The Picture of Dorian Gray’s Kip Williams steps down as Sydney Theatre Company artistic director
The Sydney Theatre Company artistic director, Kip Williams, who steered the theatre to new heights with the global success of his one-woman production the Picture of Dorian Gray, has announced he is stepping down after 13 years with the company.
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Williams was the youngest artistic director of the STC when he was appointed at the age of 30 in 2016. He will finish his tenure at the end of 2024 after eight years, in anticipation that The Picture of Dorian Gray will head to Broadway next year. In its recent run in London’s West End, Succession star Sarah Snook played all 26 roles to huge acclaim. The role was first performed by Eryn Jean Norvill in multiple sell-out runs across Australia.
Deadline reported in February that Snook was the frontrunner to perform the role in the US if the production did head to Broadway.
Williams is known for his unique approach to live performance, using live camera feeds and screens on stage to create a hybrid form he calls “cine-theatre”, which allows him to cast a single actor in multiple roles, manipulate live images and embellish them with pre-recorded footage. The Picture of Dorian Gray was a resounding success when it debuted in Australia in 2020, followed by his take on Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in 2022, which starred just two actors.
His final work in this trilogy of Gothic adaptations is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, with Zahra Newman set to play all the roles later this year.
Announcing his departure to STC staff on Friday, Williams said it had been “the honour of a lifetime” and that he was “delighted that the future touring plans for a number of productions I’ve adapted and directed will keep me close to the company in the coming years”.
A brand-new work by Williams will be among the shows in next year’s STC program, to be announced in September.
The STC chair, Ann Johnson, called Williams “an exceptional leader” and said he had headed “one of the most critically acclaimed and creatively vibrant periods of the company’s history”.
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“Kip has put great focus on Australian writing, championing new voices, and has realised his goal of gender parity for women writers and directors across every season,” Johnson said.
“He has mentored and nurtured the careers of some of our most exciting writers, directors, designers, performers and technicians, and the Australian theatre industry is a richer and more diverse place for the role that Kip has played in it.”
Williams joined STC as assistant director in 2011, before being appointed associate director by the then artistic directors, Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton, in 2012. He became resident director in 2013 and artistic director in 2016.
Over eight years, the company said, Williams programmed 89 productions, two-thirds of which were original Australian works or adaptations by Australian writers. Williams also directed 24 STC productions, including the seven-hour-long The Harp in the South Part One and Part Two starring Kate Mulvany, and Suddenly Last Summer, for which he won a Helpmann award for best director.
