Everything Tony-nominated director and writer Kip Williams creates is rooted in a queer perspective. “My work is interested in exploring themes around identity, specifically gender and sexuality,” he says.
This year, the Australian creator wrote and helmed The Picture of Dorian Gray, an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s novel, which garnered Succession’s Sarah Snook a Tony for her portrayal of the legendary hedonist (and 25 other roles). The play is “a two-hour-long drag king show that explodes the gender binary,” he says. Williams received several DMs from young people inspired by the Broadway production, which “reaffirmed my faith in theater's ability to change lives.”
“The visual landscape of my work often draws inspiration from queer culture and camp aesthetics, challenging gender norms and using camp as a critical perspective through which to deconstruct dominant paradigms,” he adds.
His next production will be a queer retelling of Dracula with Cynthia Erivo in the West End, which he says is going to be “theatrically super ambitious, thrilling, scary, and hopefully uplifting.” His message to the world? “The complex parts of your identity that defy categorization are the most beautiful.” @kip_williams
