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Pip Williams' Bookbinder of Jericho comes to the stage in world-first adaptation
By Markus Hamence
Pip Williams' award-winning novel The Bookbinder of Jericho is being adapted for stage in a world-first production by State Theatre Company South Australia, Sydney Theatre Company and Arts Centre Melbourne, with playwright Verity Laughton translating the 19th-century Oxford story to the theatre. The play premieres at the Dunstan Playhouse from 24 September to 16 October 2027, before heading to Sydney Opera House, with South Australian audiences able to join a waitlist ahead of the State Theatre Company's season launch on 30 September.
Award-winning bestseller, The Bookbinder of Jericho, from New York Times bestselling South Australian author Pip Williams, is hitting the stage in a world-first adaptation of the beloved novel.
The co-production from State Theatre Company South Australia, Sydney Theatre Company and Arts Centre Melbourne has been adapted for the stage by South Australian playwright Verity Laughton, who brought the vivid world of the Ruby Award-winning The Dictionary of Lost Words to the stage for two sell-out seasons in Adelaide and nationally.
The play will have its world premiere at the Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre in September 2027, before heading to the Sydney Opera House.
Theatre lovers in South Australia can join a waitlist today ahead of State Theatre Company’s Season 2027 launch on September 30. Join the waitlist HERE.
A companion piece to Williams’ international bestseller The Dictionary of Lost Words, The Bookbinder of Jericho is set in 19th Century Oxford, this time from the viewpoint of Peggy, twin sister to Maude (played by new Adelaide talent Billie-Rose Russell). Also starring Melissa Kahraman and Ksenja Logos (The Dictionary of Lost Words), the production will feature the creative talents of designer Jonathon Oxlade, costume designer Ailsa Paterson and sound designer Max Lyandvert, under the direction of Shannon Rush.
Evocative, subversive and rich with unforgettable characters, The Bookbinder of Jericho is a story about knowledge - who gets to make it, who gets to access it, and what is lost when it is withheld.
Artistic Director Petra Kalive says she is thrilled to bring Williams’ second book to life on stage.
“Pip Williams and Verity Laughton have a way with history that I find almost unfair - they use the world of a century ago, the bindery girls and the printed sheets, the war remaking the city outside - to speak directly to the choices we’re making right now,” she says. “It’s going to be truly excellent.”
State Theatre Company will reveal its full 2027 season on September 30.
The Bookbinder of Jericho, Dunstan Playhouse, September 24 – 16 Oct 2027
