The artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe, Mark Rylance, has announced he will be standing down in December 2005.

Appointed in 1995, Rylance has been with the theatre since it officially opened in 1997 with a production of Henry V, in which he played the title role.

“Never has an actor had such an opportunity as when I was asked to help bring the dream of a working Globe Theatre through its birth into its childhood,” he said.

The search for Rylance’s replacement is currently underway but no further announcement is expected before 2005.