Malthouse Theatre Season 2024

From the stage premiere of an award-winning Australian memoir about growing up the child of Black migrants in white middle-class Australia, to a world premiere new work from Back to Back Theatre; from Shakespeare’s Scottish Play reimagined from Lady Macbeth’s perspective to a technically challenging sci-fi adventure; from a new work from the bold and candid Nicola Gunn, to the return season of a much-lauded stage adaptation of a Nobel Prize laureate’s work; from an exploration of secret queer identity within the confines of a 1990s Pentecostal Church, to closing the year with a holiday experience that truly sleighs, Malthouse has announced a season of eight productions in 2024.

Said Malthouse Theatre Co-CEO & Artistic Director Matthew Lutton OAM: ‘This is a highly theatrical season. There isn’t a moment of domesticity or realism in sight, as every work celebrates theatre that transports you into fantasies, heightened realities, folklore, or ecstasy. It is very deliberately a season of productions celebrating how theatrical theatre can be.’

Season 2024 follows on Malthouse’s committment to inclusivity and removing barriers for audiences that have not previously attended. Malthouse’s latest audience data shows that 54% of audiences are aged 44 years or younger, 38% of audiences identify as Culturally and/or Lingustically Diverse (CALD), and approximately one third of audiences indentify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

The Hate Race. Image by Tiffany Garvie

The year opens in February with the theatrical premiere of The Hate Race, a retelling of Carribean-Australian writer Maxine Beneba Clarke’s best-selling, award-winning memoir exposing the realities and sting of otherness.

Starring Zahra Newman (Wake In Fright), who embodies all characters from the book, The Hate Race is more than a theatrical experience—it is a call to action.

Image: Yentl. Photo by Mark Gambino

Malthouse presents a return season of Kadimah Yiddish Theatre’s Yentl, a winner of four Green Room Awards in 2022. This new stage adaptation of Nobel Prize laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer’s iconic short story is the first since the 1975 Broadway play and Barbra Streisand’s iconic 1983 musical film.

Directed and co-written by Gary Abrahams, Elise Hearst and Kadimah Yiddish Theatre Artistic Co-Directors Galit Klas and Evelyn Krape, and starring Jana Zvedeniuk (winner of the 2023 Green Room Award for Outstanding Performance), Nicholas Jacquinot, Evelyn Krape and Genevieve Kingsford, Yentl is an ode to the feminist undertones and queer subtext of the original story and an invitation to celebrate the beauty of Yiddish culture.

Image: Homo Pentacostus. Photo by Kristian Gehradte.

In May, audiences are invited to join an odyssey of self-discovery and liberation with Homo Pentecostus. Actor, dancer, and writer Joel Bray unveils an intimate exploration of his secret queer identity within the confines of a 1990s Pentecostal Church.

From the humble church halls to the vibrant disco dancefloors, Homo Pentecostus peels back layers of conflicting allure and hidden shame in an ecstatic testament to resilience, love, and the pursuit of personal truth.

May also sees the world premiere of the latest work by Back to Back Theatre, Multiple Bad Things, which explores the notion that everyone’s version of the perfect world looks a bit different, so how to build a utopia that meets everyone’s expectations?

Three employees decide to build a new structure together and grapple with what these new rules should be.

Image: Macbeth (An Undoing). Photo by Boogie.

In the second half of the year, Zinnie Harris reimagines Shakespeare’s Scottish Play from Lady Macbeth’s perspective in Macbeth (An Undoing). A tale of manipulation, ambition, and the need to challenge the roles others prescribe for you, Bojana Novakovic (Love Me) and Johnny Carr (Five Bedrooms) star in this epic portrait of the 11th century on stage. Malthouse Theatre Artistic Director Matthew Lutton ignites Shakespeare’s battle of power in a world rife with superstition and the supernatural.

The Interpreters (Apologia), a new work from first-person artist Nicola Gunn (Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster), unpacks her personal fantasy of being a French actress—despite being categorically not French. In a surreal comedic encounter, the aspiring French actress quarrels with a Japanese film director and their interpreter about how to translate a story about a complex mother-daughter relationship into multiple languages.

Their arguments spiral into riveting and confounding misunderstandings, and the power of who is doing the translating is paramount as Nicola confronts having your voice translated by others.

Cult studio A24, creator of hit films Everything Everywhere All At Once and Get Out, had its breakthrough 2013 cult hit with Under The Skin starring Scarlett Johansson.

Writer Pamela Carter and Malthouse Theatre Artistic Director Matthew Lutton are now collaborating on an ambitious, highly technical stage version of Under the Skin, adapted from the Michel Faber sci-fi novel.

An otherworldly woman, Isserley, embarks on a mysterious mission to hunt hitchhiking men for sustenance. She’s skilled at it, very skilled, but her perspective begins to shift as she learns more about why she’s been sent to hunt.

In a synthesis of performance and technology, featuring live motion capture and digital creature design, audiences are transported into a reality where we are not earth’s apex predator—and in turn—are invited to think deeply about the beauty of the world in which we walk.

Fat Fruit (Sarah Ward & Bec Matthews) and director Susie Dee close out Malthouse’s 2024 program with a wild, mutinous, punk celebration of Christmas, Fuck Christmas.

It’s time to challenge the norm, flip four calling birds to tradition, and embrace the festive chaos. From the suffocating binaries of boys and girls, naughty and nice, to the children forced to sit on an old man’s knee, to the overconsumption, joy, excess, greed, sharing, bringing people together, and tearing them apart— we’re going to unwrap secular traditions and create an alternative celebration and tradition.

TICKETS

Tickets to The Hate Race, Yentl, Homo Pentecostus, and Macbeth (An Undoing) are on sale to general public on Thursday 24 August at malthousetheatre.com.au

Tickets to Multiple Bad Things, The Interpreters (Apologia), Under the Skin, and Fuck Christmas are on presale from Thursday 8 February 2024 to Malthouse Supporter Community and on sale to general public on Thursday 15 February 2024 at malthousetheatre.com.au

 

The Hate Race

A Malthouse Theatre production

World Premiere

23 FEB – 17 MAR 2024 Beckett Theatre

PREVIEWS

Fri 23 Feb, Sat 24 Feb, Mon 26 Feb & Tue 27 Feb

OPENING NIGHT

Wed 28 Feb

WRITER / Maxine Beneba Clarke CO-DIRECTOR / Tariro Mavondo
CAST / Zahra Newman
SET & COSTUME DESIGNER / Zoe Rouse LIGHTING DESIGNER / Rachel Lee COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER / Dan West

 

Yentl

Based on the original Yiddish short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer

29 FEB – 17 MAR 2024 Merlyn Theatre

PREVIEWS

Thu29Feb& Fri1Mar

OPENING NIGHT

Sat 2 Mar

WRITERS / Gary Abrahams, Elise Hearst, Galit Klas
DIRECTOR / Gary Abrahams
CAST / Evelyn Krape, Nicholas Jaquinot, Genevieve Kingsford, Jana Zvedeniuk

SET & COSTUME DESIGN / Dann Barber LIGHTING DESIGNER / Rachel Burke SOUND DESIGNER / Russell Goldsmith SUBTITLE OPERATOR / Josh Reuben

 

Homo Pentecostus

A Malthouse Theatre production

World Premiere

10 – 25 MAY 2024 Beckett Theatre

PREVIEWS

Fri 10 May, Sat 11 May, Mon 13 May & Tue 14 May

OPENING NIGHT

Wed 15 May

WRITER & DIRECTOR / Joel Bray
CO-DIRECTOR & DRAMATURG / Emma Valente CAST/ Joel Bray & Peter Paltos
SET & COSTUME DESIGNER / Kate Davis LIGHTING DESIGNER / Katie Sfetkidis COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER / Marco Cher- Gibard

 

Macbeth (An Undoing)

A Malthouse Theatre production

Australian Premiere

5 – 28 JULY 2024 Merlyn Theatre

PREVIEWS

Fri 5 Jul, Sat 6 Jul, Mon 8 Jul, Tue 9 Jul

OPENING NIGHT

Wed 10 Jul

WRITER / Zinnie Harris in a new version after William Shakespeare
DIRECTOR / Matthew Lutton
CAST INCLUDES / Bojana Novakovic, Tyallah Bullock, Johnny Carr, Jessica Clarke, Jim Daly, Rashidi Edwards, Natasha Herbert, Khisraw Jones-Shukoor, David Woods

LIGHTING DESIGNER / Amelia-Lever Davidson COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER / Jethro Woodward

Macbeth (An Undoing) was first performed at the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh on 4 February 2023.

 

MULTIPLE BAD THINGS

Australian Premiere

Malthouse Theatre presents Back to Back Theatre’s MULTIPLE BAD THINGS

Australian Premiere

29 MAY – 9 JUNE 2024 Merlyn Theatre

PREVIEWS

None

OPENING NIGHT

Wed 29 May

 

The Interpreters (Apologia)

A Malthouse Theatre production

World Premiere

6 – 18 AUGUST 2024 Beckett Theatre

PREVIEWS

Tue 6 Aug & Wed 7 Aug

OPENING NIGHT

Thu 8 Aug
WRITER, DIRECTOR, PERFORMER & LEAD

ARTIST / Nicola Gunn

 

UNDER THE SKIN

A Malthouse Theatre production

World Premiere

11 OCT – 3 NOV 2024 Merlyn Theatre

PREVIEWS

Fri 11 Oct, Sat 12 Oct, Mon 14 Oct & Tue 15 Oct

OPENING NIGHT

Wed 16 Oct
WRITER / Pamela Carter

DIRECTOR / Matthew Lutton

 

Fuck Christmas

A Malthouse Theatre production

World Premiere

27 NOV – 15 DEC 2024 Merlyn Theatre

PREVIEWS

Wed 27 Nov & Thu 28 November

OPENING NIGHT

Fri 29 November

CREATORS / Sarah Ward & Bec Matthews (Fat Fruit) and Susie Dee
DIRECTOR / Susie Dee

Click here to read about more 2024 seasons.