Shiv Deepak Rabheru appointed artistic director of Bird Conservatoire
West End theatre director Shiv Deepak Rabheru has been appointed artistic director of Bird Conservatoire – formerly Bird College – with performing arts academic Rob Archibald named executive dean.
Rabheru’s experience includes being resident director of Paddington the Musical and associate director for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. He is currently an associate director on the West End production of Hamilton.
As a previous graduate of the school, Rabheru currently sits on the institution’s board of directors.
Meanwhile, Archibald was formerly co-principal and artistic director of Urdang and held leadership roles at LAMDA and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Most recently, he was head of performing arts at City St George’s, University of London.
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They join Bird ahead of the school’s 2026-27 academic year.
News of the appointments follows the announcement of Christopher Costigan as chief executive and principal and Jamieson Dryburgh as deputy principal in January 2026.
This comes after the behaviour of former senior management was scrutinised two years ago, with reports emerging at the time that there was a "culture of fear" at the school – an allegation denied by the institution.
In March last year, principal Luis De Abreu and chief executive Shirley Coen left the college.
Rabheru said: "Returning to Bird as artistic director is both an honour and a deeply personal moment for me. Bird played a formative role in my own artistic development and I know first-hand the extraordinary potential that exists within this community."
Costigan said the appointments "embody everything [they] believe modern conservatoire training should be: artistically ambitious, academically rigorous and deeply connected to the realities of today’s performing arts profession".
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