Nicholas Hytner to Step Down as Artistic Director of London's National Theatre

Nicholas Hytner will step down as artistic director of the National Theatre in London in March 2015, according to the U.K.'s The Independent. Hytner took over from Trevor Nunn in 2003 and has been responsible for some of the theater's biggest successes.

Hytner directed two Tony-winning hits that transferred from the National to the West End and then to Broadway: The History Boys in 2004 and One Man, Two Guvnors in 2011. Other highlights of Hytner's tenure at the NT include The Madness of George III, Carousel, The Cripple of Inishmaan, His Dark Materials, Stuff Happens and much more.

"It’s been a joy and a privilege to lead the National Theatre for 10 years and I’m looking forward to the next two," Hytner said in a statement. "I have the most exciting and most fulfilling job in the English-speaking theater; and after 12 years it will be time to give someone else a turn to enjoy the company of my stupendous colleagues, who together make the National what it is."

The National Theatre also announced that Nick Starr will leave his post as executive director some time next year. A succession committee will begin the search for a new artistic director in the coming weeks and is expected to announce a successor for Hytner's position in the fall of this year. A new executive director will be appointed after that has taken place.