Andrew Upton appointed Artistic Director of Sydney Theatre Company

16 August 2012Andrew Upton appointed Artistic Director ofSydney Theatre CompanyDavid Gonski, Chairman of Sydney Theatre Company, today announcedthat Andrew Upton has been appointed Artistic Director of Sydney TheatreCompany commencing 1 January 2013. For the past five years, AndrewUpton has been Co Artistic Director of the Company with Cate Blanchett.The duo’s final program – for 2013 – will be announced on 6 Septemberthis year.“After an extensive national and international search for a new ArtisticDirector, which identified a number of outstanding candidates, weconsidered that Andrew would be the best person to lead the company as itevolves into the next stage of its artistic development,” Mr Gonski said.“STC is one of the largest performing arts organisations in Australia, andone of the largest theatre companies in the world. Under Andrew and Cate ithas won a new international reputation, raising the profile of Australiantheatre abroad, developed an innovative in-schools education program,taken a leading role in raising the profile of the Walsh Bay arts precinct andbecome a global leader in sustainable performing arts practice via theinnovative Greening The Wharf initiative. All these things have created anew energy around the Company and Andrew and Cate have been greatadvocates for the sector.“We are very pleased that we were able to convince Andrew to acceptanother three year term to continue this terrific creative momentum, afterhe and Cate made the decision to continue living in Australia. The boardconsiders Andrew to be the best person to build on the outstanding work heand Cate have achieved. As incoming Artistic Director, Upton willimmediately commence planning for the 2014 season.”Andrew Upton said that he ‘loves’ STC.“It is a great theatre company brimming with remarkably talented people inall areas of the organisation. It has wonderfully diverse spaces that offerSydney audiences a real array of theatrical opportunity. I’m honoured andexcited to be a part of this next phase.”“The offer to stay on as Artistic Director came just as we had decided toremain in Australia as a family. We were finishing off plans for the 2013season – the last of Cate’s and mine together. At the same time, the teamwas also wrangling with our new five year strategic plan. So it happenedright when I was weighing up what Cate and I had achieved, and also feelingan enthusiasm for what could come next.”At the same time David Gonski announced that Patrick McIntyre, STC’sGeneral Manager, would be appointed Executive Director and will join theboard.

“One of the key things that attracted me to stay was the opportunity tocontinue my working partnership with Patrick McIntyre. Patrick will workin very close collaboration with me as Executive Director of the company. Atthis point in STC’s development, I believe it is important to have a strongpartnership between the artistic and business aims of the Company,”Andrew Upton said. “I relish the opportunities for change and growthahead.”Patrick McIntyre said: “It has been incredibly exciting professionally and agreat privilege to work with the team at STC during a period of change andrenewal. Especially because – like Andrew and Cate – my career in the artsstarted off here. Performing arts organisations are getting more and morecomplex. It’s an exciting challenge and one that relies on a strong alignmentbetween artistic and business leadership. It’s fantastic that Andrew will bestaying on – it very much feels like we have more to do.”Cate Blanchett said: “My first job as an actor was at STC and many of mymost influential experiences have been here. I will always maintain a strongpersonal connection to the Company.“I was very excited for STC when Andrew was appointed for another term.We weighed up all of our personal and professional needs and felt that –with Australia as our home – it was a great way to bring all of our initiativesat the Company to fruition. It is very important for STC to consolidate andbuild at this time,” she said. “I’ve always said he was the brains behind theoperation!”Andrew Upton’s association with Sydney Theatre Company spans thirteenyears and he has been Co Artistic Director since January 2008. As writer,his first adaptation for STC was Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergeracwhich debuted in 1999 and was reprised at Melbourne Theatre Company in2005. His adaptation of Moliere’s Don Juan was produced by STC in 2001.A third major adaptation, Hedda Gabler, was staged by STC in 2004 andtoured to New York in early 2006. His adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s TheCherry Orchard was presented by STC in 2005. In 2010 his adaptation ofChekhov’s Uncle Vanya was presented at Sydney Theatre. The productiontoured to the United States in 2011 and 2012 to extraordinary acclaim andwas named the best play of the year by Washington Post critic Peter Marks,after what he described as the strongest year of theatre in a decade. In TheNew York Times, Ben Brantley declared that he considered the three hoursof the show “among the happiest of my theatergoing life”.Other works for STC include his play Riflemind, staged as part of the 2007STC main stage season and in London in 2008 for the Ambassador TheatreGroup.He has a long association with the National Theatre of Great Britain. Hisadaptation of Maxim Gorky's Philistines was presented there in 2007, andhis adaptation of Bulgakov’s The White Guard was commissioned andpresented by the National in 2010. Andrew’s own production of The WhiteGuard was presented by STC in 2011, and later in that year his adaptation

of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard was presented by the National andsubsequently broadcast internationally as part of the cinema program NTLive.In 2007 Andrew adapted the Luigi Pirandello play Right You Are (If YouThink You Are), which was staged by Francesco Vezzoli at the GuggenheimMuseum. In 2008 he wrote the libretto to Alan John’s opera Through TheLooking Glass (Malthouse Theatre & Victorian Opera) which won best NewOperatic Work at the 2008 Green Room Awards.He has also directed for STC, including David Mamet’s Reunion in 2006,part two of 2009’s The Mysteries, Eugene O’Neill’s Long Days Journey IntoNight in 2010 which toured successfully to the United States following itsSydney season, and The White Guard presented by STC in 2011.A Communications graduate from UTS, Patrick McIntyre started his careerin arts management at Sydney Theatre Company twenty years ago in therole of publications manager before transitioning into marketing at a timewhen arts marketing was in its formative stages. Over the intervening years,he has worked in marketing and business development roles at SydneyOpera House and Sydney Dance Company, was General Manager of SydneyFilm Festival and Associate Executive Director of The Australian Ballet. Here-joined Sydney Theatre Company in February 2010.George Souris, Minister for the Arts, said today that he was delighted withthese appointments.David Gonksi said, “As a Board we are very excited to have an artist ofAndrew’s calibre as our Artistic Director. Combined with Patrick’s new roleas Executive Director and board member, we have a world class leadershipteam to steer the Company into the future.”For further information: Tim McKeough (+61 (2) 9250 1703 ortmckeough@sydneytheatre.com.au)Notes to Editors:1. STC’s 2013 Season will be announced on Thursday 6 September 2012.2. Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett began their tenure as Co Artistic Directors inJanuary 2008. Previous Artistic Directors are: Richard Wherrett (1978 – 1990),Wayne Harrison (1990 – 1999) and Robyn Nevin (1999 – 2007).3. Established in 1978, Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia’s leading artsorganisations and one of the busiest theatre companies in the world. From its homebase at The Wharf in the burgeoning Walsh Bay cultural precinct of Sydney, theCompany produces a diverse range of works seen by in excess of 300,000 peopleeach year. It performs in The Wharf’s own two theatres, at the 900-seat SydneyTheatre in Walsh Bay, at the Drama Theatre of Sydney Opera House, throughoutNSW, nationally, and increasingly on stages around the world. The Company hasbeen a creative incubator for many of the country’s most distinguished artists andcontinues to be a platform for discovering new talent. Artists such as BazLuhrmann, Judy Davis, Toni Collette, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, MirandaOtto, Geoffrey Rush and Benedict Andrews, to name just a few, honed their skills atSTC. Today, the Company collaborates with leading artists and companies fromhome and abroad, including, most recently, leading international artists TamásAscher, Steven Soderbergh, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Liv Ullman and internationalcompanies such as Frantic Assembly, the Barbican, Wiener Festwochen, the

Barbican, Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, Théâtre de la Ville, the Abbey Theatre,Artists Repertory Theatre and Ontroerend Goed.