiere production of a new musical, Wonder.land, with music by Damon Albarn and lyrics and book by Moira Buffini. 2015 also saw the release of his film of London Road, starring Olivia Colman and Tom Hardy.
In 2001 he won the Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Newcomer for his production of David Rudkin"s Afore Night Come at the Young Victoria In 2004, Norris won another Evening Standard Award, a Critic"s Circle Award and an Olivier Award nomination for Best Director, for his production of Festen. His production of London Road by Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork opened at the Cottesloe in 2011, before transferring to the Olivier in 2012, winning the Critics" Circle Award for Best Musical. His 2012 film, Broken, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and received the Golden Eye Award for best international film at the Zurich Film Festival. At the British Independent Film Awards 2012 it won the award for Best British Independent Film.
