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BIOGRAPHY


Kip Williams is a multi-award winning writer and director of theatre, opera and screen, who has revolutionised the stage with his ‘cine-theatre’ productions. His hugely critically acclaimed gothic trilogy of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, and Dracula has been seen to date by a global audience of over 300,000 people and has brought him international acclaim, with The Economist calling his work “the future of theatre”. Following its sold-out run in the West End in early 2024, Williams’ adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray will open on Broadway at The Music Box in March 2025, with Sarah Snook reprising her Olivier Award winning performance.

Williams’ professional career began with Sydney Theatre Company (STC), Australia’s largest theatre company, when in 2012 he was appointed STC’s Directing Associate by then Artistic Directors Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton. He was subsequently made Resident Director from 2013-2016, and in November 2016, Williams was appointed Sydney Theatre Company’s seventh Artistic Director & Co-CEO, a role in which he served for eight years. His appointment, at the age of 30, made him the youngest Artistic Director in the company’s history. During his celebrated tenure, Williams transformed the company’s production of new writing, with over two thirds of the 101 shows he programmed written by Australian writers, whilst also achieving gender parity for writers and directors across all seasons for the first time in the company’s history.

In addition to STC, Williams has directed for many of Australia’s leading theatre companies and festivals, including Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC), Malthouse Theatre, Adelaide Festival, Perth Festival, and Melbourne’s RISING Festival, as well as internationally for Auckland Arts Festival, Princeton Summer Theatre, Michael Cassel Group, Kindred Partners, and Theatre Royal Haymarket in the West End.


THEATRE


In 2012, at just 25 years of age Williams made his main stage debut directing screen legend Jack Thompson in Under Milk Wood at the Sydney Opera House for Sydney Theatre Company. He has since gone on to direct 24 productions for STC, including his multi-award winning cinema-theatre hybrid production of Suddenly Last Summer, his lauded reinterpretations of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar, Romeo & Juliet and The Tempest starring Richard Roxburgh, the celebrated 7 hour epic The Harp in the South Part 1 & Part 2 by Kate Mulvany, his radical retelling of Lord of the Flies starring Mia Wasikowska, Yerin Ha, Eliza Scanlen and Daniel Monks, and his collaborations with actor Hugo Weaving in Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and Tennessee Williams’ Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.

In February 2024 Williams’ adaption of The Picture of Dorian Gray opened to rave reviews and standing ovations in the West End at the Theatre Royal Haymarket starring Sarah Snook as the solo performer. Conceived, written and directed by Williams, the produciton had its premiere at Sydney Theatre Company in November 2020 where it was met with a slew of five star reviews. Initially performed by Eryn Jean Norvill, and later joined by Nikki Shiels as alternate performer, the show played three sold out return seasons at STC across 2020-2023, in addition to seasons at Adelaide Festival in Her Majesty’s Theatre, Auckland Arts Festival at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Centre, and a record 10 week, sold out run at Arts Centre Melbourne as part of Rising Festival, presented by Michael Cassel Group, before transferring to the West End starring Snook. In a five star review of the West End season The Guardian declared the production to be “unmissable”, while also giving five stars The Telegraph described Williams’ production as “a gamechanging peice of theatre”. The Sunday Times also gave five stars, calling Williams’ modern adaptation “thrillingly relevant”, while The New York Times declared the production “a triumph”. The Washington Post heralded Williams’ innovative use of video as “theatre’s future”, and The Stage wrote “I’m unsure if I will ever see a more perfectly executed use of digital visual art forms on stage. The Picture of Dorian Gray represents the pinnacle of what can be achieved with technology in theatre”. The production received multiple awards at the 2022 Sydney Theatre Awards and 2023 Green Room Awards, including Best Production and Best Director for Williams at both. The production also won two 2024 Olivier Awards, Sarah Snook for Best Actress in a Play and Marg Horwell for Best Costumes. Williams was also nominated for The Stage Debut Awards for Best Creative West End Debut for his direction of Dorian Gray. The production will transfer to New York in 2024, with previews beginning on Broadway on March 10. A published version of Williams’ adaptation was released by Concord Theatricals upon the opening of the play in London.

Williams’ work is noted for its stunning choreography and groundbreaking visual style, its extensive use of music and his signature incorporation of live video and cinematic techniques. Williams has been nominated a record six consecutive times for the Helpmann Award for Best Director, Australia’s top theatre prize, and in 2015 became the youngest directer to win the award, for his production of Suddenly Last Summer. In 2016 he won Melbourne’s Green Room Award for Best Director for his adaptation of Strindberg’s Miss Julie (Melbourne Theatre Company), also winning for Best Production and Best Digital Media Design & Integration, and in 2023 he won two further Green Room Awards for The Picture of Dorian Gray for Best Production and Best Direction. He won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Director and Best Production for both The Harp in the South (2018), and for the aforementioned The Picture of Dorian Gray (2022), as well as winning a record third Best Director award in 2023 for his adaptation of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. 


OPERA


Williams’ work for opera has been much lauded, including acclaimed productions for Opera Australia, Sydney Chamber Opera (SCO), Victorian Opera, Dark MOFO, Biennale of Sydney, Carriageworks, Australian String Quartet, and Ensemble Offspring. Williams is a longtime collaborator of SCO Artistic Director Jack Symonds, having directed many of the company’s formative works. Their radical production of Fausto Romitelli’s composition An Index of Metals was the first ever theatrical staging of the piece. In 2024 Williams directed the world premiere of Symonds’ new opera Gilgamesh. Described in a five star review by Sydney Morning Herald as “reforging an ancient epic into modern theatre of transcendence”, the production was an historic first coproduction between Opera Australia and SCO, and was the first English language opera adaptation of The Epic of Gilgamesh. Williams production of Handel’s Hercules was set to premiere at London’s Coliseum for English National Opera in October 2020, but was unable to proceed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.


SCREEN


Williams currently has several screen projects in development, including a television series with Matchbox Pictures and NBC Universal. In April 2024 it was announced that Blanchett and Upton’s Dirty Films had optioned Williams’ stage adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray to be turned into a feature film, with Williams to direct. Williams has directed several music videos and short films, and his work has been included in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) RAGE 50 annual list of best music videos.

EDUCATION


Williams is a graduate of both the University of Sydney, where he holds a Bachelor of Arts (Media & Communications), and National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where he holds an MFA in Directing. Williams was a Board Director of NIDA from 2016 to 2023 and in 2024 was awarded the University of Sydney’s Alumni Award for Cultural Contribution.
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