ACCLAIMED theatre director Peter Brook has signalled his intention to start handing over the reins at the Paris theatre he has led for more than 30 years.

Now 83, Brook, who galvanised the Bouffes du Nord theatre after taking over in 1974, is preparing to manage a handover to a younger generation.

The veteran director, whose career ranges from directing Sir Laurence Olivier in Shakespeare at Stratford in the Fifties to a film adaptation of Lord of the Flies, says he will keep working until the end of his life.

But in his only interview on the subject, he told The Guardian: "I wanted to look realistically to the future. I can't say I'll stay here for ever."

Brook, who turned the dilapidated French theatre into one of the cultural gems of Paris with his experimental group, will start handing over to Olivier Mantei, deputy head of the Paris opera company Opéra-Comique. Mantei is currently head of musical programming at Bouffes du Nord.

Olivier Poubelle, a theatre entrepreneur specialising in modern music at some of Paris's most fashionable venues, will work alongside him.

Brook said the transition would take two to three years. He will continue to direct his own shows, including a forthcoming adaptation of Mozart's The Magic Flute.

• 

  And the winners were...

  Our judges reveal why they chose the recipients of the 2009 Evening Standard Theatre Awards

  ---

• 

  'Disabled people aren't any nicer or nastier than anyone else'

  Blind actor Tim Gebbels stars in a new Channel 4 comedy that challenges the stereotypes of disabled people

  ---

Sky in plot to hire students on the cheap

Sky News is currently recruiting students as reporters for its coverage of next year's general election. However, the opportunity doesn't quite seem so appealing

All stories