The Board of Sydney Theatre Company (STC) has appointed actor, director, writer and producer Mitchell Butel as its new Artistic Director and co-CEO.

He takes the reins from current AD Kip Williams who steps down at the end of the year.

Butel joins the Company from State Theatre Company South Australia (STCSA), where he has been Artistic Director since 2019. His broad experience in musical and ‘straight theatre’ and popularity will be harnessed to help bring STC finances back into line in coming years and repair key philanthropic relationships strained by the company’s handling of a Gaza solidarity protest at the opening night of its production of The Seagull in 2023.

Mitchell Butel. Photo @ Ken Leanfore

Butel has earned multiple awards as a performer over three decades. He has worked for most of the country’s state and major theatre companies in that time, as well as for Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera, Sydney Chamber Opera and commercial theatre organisations such as The Production Company, David Atkins Enterprises, New Theatricals, Gordon Frost Organisation, GWB Entertainment and Trafalgar Entertainment Group.

Butel is a familiar face to STC audiences – and to many...