While many arts companies are entering 2022 hoping for a new ‘normal’ without lockdowns and releasing annual programs, Sydney Theatre Company has decided to stick with the 2021 formula and just announce Act 1, featuring six productions between January and May.

“That is largely due to the volume of work that we produce in any given year, so we decided to have that as a risk mitigation. We had to commit to our program for 2022 quite a long time ago and at that point in time that was the best course of action,” says STC Artistic Director Kip Williams.

Eryn Jean Norvill in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Photo © Daniel Boud

The program includes Courtney Act’s STC debut as the ghost Elvira in Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit, the highly anticipated return of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and a co-production with Bangarra Dance Theatre.

The season begins in January with Triple X by Glace Chase, a co-production with Queensland Theatre, which premiered in Brisbane in March 2021, receiving a five-star review from Limelight.

The play was commissioned by QT...