Boyd has also made further appointments to the literary and artistic team, as the company plans the artistic program for the next long-term acting ensemble to be formed in 2009, and the projected reopening of Stratford-upon-Avon's main house, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, in 2010.

The new RSC Associate Directors are Rupert Goold, David Farr and Roxana Silbert, who join the existing team of Chief Associate Gregory Doran, Associate Director Deborah Shaw and Associate Designer Tom Piper. As Associate Directors, each of the new appointees will participate fully in the life of the company, including the events and learning programs, as well as directing plays.

Both Goold and Farr have previously directed for the company.

Farr, who leaves his current post as artistic director of London's Lyric Hammersmith after the opening of Spring Awakening in the New Year, will join full-time from early 2009. He previously wrote and directed a new play, Night of the Soul, for the RSC in 2001, staged in the Barbican's Pit Theatre, and also subsequently directed Greg Hicks as Coriolanus for the company, which premiered at Stratford's Swan Theatre and subsequently was seen on a national tour before transferring to the Old Vic, and Julius Caesar (first at the Swan, then on a national tour, then revived as the opening production of his tenure at the Lyric Hammersmith in 2005). He has previously also been artistic director of London's Gate Theatre (1995-1998) and joint artistic director of Bristol Old Vic (2002-2005), sharing the latter post with Simon Reade. As a playwright, his work has also been produced at the Young Vic, Bush Theatre, Watford Palace, Arcola and the West End.

Goold will join the RSC in 2010, continuing his commitments to Headlong Theatre, the company of which he is artistic director. Most recently, he directed The Last Days of Judas Iscariot for the company at the Almeida. He has previously been artistic director of Northampton's Royal and Derngate Theatres, from 2002-2005. For the RSC, he directed the world premiere of Frank McGuinness' Speaking Like Magpies and The Tempest, starring Patrick Stewart as Prospero, in 2006, that subsequently transferred from Stratford-upon-Avon to the West End's Novello Theatre. His production of Macbeth, which reunited him with Stewart in the title role, originated at Chichester's Minerva Theatre last summer, before transferring to the West End's Gielgud Theatre, then BAM in New York and finally Broadway's Lyceum Theatre. He won the 2007 Evening Standard, Critics' Circle and Olivier Award for Best Director for the production. Silbert, who will join the company shortly, will divide her time between the RSC and her responsibilities as artistic director of new writing company Paines Plough. She has also previously held posts as Associate Director at the Royal Court (1998-2000) and Literary Director at Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre (2001-04).

Boyd has also appointed playwright, director and actor Anthony Neilson as Literary Associate, and Kathryn Hunter as Artistic Associate for the next long-term ensemble.

In a press statement Boyd commented, "The RSC is very fortunate that some of the most inspirational theatre-makers of their generation want to make the RSC their artistic home over the coming years and help to redefine ensemble theatre-making in this country."