In 1989, The Normal Heart made its Australian premiere at Sydney Theatre Company to roaring standing ovations. Almost 40 years later, Larry Kramer’s groundbreaking, semi-autobiographical and Tony and Olivier Award-winning masterpiece – set in 1980s New York during the...

From breakout trans playwright Gabrielle Fallen and acclaimed queer indie theatre director Justin Nott, Mature Skin premieres at Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre as part of Darebin Arts Speakeasy, an unflinching new comedy that’s as dark as it is seductive. Presented...

Following a huge summer of family programming that welcomed more than 24,000 visitors through the doors, Arts Centre Melbourne unveils a new season of distinctive and engaging works from internationally acclaimed Australasian theatre makers, set to inspire and delight...

A smart new hit play about art versus power. Adem’s a mechanic who’s written a play, and naively submitted it for consideration. He’s called to the arts council by a bureaucrat, Čelik, who suspects Adem has potential – if only he can learn to write in the...

After another night on the booze, Linda wakes up on the couch when an unexpected visitor arrives; it’s her Mother Alice, but this time she’s in a bag. ‘You’re No Good’ showcases the comedy in the messy and complex mother/daughter relationships, and the grief that...

Opera for the Dead | 祭歌 is a modern Chinese cyber-opera that delves into the connection between life, death and mourning as an embodied, multi-sensory ritual. Fresh from acclaimed sold-out seasons at Asia TOPA, OzAsia Festival and Sydney Festival, Opera for the Dead |...

TROPHY BOYS OPENS 2026 SEASON State Theatre Company South Australia opens its 2026 season next month with Trophy Boys, Emmanuelle Mattana’s hit black comedy about power, privilege and high school debating. The first show of Artistic Director Petra Kalive’s inaugural...

LEAD CAST ANNOUNCED FOR WAITRESS AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE   Producer John Frost for Crossroads Live today announced the stellar cast for the Australian Premiere of Broadway’s smash-hit musical WAITRESS, which will light up Her Majesty’s Theatre Melbourne from 1 May,...

THE BELOVED FILM LIVE ON STAGE CAST ANNOUNCEMENT!   Pull up a chair, darlin', and let us tell you some news we just can't keep to ourselves.   The beloved film Steel Magnolias is returning live on stage, and this brand-new Australian production is packed...

Applications are now open for the Frank Van Straten Fellowship, a yearly fellowship that offers arts enthusiasts access to Australia’s largest specialist collection, the Australian Performing Arts Collection. Dedicated to the collection and preservation of the...

10 new Monologues and 1 new Play, presented by the company who doesn’t care who you are – just that you have written a cracking script. Each of the scripts selected for performance in Melbourne Writers’ Theatre’s 2026 double-bill Season of New Writing was selected...

If you didn’t get a front row seat to the trial that gripped the nation, then don’t worry, Joseph Green has you covered. As Associate to a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Joseph worked on the trial of Erin Patterson, now infamously known as The Mushroom Lady....

This autumn, Melbourne Shakespeare Company kicks off our 2026 season with a vibrant outdoor musical production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Set against the picturesque backdrop of Central Park, Malvern, this lively new adaptation blends witty wordplay,...

Arts House premieres Specials this March – a fierce, funny and unapologetically disabled-led work that exposes the hidden histories of Australia’s special education system. Written by award-winning artist and playwright Kath Duncan, Specials draws on the personal...

Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is gearing up for a massive 2026, with an incredible lineup of festival-curated international comedians landing in Melbourne in just under two months. From award-winners and cult favourites to bold new voices making their...

 Fresh from rapturously received seasons in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and a Perth run where it played to the largest audiences of FringeWorld 2026 - Marvelous The Show soars into Brisbane for a strictly limited season from 18–29 March at Twelfth Night Theatre. With...

  MULTI-OLIVIER AWARD-WINNING BEST MUSICAL LONDON’S SOLD-OUT FIDDLER ON THE ROOF ANNOUNCED FOR AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE THEATRE ROYAL SYDNEY FROM JULY 2026 TICKETS ON SALE NOW GLASSHOUSE THEARE, QPAC, BRISBANE FROM OCTOBER 2026 WAITLIST NOW OPEN MELBOURNE AND PERTH...

Bell Shakespeare today announced the cast for the upcoming world premiere of Mackenzie, a new play by visionary creator Yve Blake, including five original songs. The production will open in Sydney at The Neilson Nutshell from 6 June – 18 July, before touring to Arts...

RocKwiz's Really Really Good Friday returns to Arts Centre Melbourne’s Hamer Hall on Friday 3 April 2026 celebrating ten years of live shows at the iconic venue.   The team behind the cult live music trivia television show RocKwiz, Julia Zemiro , Brian Nankervis,...

    They’re invited! The cast of the upcoming Tony-nominated Broadway smash-hit production, THE PROM has today been announced. This Drama Desk Award™ Winner for Best Musical is arriving in Sydney for its Australian Premiere at the newly revitalised Teatro at...

Asher Gelman’s international hit play AFTERGLOW will have its highly anticipated Australian premiere tonight at Melbourne’s Chapel off Chapel, where it will play as part of Midsumma Festival until 21 February. AFTERGLOW will then head to the Eternity Playhouse, Sydney...

Now celebrating 10 years of wowing audiences across Australia, Murder Village: An Improvised Whodunnit returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival after smash hit, sell-out runs in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, and Brisbane. With nearly 250...

In a rare opportunity to see three of Australia’s finest actors on stage together, Richard Roxburgh (Rake, The Correspondent, Elvis), Damon Herriman (Better Man, Mr Inbetween, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Toby Schmitz (Boy Swallows Universe, Gaslight, Grief is...

On Borrowed Time is a new Australian production comprising four interwoven short plays exploring love, friendship, ageing, and mortality. Tender, funny, and deeply affecting, the work gives voice to people too often marginalised on our stages, inviting audiences to...

…featuring theatres from around the country and revealing the physical spaces that shape their cultural identity… Running from 5–14 February 2026, Australian Theatres Unveiled is an ongoing photographic series celebrating the architecture, heritage, and emotional...

MICHAEL PAYNTER TO PLAY JOHN FARNHAM IN SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY’S WORLD-PREMIERE SEASON OF WHISPERING JACK: THE JOHN FARNHAM MUSICAL Tickets on sale from 9am today at sydneytheatre.com.au Sydney Theatre Company, Michael Cassel and Gaynor Wheatley today announced...

    BROADWAY STAR ANDY KARL DONS THE STRIPED SUIT AS BEETLEJUICE  JOIN THE WAITLIST AT BEETLEJUICETHEMUSICAL.COM.AU Western Australian theatre fans have chanted “Beetlejuice” three times and the most mischievous ghost in the history of musicals has responded....

After a 23 year hiatus, double cancer survivor and previous Moosehead Award-winner Katrina Mathers (The Wedge, Flipside, Footy Chicks) now returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. She’s wiser, healthier, and (thanks to menopause) hotter than ever....

A queer surreal farce about looking for love. And an octopus. Sadie has a crush on her co-worker Georgia. But they only ever see each other online. In a desperate attempt to capture Georgia’s attention, Sadie buys a pet octopus - Robert. Her ploy works and Georgia...

Due to popular demand, new performances have been added to the Australian leg of global dance phenomenon The Next Step: Legacy World Tour. Additional performances have been added to Melbourne, Geelong, Brisbane, Sutherland and Sydney. Featuring many of the beloved...

Marking 30 years since the Port Arthur massacre, this March Theatre Works brings Melbourne audiences Tom Holloway’s award-winning play, Beyond The Neck. Helmed by renowned director Suzanne Chaundy, this powerful and compelling work honours the long-term impact of...

The Classics Opera makes a dazzling return to Victoria Gardens with “Beg, Borrow or Steal” this February City of Stonnington’s Classics Opera invites audiences to Victoria Gardens, Prahran on February 7, offering a free summer evening of classical music under the...

On February 7th, for one night only FREAK OUT! THE AFTERPARTY is set to become the ultimate late-night closer destination for the MidSumma Festival, a wild collision of burlesque, circus, cabaret, and live acts, all set to the pulsing, nostalgic beat of a 90s house...

Merrick Watts, KABOOM!, David Quirk, The Greatest Magic Show and CIRCUS the Show are just some of the wild varieties of comedic talent on offer at Spiegel Haus Melbourne across the four weeks of Melbourne Comedy Festival 2026. Whether you’re a fancy grown up who likes...

(16.9.1930 – 19.1.2026) Australian born actress Patsy King, best remembered for her principal role as “Governor Erica Davidson” in the iconic television series Prisoner, passed away on Monday 19th January 2026 after a short illness. She was 95 years old. Patsy studied...

Gil is a loser. He works at McDonalds and still lives with Mother. But that’s all about to change because Gil has an ace up his sleeve: the biggest, baddest barnyard bird the world has ever seen. When Odysseus Rex hits the local cockfighting ring, there’ll be hell to...

Opera for All returns to Fed Square on Saturday 14 March 2026 for the fourth consecutive year Free, open-air evening of world-class opera for all Victorians Featuring four acclaimed opera singers supported by 20 musicians from Orchestra Victoria The Australian Girls...

Curated by Liquid Architecture, music group Worlds Only and artists and technologists Junior Major present Stable Confusion at Arts House this February. Smashing sound and live visuals into an electrifying experience, Stable Confusion pushes perception to its limits,...

What if your beloved boomer ‘spinster’ aunts were secretly defending our skies from alien invasions? Meet your new favourite dyke-namic duo, proudly sapphic and privately sci-fi, eradicating evil one CWA baked good at a time. In THE SCROLLING OF DOOM, Bev & Myrt...

Preachrs Productions are thrilled to return to the beloved Great Detectives franchise for Adelaide Fringe in 2026 with Heist! Camera! Action!, an all-new, never-before-seen adventure marking 12 years of intrigue, comedy and suspense. Paying loving tribute to the...

Lauded as a “watershed moment” for Australian theatre in 1955, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll became part of our cultural mythology. Expanded with Kid Stakes and Other Times, Ray Lawler’s trilogy charts the transformation of a nation. In 2026 The Doll Trilogy will be...

Merrigong Theatre Company in association with BlakDance are thrilled to present Garabari, an inclusive, immersive, multi-sensory theatre experience like no other by acclaimed choreographer and Wiradjuri artist Joel Bray, at the Wollongong Town Hall on Friday 6th and...

A landmark work of Australian theatre returns to the stage where it first sprang to inglorious life. steve j. spears’s The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin scandalised and mesmerised in equal measure when it premiered in 1976—touring across the world and collecting...

DARKFIELD will make its highly anticipated return to The Garden of Unearthly Delights this summer with three of its most acclaimed shows: SÉANCE, FLIGHT, and INVISIBLE. The experiences, which take place in total darkness, use 360° binaural sound to blur the line...

Stage and screen legends and real-life sisters Rachael Maza and Lisa Maza are set to perform together for the first time in 17 years in the world premiere of Black Light, a powerful new work written and directed by renowned Larrakia, Yanyuwa, Bardi and Wardaman artist...

Step inside Piper’s Playhouse, an immersive Parisian cabaret club at the heart of Crown. A live jazz band soundtracks a hedonistic night of soaring vocals, incomparable illusionists, sword swallowing sirens, burlesque bombshells and world-class circus artistes. Behind...

Due to popular demand, a new show has been added to the epic reimagining of James Cameron’s sci-fi classic Terminator 2: Judgment Day at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Hamer Hall from 25 – 28 February 2026. To celebrate T2’s 35th anniversary, the film will receive the live...

Malthouse Theatre is delighted to announce the full line-up for this year’s Malthouse Comedy, including an electrifying blend of razor-sharp stand-up, chaotic sketch and hilarious clowning. The 10th anniversary program boasts celebrated festival award-winners,...

. Full cast announced for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour - The Phantom of the Opera . . Opera Australia has announced the full cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, joining Queensland newcomer Jake Lyle as The Phantom when the iconic musical returns...

“Like a time bomb ticking away I might blow up some day…” Chrissy Amphlett was a seismic force in a school uniform. Now the legendary rebel-queen of Australian rock is reimagined by the prodigiously talented Sheridan Harbridge. Chrissy had raw talent, stage conquering...

Redfern Renaissance returns to Belvoir St Theatre for its second year as part of Sydney Festival 2026! This powerful Blak Out program, curated by Belvoir’s Community Liaison Coordinator and acclaimed Wiradjuri Yuin actor Angeline Penrith (Wayside Bride, Winyanboga...

Grab your trench coats and channel your inner detective because the stage is set for the Australian premiere of the stage play Cluedo, making its debut at QPAC’s Playhouse from today.  The cast for the game of whodunnit that’s gripped generations includes Octavia...

After a 23 year hiaitus, double cancer survivor and previous Moosehead Award-winner Katrina Mathers (The Wedge, Flipside, Footy Chicks) now returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. She’s wiser, healthier, and (thanks to menopause) hotter than ever...

Award winning producers Drew Anthony Creative are continuing their 2026 east coast season with the announcement of a powerful stage adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning play, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, which is set to open at Melbourne’s historic Athenaeum Theatre...

In an exciting coup, the most awarded new American play of 2025 is heading this way. Fresh from winning the 2025 Tony Award for Best Play, the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2025 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Purpose comes directly from Broadway to...

Following an acclaimed, award-winning Edinburgh Festival Fringe premiere, Biff To The Future makes its Australian premiere! The iconic villain of Back To The Future takes centre stage in this comedic reimagination of Marty’s time-traveling escapades, turning the...

He Partied Like It’s 1999 unfolds as a glitter-soaked time capsule of queer Melbourne at the edge of the millennium. Reg, a former Marxist now facing a midlife unraveling, finds unexpected passion with Hunter, a seductive, chaotic millennial masseur. Rose, his...

5 FOOT ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES LINE UP FOR MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL’S 40TH YEAR Australia’s Favourite Funny Man and arguably Wagga Wagga’s best export, Dane Simpson returns to Adelaide. After 10 iconic years on stage, Dane Simpson (AKA the King of Wagga...

Teaching, Travelling, and Talking Shit Zoltan Illes Tries to Make Sense of Life with Science in Bio-logical    Did you know what undiagnosed STDs can cause mental disorders? Or which wild animals can be gay? Or anything about duck penises? Zoltan Illes, a former...

It’s Double Vision! ACOCO brings Irish composer Emma O’Halloran’s Explosive New Operas to Melbourne Australian Contemporary Opera Co. (ACOCO) will present the Australian premiere of Emma O’Halloran’s acclaimed chamber operas Mary Motorhead and Trade in the Beckett...

Nominations were announced today for the 2025 Sydney Theatre Awards, which will be presented at an industry gala ceremony on Monday 19 January 2026 at the York Theatre, Seymour Centre. Nominations in the 28 categories were spread across 56 different productions, which...

Katie (Mandy Bishop) doesn’t want a taste of the high life — she wants a seat at the table. When she invites elite Sydney power couple and art collecting heavyweights Charles (Andrew McFarlane) and Catherine Mallory (Sarah Chadwick) over for dinner, Katie’s all in....

  Sofitel Melbourne On Collins reaffirms its position as the hotel for the Arts with a major cultural highlight closing out 2025 and welcoming the new year; the launch of exclusive ANASTASIA the Musical Stay and See accommodation packages, accompanied by a...

Theatre Works proudly unveils it’s 2026 season - a bold, expansive and artist-driven program featuring more than 50 productions across the Theatre Works Precinct. At the same time the organisation will also announce the departure of Executive Director Dianne Toulson,...

  Melbourne and Sydney audiences are in for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, with legendary composer Alan Menken confirming one-night-only performances of A Whole New World of Alan Menken in May 2026. The celebrated musical genius behind Disney classics The...

    Opera Australia has announced that Australian musical theatre royalty, celebrated soprano Amy Manford has been cast as Christine Daaé in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera when it returns for a much anticipated, limited season at Handa Opera...

After eight years of transformative leadership, Theatre Works Executive Director Dianne Toulson has announced that she will step down from the role in 2026. Dianne’s eight-year tenure has been defined by major achievements across artistic programming, organisational...

Highlights added to the 2026 program include surf rock legends from Northeast Arnhem Land King Stingray performing on the East Perth Power Station Main Stage; Cine Wonders at Luna SX and The Revival House, a curated program of films for the young and the young at...

For its first production of 2026, Bell Shakespeare presents a contemporary staging of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare’s political masterpiece centred on the most famous murder in western history. The production will open at the Sydney Opera House from 7 March – 5 April,...

Award-winning company Trick of the Light Theatre is heading to Arts Centre Melbourne with The Bookbinder – a wildly inventive one-man show set in a bookbinder’s workshop playing in The Show Room from 23 – 25 April 2026.   After sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe...

Waverley Council is thrilled to unveil Bondi Pavilion’s 2026 Artistic Program, an inspiring celebration of creativity and culture, featuring an extraordinary line-up of world-class art, music, theatre and entertainment for all ages - it’s their biggest yet! In 2026,...

The Evening Muse…It’s like a Tonight Show, but it’s hosted by Hannah, so it probably isn’t anything like what you’d expect. But it’s exactly what Hannah will expect. Or is it? Hannah doesn’t venture out much these days. So they’re inviting people in…like guests…who...

    An exceptional Australian cast led by talented triple threat, Ethan Churchill, will bring the 1970s cult classic characters from SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER to life in this reimagined production at Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre with performances starting on...

Malthouse Theatre announced a sneak peek of its 2026 Malthouse Comedy program, revealing some of Australia’s finest comedic talents including Hannah Gadsby, Lou Wall, Rob Carlton, and Garry Starr, as well as UK chameleonic clowning extraordinaire, Elf Lyons, will take...

Australia’s favourite celebration of laughter – the Melbourne International Comedy Festival – returns from 25 March to 19 April 2026, marking a monumental milestone – 40 years of funny. Get ready for a month-long celebration packed with longtime Festival icons,...

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is thrilled to announce the next wave of international artists joining the 2026 program. Tickets now on sale The lineup will see the return of festival favourites, long-awaited solo debuts and a fresh influx of acclaimed...

Where ancient wisdom meets future worlds, Kindred People is a powerful new Indigenous-led festival and kummargi yulendj gadhaba (knowledge rising up together), weaving together global First Nations arts, culture, and wisdom. From 1 to 5 September 2026, Monash...

Melbourne International Comedy Festival is thrilled to announce that registrations for RAW Comedy 2026 are officially open, inviting budding comedians from every corner of the country to take a shot at comedy glory. For over 30 years, RAW Comedy has been unearthing...

This Adelaide Fringe, multi award winning storytellers Wright&Grainger celebrate 10 years of touring their internationally acclaimed ORPHEUS by presenting a special double bill of ORPHEUS and EURYDICE, performed with a live string quartet and vocal ensemble...

Weaving from one year into the next rather than starting anew, Season 1, 2026 carries forth bold ideas whilst reminding us of the local, global and our proximities to one another.  We kick off with our Neighbourhood Gathering where we invite audiences to explore the...

Building on the record-breaking success of 2025, Geelong Arts Centre will host over 32 shows across 86 performances, in addition to a huge mix of theatre, dance, family entertainment, local productions, iconic live music gigs and the biggest comedy acts in the...

SIX THE MUSICAL CAUSING A SENSATION IN 2026   THE RECORD-BREAKING GLOBAL PHENOMENON WILL REIGN AGAIN LIVE ON STAGE IN AUSTRALIA! MELBOURNE COMEDY THEATRE FROM JULY 2026 THEATRE ROYAL SYDNEY FROM OCTOBER 2026 BRISBANE PLAYHOUSE THEATRE, QPAC FROM JANUARY 2027 MELBOURNE...

International stage and screen star Isabelle Huppert as Mary Queen of Scots, and a three-concert series by renowned French choir and orchestra Ensemble Pygmalion, are the first on-sale events and Australian exclusives in the 2026 Adelaide Festival program. Last seen...

Lacrima, a French theatre epic set in the cut-throat world of haute couture is the first work announced for Perth Festival 2026, alongside electronic composer Max Cooper, mercurial singer-songwriter Nilüfer Yanya, and the Australian return of UK rock band Black...

Avant-garde, post-punk, death oompah band and cult cabaret geniuses The Tiger Lillies make their long-awaited return to Australia with Serenade from the Sewer, celebrating the weird, the macabre and those that society has abandoned.  Kicking off in Hobart in February,...

  Disney today announced the principal performers that will lead THE LION KING cast when the global phenomenon returns to Australia next year.   Opening at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney from April 2026, THE LION KING is the world’s #1 musical and has been...

There’s no one in Australia who quite loves the spotlight like Hughesy - and to be fair, he’s earned it. This year he’s been through the fire - ribs, lungs, body blows - and he’s coming out the other side with fresh ammo - heated, seasoned and ready to serve. Bon...

VICTORIAN OPERA ANNOUNCES THE FULL CAST FOR THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE 31 January – 6 February Palais Theatre Tickets: $39 – $165 Book Now: www.victorianopera.com.au   “Gilbert and Sullivan at their finest in this rip-roaring crowd-pleaser.” — ★★★★★, ARTSHUB  ...

The iconic story that made us laugh, cry, and fall in love with six extraordinary women is back — live on stage in a dazzling new Australian production. Written by Robert Harling, the timeless tale of STEEL MAGNOLIAS will come alive under the direction of Lee Lewis...

WAITRESS IS COMING TO MELBOURNE NEXT YEAR   Producer John Frost for Crossroads Live today announced that Broadway’s smash-hit musical WAITRESS will be baking its way to Melbourne in 2026. The inspiring musical from pop sensation Sara Bareilles will open at Her...

Developer Time & Place is proud to announce its partnership with the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) as a Season Partner, championing creativity and helping to enrich Melbourne’s cultural landscape over the next two years. From October 2025, Time & Place will...

After years of turning their everyday squabbles into epic adventures, Australia’s favourite comedy duo blast off with a cosmic new show full of side-splitting fun, idiocy and intergalactic bickering. Lano & Woodley are all alone on a spaceship. Or are they?...

The climax is just the beginning. Asher Gelman’s international hit play AFTERGLOW is heading down under for its highly anticipated Australian premiere! AFTERGLOW will play at Melbourne’s Chapel off Chapel from 30 January and at the Eternity Playhouse, Sydney from 26...

2026 is bold, bright and wildly entertaining Witness some of the world's best theatre makers live and up close in soul-stirring human stories, wicked comedies, award-winning international sensations and world-premiere Australian plays. More than 80 performers will...

Merrigong Theatre Company is delighted to unveil its 2026 season, featuring 10 Mainstage shows, and a line-up of strictly limited seasons of smash-hit productions. With a smorgasbord of local, national and international theatre, innovative new works from the...

In 2026 Sydney Dance Company ignites new artistic collaboration and presents bold choreographic ideas in an empowering year that celebrates the evolving landscape of contemporary dance. 2026 will be an exhilarating year that reflects the Company’s legacy while forging...

Monash University Performing Arts Centres (MPAC) has unveiled its 2026 program delivering world-class performing arts experiences across music, dance, and cultural programming. The season features contemporary and classical performances, iconic tributes, immersive...

DEAD EXCITING NEWS - BEETLEJUICE THE MUSICAL TO GIVE BRISBANE THE FRIGHT OF ITS LIFE IN 2026   BROADWAY LEGEND ANDY KARL WILL STAR AS BEETLEJUICE     Australian theatre fans have chanted “Beetlejuice” three times and the most mischievous ghost in the history...

Get ready, Newcastle - the city’s most colourful celebration of creativity is back! The artist applications are in, the program is in design, and the fringe team are gearing up for another cracking year! Newcastle Fringe Festival returns 14–29 March 2026, kicking off...