STC Artistic Director Mitchell Butel In Conversation with Danielle Cormack

Host(s)

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  Mitchell Butel

  Mitchell Butel is a multi-awarded director, performer, writer and producer and Sydney Theatre Company’s Artistic Director and Co-CEO. Mitchell holds four Helpmann Awards, four Sydney Theatre Awards and two Victorian Green Room Awards for his work as a director and actor in Australia. He has also worked in New York, London, Hong Kong and New Zealand. He has worked extensively for State Theatre Company South Australia, Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre, Belvoir, Bell Shakespeare, Griffin, Malthouse, Opera Australia, Sydney Chamber Opera, Pinchgut Opera, The Production Company, The Hayes Theatre and for the Sydney, Adelaide and Perth Festivals on over 200 professional productions. Mitchell was Artistic Director and Co-CEO of State Theatre Company South Australia from 2019 to 2024 where his directing credits included The Questions, Hibernation, Ripcord, Candide (co-director, co-produced with State Opera South Australia), Decameron 2.0 (co-director, co-produced with ActNow Theatre) and Girls & Boys (including its Adelaide Festival, Sydney Festival and Theatre Royal, Hobart seasons). He also performed in Dance Nation, Candide, Decameron 2.0 and The Normal Heart while he was Artistic Director of the Company. Other 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 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 (Adelaide, Brisbane and Summersalt Cabaret Festivals), 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.
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  Danielle Cormack

  Danielle Cormack is a Producer, Director and award winning actor with an impressive stage and screen career spanning decades. From 70s hippies to Amazonian warriors, she has portrayed diverse roles in films such as "Topless Women Talk About Their Lives," "The Price of Milk," and "Via Satellite." Beginning on stage, Cormack has gained recognition both in Australia and New Zealand working for MainStage and independent theatre companies. She has received acclaim for her work across all mediums especially in notable TV shows like “Secret City” "Rake" "Underbelly:Razor" and "Wentworth." In 2017 Cormack co-founded Four One One Productions for which she co-produced and directed the 2025 AACTA nominated short film “Why we Fight”. She is slated to star in and Executive Produce the feature film “Who’s Afraid” that is based on the stage play of the same name that she co-created. After wrapping season 3 of The Twelve she is developing her first feature, which she will direct and has co-written. Currently titled IN THE WAKE - it is a New Zealand/German co-production. She also does costume design, making her a multifaceted presence in the entertainment industry.