Sydney Theatre Company has announced that its Artistic Director Kip Williams is stepping down from the role.

The move comes in the wake of the recent West End opening of his STC production of A Picture of Dorian Gray and ahead of its transfer to New York City later in the year.

STC Artistic Director, Kip-Williams. Photo © Daniel Boud

Williams will direct one production for STC in 2025 and oversee a tour of his adaptation of Dracula, the third play in his ‘Gothic trilogy’ (alongside Dorian Gray and the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) scheduled to open in Sydney in July.

Since taking over the leadership role, Williams has helmed a number of acclaimed productions including Playing Beatie Bow, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Harp in the South Parts One & Two, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and Chimerica. During that time, he has also created something of a signature style with his use of live and pre-recorded video, a form he describes as “cine theatre”.

Speaking to The Guardian earlier this year, Williams said he aimed to take “the best of cinema and the essence of theatre and combine them into a new space where you can see the juxtaposition of those art forms. I want audiences to get lost in that blurred area between film and stage.”

Sarah Snook in Sydney Theatre Company’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Photo © Marc Brenner

Williams’ rise to the top job was a short and swift one. A University of Sydney graduate, he undertook the postgraduate directing course at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, aged 22. On graduating, he was taken on by then STC Artistic Director Andrew Upton as an assistant director on the 2011 production of The White Guard.

Later that year, he assisted director Benedict Andrews on the Cate Blanchett-starring Gross und Klein. When that production went to London, and Upton went with it, Williams took over as director of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood at the Sydney Opera House. He was 25.

In 2016, Upton and Blanchett departed as co-Artistic Directors of the STC and English director Jonathan Church was hired to replace them. The appointment lasted just six months and was widely regarded as a board level failure. Williams, then 30, was asked to take the reins while a replacement was found and was appointed permanently to the role later that year.

“Serving as Artistic Director at Sydney Theatre Company has been the honour of a lifetime,” Williams said.

“Over the past eight years, I have had the opportunity to work with the most extraordinary theatre makers in the country and have been fortunate enough to program and help bring to life 89 productions for STC. When I started as Artistic Director, one of my goals was to increase the space and opportunity for Australian stories on our stages. I couldn’t be prouder that two-thirds of the shows I have programmed during my tenure have been original works and adaptations by Australian writers.”

Hugo Weaving in Sydney Theatre Company’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. Photo supplied

In the same statement, STC Chair Ann Johnson said, “Kip Williams has been an exceptional leader of Sydney Theatre Company. He has shown remarkable skill, resilience and creativity, particularly in leading the Company through both the Wharf Renewal Project and the extraordinary challenges of the pandemic.”

“Sydney Theatre Company’s artistic output under Kip’s leadership has resulted in one of the most critically acclaimed and creatively vibrant periods of the Company’s history. 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. 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.”

“We thank Kip for his extraordinary leadership and his continuing love for the STC. We are grateful to have him with us until the end of the year while we commence the search for our next Artistic Director and are delighted Kip will remain close to the Company in the years ahead.”