Theatre
Williams has directed both on Broadway and in the West End, as well as for many leading theatre companies and festivals around the world, including Sydney Theatre Company, Donmar Warehouse, Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, Adelaide Festival, Perth Festival, Sydney Opera House, Auckland Arts Festival, Arts Centre Melbourne, and Rising Festival.
Williams' first production for Sydney Theatre Company came in 2012, where at age 25 he directed Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood , at the Sydney Opera House, starring Jack Thompson. In 2013 he adapted and directed a reimagining of Romeo and Juliet , focussing the text on Juliet, again at the Sydney Opera House; as well as an all female production of William Golding's Lord of the Flies at Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, as part of the Helium Festival. In 2014, for Sydney Theatre Company he directed productions of Macbeth starring Hugo Weaving and Maxim Gorky's Children of the Sun adapted by Andrew Upton.
In 2015, Williams directed a radical staging of Tennessee Williams's Suddenly Last Summer, using a blend of live video and stage action. [16] The production earned him a Best Director nomination at the Sydney Theatre Awards, and won him the Helpmann Award for Best Direction of a Play. He also directed the Australian premiere of Caryl Churchill's Love and Information for Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, and the Sydney Theatre Company. The production garnered Williams a second nomination for the Helpmann Award for Best Direction of a Play, as well as Best Director nominations from the Sydney Theatre Awards, and Melbourne's Green Room Awards.
In 2016, for STC Williams directed a revival of the Australian classic The Golden Age by Louis Nowra, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream , and Arthur Miller's All My Sons , for which he was nominated for Best Director at the Sydney Theatre Awards. He also adapted and directed a production of Miss Julie for the Melbourne Theatre Company. [17] It was his second time combining live video and stage action. The production was nominated for eight Green Room Awards, winning Best Production, Best Digital Media Design and Integration, and Best Director for Williams.
In 2017, Williams directed the Australian premiere of Lucy Kirkwood's Chimerica for Sydney Theatre Company. [18] The production featured an ensemble cast of 32, including a chorus of students from NIDA, with set design by David Fleischer. Hailed "a triumph" by The Australian , [18] Chimerica was nominated for two Helpmann Awards; Jason Chong for Best Actor, and Williams for Best Direction of a Play. [19] This was followed by a staging of Caryl Churchill's Cloud 9 , Williams' second professional production of a Churchill play. [20] The production was nominated for nine Sydney Theatre Awards, including Best Production and Best Director for Williams. It was also nominated for two Helpmann Awards, Best Director for Williams, and Best Supporting Actor for Harry Greenwood. Later in 2017 he directed an adaptation by Andrew Upton of Chekhov's Three Sisters for the STC. [21]
In 2018, Williams directed Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui , starring Hugo Weaving in the titular role. [22] The production was nominated for six Helpmann Awards, including Best Production, Best Director for Williams, and winning Best Supporting Actress and Best Actor for Anita Hegh and Weaving respectively. [23] Later, it was nominated for a further nine Sydney Theatre Awards, again for Best Production and Best Director for Williams, and winning four awards including Best Actor for Weaving, Best Stage Design for Robert Cousins, and Best Supporting Actor for Mitchell Butel. [13] Next Williams directed a 7 hour stage adaptation of The Harp in the South: Part One & Part Two by Kate Mulvany. The highly acclaimed production brought to life Ruth Park's celebrated trilogy of novels, Missus , The Harp in the South , and Poor Man's Orange , using an ensemble of 18 actors to perform the marathon work across two nights of theatre. [24] The production was nominated for 11 Sydney Theatre Awards, winning Best Production, Best New Australian Work for Mulvany, and Best Direction for Williams. [25] It was nominated for a further six Helpmann Awards, including Best Production of a Play, Best New Australian Work, and Best Director for Williams. Williams finished 2018 with an operatic take on Patrick White's classic play A Cheery Soul, featuring his signature use of live video. Staged at the Sydney Opera House, the production starred Sarah Peirse, with an ensemble including Anita Hegh, Shari Sebbens, and Tara Morice. [26]
2019 saw Williams take on Tennessee Williams' masterpiece Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , in a contemporary adaptation featuring Zahra Newman, Harry Greenwood, Pamela Rabe, and Hugo Weaving as Big Daddy. The production marked Weaving and Williams' third time collaborating. This was followed by a gender blind staging of William Golding's Lord of the Flies. Starring Mia Wasikowska as Ralph, the production featured an ensemble including Joseph Althouse, Justin Amankwa, Nyx Calder, Yerin Ha, Daniel Monks, Mark Paguio, Rahel Romahn, Eliza Scanlen, Contessa Treffone, and Nikita Waldron.
In 2020 Williams wrote and directed an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray . The one-person show saw actor Eryn Jean Norvill play 26 characters in a two-hour performance at the Roslyn Packer Theatre that incorporated Williams' signature use of live video. Hailed a "tour de force" by The Guardian , the show received a slew five star reviews and was extended twice. [27] The production was reprised in 2022, first touring to the Adelaide Festival, then playing a sold out return season in Sydney, followed by a sold out ten week season in Melbourne at the Arts Centre Melbourne, opening in Rising Festival and presented by Michael Cassel Group. [28] The production received further five star reviews in Melbourne and Adelaide, including from The Age , which called the production a "dazzling masterpiece", [29] and Time Out , which declared it a "reinvention of theatre". [30] The production was nominated for six Sydney Theatre Awards, [31] winning Best Production, Best Director for Williams, Best Performer for Norvill, and Best Stage Design for Designer Marg Horwell. The production's Melbourne season was nominated for six Green Room Awards, winning Best Production, Best Director for Williams, Best Performer for Norvill, and Best Costume Design for Horwell. [12]
In 2021 Williams reunited with playwright Kate Mulvany to direct her adaptation of Ruth Park's cult classic Playing Beatie Bow . The production starred Catherine Văn-Davies and Sophia Nolan, with Heather Mitchell and Guy Simon in supporting roles, and was the reopening work of the Sydney Theatre Company's newly renovated Wharf Theatres. The production was nominated for two Sydney Theatre Awards, Best Production for Young People and Best Supporting Actor for Mitchell. [32] Following Sydney's second lockdown, Williams reopened STC's theatres with an innovative production of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar . Adapted by Williams, the production was performed at The Wharf Theatre in-the-round by just three actors, Zahra Newman as Brutus, Ewen Leslie as Cassius and Caesar, and Geraldine Hakewill as Mark Antony, using live video filmed by the performers on mobile phones and displayed on a giant flying cube of LED screens. Time Out magazine praised the work as bringing "Shakespeare's revered classic right up to the very minute", while The Guardian declared Williams a "technological innovator in theatre". [33]
In addition to the national tour of Dorian Gray, 2022 saw Williams write and direct an acclaimed adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde . The production, starring Ewen Leslie and Matthew Backer, was the second part of Williams' trilogy of Victorian Gothic adaptations, further expanding his signature interweaving of live performance, live video, and prerecord video. The work received a rare five star review from the Sydney Morning Herald, which praised the work's "mind-boggling virtuosity". [34] The production was nominated for six Sydney Theatre Awards, including Best Production and Best Original Score, and winning three awards including Best Director for Williams. [35] Williams also directed and adapted a new production of Shakespeare's The Tempest starring Richard Roxburgh as Prospero. The production, featuring an ensemble including Guy Simon, Mandy McElhinney, Shiv Palekar, Claude Scott-Mitchell, Megan Wilding, and Susie Youssef, was designed by Jake Nash and was praised by The Guardian for its "outstanding" performances and "revolutionary approach" to the script, which interpolated texts from other Shakespeare works including Richard II , Pericles , The Merchant of Venice , and Hamlet in order to amplify the voices of Caliban and Miranda. [36] The production was nominated for six Sydney Theatre Awards, winning Best Supporting Actor for Peter Carrol's performance of Ariel. [35]
At the start of 2023, Williams revived his adaptations of The Picture of Dorian Gray and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Dorian Gray played a third sold out season in Sydney, before touring to Auckland Arts Festival, playing the Tiri Te Kanawa Theatre. Jekyll & Hyde played to five star reviews and standing ovations at His Majesty's Theatre as part of the Perth Festival. [37] It then played Her Majesty's Theatre at the Adelaide Festival, becoming the highest grossing show in the festival's 60 year history. [38] Williams then directed Tommy Murphy's stage adaptation of Nevil Shute's novel On the Beach, with an ensemble cast featuring Tai Hara, Michelle Lim Davidson, and Ben O'Toole. In five star reviews, Time Out called the production "achingly beautiful" [39] , while Artshub described the staging as "the work of genius". [40]
In February 2024, the London season of The Picture of Dorian Gray, starring Sarah Snook, premiered at the Theatre Royal Haymarket to wide critical acclaim. [41] In a five star review The Guardian declared the production to be “unmissable”, [42] while also giving five stars The Telegraph described Williams’ production as “a gamechanging piece of theatre”. [43] The Sunday Times also gave five stars, calling Williams’ modern adaptation “thrillingly relevant”, [44] while The New York Times declared the production "a triumph". [45] The Washington Post heralded Williams’ innovative use of video as "theatre’s future", [46] 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”. [47] The production sold out its season and went on to win two 2024 Olivier Awards, Sarah Snook for Best Actress in a Play and Marg Horwell for Best Costumes, while Williams was nominated for The Stage Debut Awards for Best Creative West End Debut for his direction. The production was named on many of London’s Best Theatre of 2024 lists, including The Stage, The Mirror, Time Out, The I, London Theatre, The Queer Review, and The Guardian, which listed the show as the #2 production across the UK for 2024. [48] Later in 2024, Williams staged Dracula as the third instalment in his "gothic trilogy" and his final production as artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company. The play, starring Zahra Newman in 23 roles, ran from July 2 to August 4. Williams will direct a West End production of the play at the Noël Coward Theatre in 2026, with Cynthia Erivo set to star. [49] [50] [51] [52]
In 2025, Williams transferred The Picture of Dorian Gray to Broadway, where it played a sold out 14 week season and broke multiple box office records at the 104-year-old Music Box Theatre, including repeatedly breaking the record for the highest grossing week in the venue’s history of any play. [53] The production was met with huge critical and popular acclaim, with The New Yorker declaring “if you can see only one show this season, make it this perception-altering adaptation, directed by Kip Williams, an Australian megatalent exploring the cutting edge of video onstage”. [54] The production received 6 nominations for the 2025 Tony Awards, the most ever for a one person play in Tony's history, [55] as well as 5 Drama Desk nominations, and 3 Drama League nominations, with Williams nominated for Best Director across all three ceremonies, as well receiving nominations for Best Production at the Drama League Awards and winning Best Unique Theatrical Experience at the Drama Desk Awards. The Picture of Dorian Gray was honoured with two wins at the 78th Tony Awards, Snook for Best Actress and Horwell for Best Costume, and three Drama Desk Awards.
