Michael Grandage sets up production company

Grandage will leave the Donmar after nine years in 2011

Michael Grandage, the outgoing artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, is to set up his own production company.

Grandage will join forces with James Bierman, whom he formerly worked with at the Donmar, he told The Stage. Production will begin in 2013.

Before then, Grandage will direct Evita on Broadway, followed by the Marriage of Figaro at Glyndebourne, and Red in Los Angeles.

He is due to leave the Donmar next month after nearly a decade.

Speaking to The Stage, Grandage said: "After running theatres for 15 years, I feel I am now ready to go to a place where I can make my own work but maybe without a building.

"What we're doing is talking to and meeting people, and buying rights and getting stuff together for 2013.

"We have to remember that we don't have £500,000 subsidy from the Arts Council, or sponsorship or a membership," he added. "We have to account for every penny as we start this company up."

Bierman, the former executive director of the Donmar Warehouse, left the theatre company for the Almeida Theatre earlier this year. Six months later, he stepped down, claiming he wanted to "explore new producing opportunities".

Josie Rourke, artistic director at the Bush theatre in west London since 2007, will take over Grandage's role at the Donmar in the new year.