Sydney Theatre Company Executive Director Anne Dunn, new Artistic Director Mitchell Butel and Board Chair Ann Johnson
STC audiences will be very familiar with Mitchell’s work – in his three-decade long history with the Company, he has worked with every single artistic director across 18 productions.
Mitchell joins Sydney Theatre Company from State Theatre Company of South Australia, where he has been Artistic Director since 2019. One of Australia’s most versatile artists, Mitchell 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.
Mitchell has said he is “simultaneously humbled and thrilled’’ to be appointed to the role:
“With such rich history and continuing impact, STC’s work has helped both mirror and define Sydney and the nation. I’m honoured be taking the baton from the visionary and game-changing Kip Williams.
STC has quite honestly helped shaped 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.
Theatre offers a place where we can learn to walk in other people’s shoes; to consider, to question, to dream and to heal – and, of course, also entertain, dazzle and delight. In a world and time of increased connectivity but conversely social disconnection, public gathering that involves joint attention on art and stories made and told with passion, wit, heart and nuance is more important than ever.
I’m keen to bring many voices, genres and ideas together for STC’s stages and I cannot wait to start conversations within the broader STC community about our shared future.”
Outgoing Artistic Director Kip Williams is “overjoyed” to be handing over to Mitchell, who he describes as a “one of the most adored and respected theatre makers in the industry.”
“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.”
Executive Director Anne Dunn said of the appointment, “Mitchell brings a wealth of experience and a deep respect for and knowledge of Sydney Theatre Company’s history along with an intelligent, artist-led and audience-focused vision for its future. He has long been a champion for the theatre and has been a tireless advocate for artists. Adored by all who work with him, he has a deep love and respect for bringing stories to life for audiences. I very much look forward to working alongside Mitchell as he steps into the role.”
Chair Ann Johnson said “As Australia’s largest theatre company, it is imperative that STC remains an artist-led organisation. Mitchell’s skills, experience and vision, combined with those of our talented Executive Director and co-CEO Anne Dunn, give Sydney Theatre Company exceptional leadership as we take the Company into its next chapter.”
We can’t wait to share Kip's 2025 Season with you all in September and we will welcome Mitchell in late November.
About Mitchell Butel
Mitchell Butel is a multi-awarded director, performer, writer and producer and has been Artistic Director and Co-CEO of State Theatre Company South Australia (STCSA) since 2019.
Mitchell holds four Helpmann Awards, four Sydney Theatre Awards, two Victorian Green Room Awards and two Adelaide Ruby Awards for his work in Australian theatre and opera over three decades. He has worked in New York, London, Hong Kong and New Zealand. He has worked extensively for Sydney Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre, Belvoir, Bell Shakespeare, Griffin Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, Opera Australia, Sydney Chamber Opera, Pinchgut Opera, The Production Company, David Atkins Enterprises, New Theatricals, Gordon Frost Organisation, GWB Entertainment, Sonia Friedman Productions, Trafalgar Entertainment Group, Hayes Theatre Co, New Victory Theatre (New York City) and Southbank Centre (London), and the Sydney, Adelaide and Perth Arts Festivals. Over his career, he has worked on over 150 professional productions incorporating classical repertoire, new Australian work, contemporary international writing, music theatre and opera. Mitchell also holds two AFI/AACTA nominations for his work as an actor in Australian feature films.
In 2022, STCSA’s co-production of Girl from the North Country became the highest selling show in its 50-year history. Three of the highest selling Australian theatre shows in 2023 were touring productions programmed by Mitchell for the Company - Edward Albee’s The Goat, Or Who is Sylvia? (which he directed for Sydney Theatre Company and STCSA), Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill (which he directed for STCSA, Melbourne Theatre Company and Belvoir) and a co-production with Sydney Theatre Company of The Dictionary of Lost Words which Mitchell commissioned.
In 2023, Mitchell directed the return Adelaide season of Dennis Kelly’s Girls & Boys starring Justine Clarke, which then toured to Theatre Royal, Hobart and to the Sydney Festival.
For STCSA Mitchell has also directed David Lindsay-Abaire’s Ripcord, Finegan Kruckemeyer’s Hibernation and co-directed and produced Decameron 2.0. Other recent directing credits include Francesco Cavalli’s The Loves of Apollo and Dafne for Pinchgut Opera, the Sydney and Melbourne seasons of the Hayes Theatre/Blue Saint production of Jeanine Tesori’s Violet (which received three Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Director of a Musical and Best Production of a Musical), Spring Awakening (Australian Theatre for Young People, which won the Sydney Theatre Award’s Best Production for Young People), Porgy and Bess, The Bernstein Songbook and Funny Girl (all for Sydney Symphony Orchestra), Candide (Sydney Opera House/Sydney Philharmonia), An Act of God (Darlinghurst Theatre Company, co-director), Marjorie Prime and Croon Tunes (Ensemble Theatre), Approximate Balance (Griffin Theatre Lysicrates Prize winner), Dead Cat Bounce (Griffin Theatre), Excellent Adventures (Chapel Off Chapel and Noosa Festivals), Killing Time (which he also wrote for Adelaide, Brisbane and Summersalt Cabaret Festivals), Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s Caroline, or Change (Hayes Theatre), the opera The Blessing (Coriole Music Festival) and Moments in the Woods: Songs and Stories of Stephen Sondheim for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. He recently co-directed and performed in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, a co-production between STCSA and State Opera South Australia and directed the world premiere of Van Badham and Richard Wise’s new musical The Questions for STCSA.
His performing highlights in theatre, music theatre and opera include leading roles in commercial and state theatre productions of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, The Merchant of Venice (as Shylock for which he won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Actor), Mr Burns (Helpmann Award Best Supporting Actor), Biographica, Disgraced, South Pacific, Angels in America, Dance Nation, The Government Inspector, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Strange Interlude, Meow Meow’s Little Match Girl, Othello, The Venetian Twins (Helpmann Award Best Actor in a Musical), The Mikado (Helpmann Award Best Actor), Assassins, Avenue Q (Helpmann Award Best Actor), Stones in his Pockets, Little Me, Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love, Little Shop of Horrors, The Laramie Project, The Madwoman of Chaillot, Tomfoolery, Urinetown, Dead Heart and A View from the Bridge. He most recently played Ned Weeks in the STCSA production of The Normal Heart.
For Sydney Theatre Company, he has performed in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Arms and the Man, Face to Face, Romeo and Juliet, The Grenade, The Republic of Myopia, Harbour (which opened the Roslyn Packer Theatre), Summer Rain, Holy Day, Mourning Becomes Electra, Tartuffe, Two Weeks with the Queen, Dead White Males, The Café Latte Kid, Summer of the Aliens and Six Degrees of Separation.
Mitchell’s film and TV highlights include A Sunburnt Christmas, Stateless, Decameron 2.0, Dance Academy, Holding the Man, Gettin’ Square (AFI/AACTA nomination), The Bank, Strange Fits of Passion (AFI/AACTA nomination and official competition Cannes Film Festival), Dark City, Deep Water, Hiding, Janet King, The Broken Shore, Rake, Grass Roots, Wildside, GP, Playschool and Bordertown.
Mitchell wrote the book of the musical Starstruck (RGM Productions) and has also written material for the Sydney Festival/Malthouse production of Meow Meow’s Little Match Girl, the Malthouse/Belvoir production of The Government Inspector, Opera Australia’s The Mikado and various cabaret shows and concerts including Excellent Adventure, And Now For The Weather, Killing Time and Croon Tunes. He was the co-writer and co-host of the 2019 Helpmann Awards broadcast on ABC TV.
Mitchell has taught acting, musical theatre and directing at various institutions including Australian Theatre for Young People, National Institute of Dramatic Art, West Australian Academy of Performing Arts and the Australian Institute of Music and is a mentor for Flinders University Bachelor of Creative Arts students and the Sparrow Mentor Program.
Mitchell holds a Bachelor of Arts (Theatre Studies) from the University of New South Wales. He was the Deputy President of Actors Equity and Vice President of the Media Entertainment Arts Alliance from 2009 to 2013; and was a member of the National Performers Committee from 2007 to 2018. He was a Board Member of Belvoir from 2012 to 2019. He was a Trustee of the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust from 2020 to 2024. Mitchell is also an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Institute of Music.