In April this year, Sydney Theatre Company (STC) announced that its Artistic Director Kip Williams will be stepping down after the 2024 Season. The news came as a surprise to many, and the question has been lingering since – “Who will fill those big shoes?” Well, the wait is over – today, the STC Board announced the appointment of award-winning actor, director, writer and producer Mitchell Butel as its new Artistic Director and co-CEO.
Who is STC's next Artistic Director?
One of Australia’s most versatile artists, 53-year-old Butel has been serving as the Artistic Director of State Theatre Company South Australia (STCSA) since 2019. Over the years, he has performed in or directed over 150 stage productions; worked with every Australian state theatre company; and won multiple Helpmann, Sydney Theatre and Green Room Awards – as well as two AFI/AACTA nominations for his work as an actor in Australian feature films. (And we’re sure there’s also a Time Out Arts & Culture Award on the horizon too, eh?)
Butel’s long history with STC began as a teenage audience member when he was inspired by the Company’s founding Artistic Director, Richard Wherrett. He has since worked with every successive Artistic Director across 18 productions throughout his three-decade career. Butel says that he is “simultaneously humbled and thrilled’’ to be appointed to the role.
“With such a rich history and continuing impact, STC’s work has helped both mirror and define Sydney and the nation. I’m honoured to be taking the baton from the visionary and game-changing Kip Williams,” Butel said in a statement.
“Sydney Theatre Company has quite honestly helped shape the person that I am today. From the first STC play I saw as a teenager – Michael Gow’s Away directed by Richard Wherrett – I took away incredible lessons about love, empathy and the way I wanted to live my life… I’m keen to bring many voices, genres and ideas together on STC’s stages and I cannot wait to start conversations within the broader STC community about our shared future.”
What is Mitchell Butel known for?
You might be familiar with some of the work that Butel’s been up to lately. In 2023, he directed the return Adelaide season of Dennis Kelly’s Girls & Boys starring Justine Clarke, which then toured to Hobart’s Theatre Royal and Sydney Festival. Three of the highest-selling Australian theatre shows last year were touring productions programmed by Butel: Edward Albee’s The Goat, Or Who is Sylvia? (which he directed for STC and STCSA), Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill (which he directed for STCSA, Melbourne Theatre Company and Belvoir) and a co-production with STC of The Dictionary of Lost Words, which Butel commissioned.
Kip Williams has worked with Butel across several productions, and has stated that he is “overjoyed” to hand over the baton to “one of the most adored and respected theatre makers in the industry”.
Williams also said: “As both an actor and director, his work is revered by fellow artists, and he has consistently awed audiences and critics alike. It has been inspiring to see the incredible job Mitchell has done leading STCSA, all with his characteristic kindness and generosity. I am so excited to see him take Sydney Theatre Company to new and thrilling heights.”
What is Kip Williams doing next?
The announcement of Williams’ departure came as a shock to many, but it’s a move that makes sense for the ground-breaking theatremaker, who became the company’s youngest-ever AD after he took the reins from Jonathan Church in 2016. Williams just debuted the final chapter in his distinctive “cine-theatre” gothic trilogy – the high camp one-woman epic, Dracula, starring Zahra Newman – and while he has remained tight-lipped about what's next, his most acclaimed show The Picture of Dorian Gray (which kicked off the trilogy, and remains its most beloved) is heading to Broadway in the new year after an Olivier-winning run on the West End. We’ll have our eyes peeled for what comes next.
Williams will announce the 2025 season, the final he will program for STC, on Wednesday September 4, 2024. Butel will join STC in November, following the launch of his final season for STCSA in October.
In the meantime, you can check out what Sydney Theatre Company has to offer for the final few months of 2024 over here.
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