Melbourne Theatre Company Season 2025

“For me, the magic of theatre lies in the shared experience of sitting in an audience,” says Anne-Louise Sarks Artistic Director & Co-Ceo of the MTC.

“Whether it’s laughing with the person beside you, or joining in a collective gasp, or getting lost in the power of a transformative story – those reactions are what I love.

“Then afterwards, you get to talk about all that with whoever’s sitting next to you. And it is even more special because you know that experience – that one performance, shared with the other people in that room – will never come again.

“This year, we have carefully chosen a series of world-class plays for you. Together, they deliver so many of the things I love about theatre. There are stories that make you both think and feel. There are classic plays you know and new productions you will be the first audiences to see.

“We have international hits and works that could only have been made here in Melbourne. You’ll see actors you’re familiar with on stage and new ones we’re so proud to introduce to you.”

 

 

The Productions

37
By Nathan Maynard

24 Jan — 22 Feb 2025. Southbank Theatre, The Sumner

Lace up your boots! Whether you’re a footy fanatic or not, the laugh-out-loud hit 37 returns after winning the hearts of critics and audiences alike.

The local Cutting Cove footy team has spent too long at the bottom of the ladder. But then a new hope arrives: the Marngrook cousins. Named after the Aboriginal game that inspired AFL, they’re match-fit to bring home the team’s first flag in forever. 37 juxtaposes choreographed sequences of Marngrook and the modern game with the hilarity and at-times questionable banter found within sporting clubs around Australia. Set within the era of Adam Goodes’s war cry – and named for the number he immortalised – 37 asks ten actors to throw themselves into this world of blood and grit to get at the values that drive a national obsession. Community, identity, the price of winning and the meaning of a goal: they’re all up for grabs. Penned by Nathan Maynard – twice named Tasmanian Aboriginal Artist of the Year – and directed by Isaac Drandic (The Birthday Party, ABC’s Cleverman), 37 is a reminder that honest conversations are more than a ball toss. It matters where you stand.

 

Never Have I Ever
By Deborah Frances-White

15 Feb — 22 Mar 2025. Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio

A Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for the modern era, this savagely funny Australian premiere is written by the host of wildly popular podcast, The Guilty Feminist.

A night to remember? More like a nightmare to forget. A Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for the modern era, this Australian premiere is written by Deborah Frances-White (host of the podcast The Guilty Feminist) and directed by MTC Resident Director Tasnim Hossain (English). Simon Gleeson (Les Misérables), Chika Ikogwe (Heartbreak High), Katie Robertson (Five Bedrooms) and Sunny S Walia (Shantaram) star as two couples sharing one last meal in honour of their doomed restaurant venture. As the wine is uncorked, secrets flow. Fuelled by simmering tensions and top shelf booze, things boil over when a drinking game uncovers the real dynamics driving their relationships: power, resentment, envy and fear. And that’s just the entrée. Beneath the in-jokes and flirting, self-care and teasing is a seething stew of money, sex, race and class.

 

 

The Removalists
By David Williamson

11 Mar — 17 Apr 2025. Southbank Theatre, The Sumner

Artistic Director Anne-Louise Sarks directs the bracing revival of this classic dark satire that is just as sharp and relevant today as it was at its 1971 debut.

David Williamson’s The Removalists is still as provocative and relevant as it was at its debut. When The Removalists premiered at Melbourne’s La Mama Theatre in 1971 it put a wrecking ball through the walls of genteel Australian theatre. Profane, honest and arresting in its depiction of the animal side of humanity, its most surprising revelation is in how little has changed. Set in an inner-suburb of Melbourne, Fiona and Kate report an act of violence to the police hoping things will be resolved peacefully. However, the local constabulary like to handle things their own way. Over the course of one evening the hidden currents of competition, desire and brutality flowing beneath polite society will be dragged out into the open. Anne-Louise Sarks directs the revival of this dark satire in a production that sets its gaze on Australia – right here, right now – and refuses to blink.

 

The Black Woman of Gippsland
By Andrea James   

5 — 31 May 2025. Southbank Theatre, The Sumner

Based on real events, journey through Victoria’s dark past in this poetic and clever embracing of First Nations stories that have long been silenced.

From Andrea James (Sunshine Super Girl) comes The Black Woman of Gippsland; a story of Victoria’s dark past that is in dire need of revisiting, told as a thrilling modern mystery that unfolds with beauty, tragedy and rebellion. A woman is tossed ashore from the sea, bedraggled and lost. A century and a half later, another finds herself diving deep into the truth behind a lingering legend. Jacinta’s family is driving her up the wall and her academic career is floundering, but amongst the books, something doesn’t feel right about the story history tells. The myths and half-truths that surround the figure of a ‘white woman’ said to have lived among the Gunaikurnai people of Gippsland in the 1840s are so abundant it seems the reality is out of reach. But Jacinta is determined to unearth the truth for herself and her Gunaikurnai family no matter the twists and turns the journey might take her on. Based on real events and set on Andrea’s Grandmother’s Country, The Black Woman of Gippsland is a poetic, emotionally rich and clever embracing of First Nations stories that have long been silenced.

 

The Wrong Gods
By S. Shakthidharan

6 Jun — 12 Jul 2025. Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio

From S. Shakthidharan, the visionary behind Counting and Cracking, comes a thrilling new work that delves into the heart of community, family and freedom.

This new work conjures a community confronted by the bold promises of globalisation. For fifty thousand years, soldiers and missionaries and kings and queens have tried to conquer this remote Indian valley, and for fifty thousand years Nirmala’s ancestors have kept them out. But what if out is exactly where her daughter Isha wants to be? When a stranger arrives with an offer too good to be true, the two must reckon with the costs of a devil’s bargain. Family, freedom and the fates of thousands will ultimately rest in their hands. The Wrong Gods is a tale full of hope, betrayal, tradition and self-discovery. Rich with poetry and imagery, it asks brave questions that don’t have a safe answer. If everything in this world comes at a cost, who gets to decide what that cost will be?

 

Mother Play
A Play in Five Evictions
By Paula Vogel

30 Jun — 2 Aug 2025. Southbank Theatre, The Sumner

Fresh from its 2024 Broadway triumph, Melbourne audiences will be treated to this captivating drama starring Sigrid Thornton.

The bonds of love are tested in this expansive yet intimate drama rich with humour and wit, starring Sigrid Thornton and directed by Lee Lewis. Careening through the twentieth century – from the Muzak-drenched 60s through the sexual revolution, disco era, and New Age movements that followed – Mother Play charts the personal upheavals of one family trying to find a place for themselves amid the slings and arrows of a changing world. It’s 1962 and Martha and Carl are unpacking. Again. Since their deadbeat dad ditched them and stole the family’s savings, they’ve been following their fierce mother Phyllis from apartment to apartment. Phyllis is determined to live life on her terms. They’re moving on up. Mother Play’s 2024 Broadway production earned four Tony nominations and won two Drama Desk Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award.

 

Kimberly Akimbo: A Musical
Book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire
Music by Jeanine Tesori

26 Jul— 30 Aug 2025. Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse

The musical Kimberly Akimbo took Broadway by storm and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, will star Marina Prior and Casey Donovan.

The new girl in town is making heads spin. You’ve got to move fast when you’re 16 going on 70. With music by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home), this Australian premiere directed by four-time Helpmann Award winner Mitchell Butel will star Marina Prior, Casey Donovan and Christie Whelan Browne. New Jersey, 1999: from a sea of teen angst, unrequited crushes and popularity contests bursts Kimberly, a musical heroine like no other. Equal parts teen comedy, heist caper and unlikely love story, her rollercoaster journey shows that the tempo of your own song is yours to set. Born with a genetic rarity that means she ages at four times the rate of everyone else, Kimberly is a teen in mid-life form and living on borrowed time. She can cope with her dropkick dad and narcissistic mum – can’t spell ‘dysfunction’ without ‘fun’, right? But when her criminal aunt Debra shows up with a get-rich-quick scheme too good to be legal, Kimberly decides you’re only young once.

 

Destiny
By Kirsty Marillier

18 Aug — 13 Sep 2025. Southbank Theatre, The Sumner

An intimate family drama of allure and loyalty set against the canvas of world-changing events in South Africa, 1976.

Like countless 24-yearolds, Della juggles family, love, work and dreams, but the spectre of apartheid threatens to tear apart even the most unshakeable bonds. Revolution is in the air, and it comes at a price. When her old flame Ezra shows up with a head full of dangerous ideas, Della’s world will be upended by forces that will echo around the globe. Written by and starring award-winning South African-born actor and playwright Kirsty Marillier and directed by Zindzi Okenyo (Is God Is), Destiny is an intimate drama of allure and loyalty set against the canvas of world-changing events. Buoyed by the spirit of social revolution that came to a head in the 1970s, this world premiere captures the era’s music, fashion and sense of freedom.

 

Rebecca
By Daphne du Maurier
Adapted by Anne-Louise Sarks

30 Sep — 5 Nov 2025. Southbank Theatre, The Sumner

Step into the haunting world of the classic gothic novel, made famous by Hitchcock’s 1940 film, with a stellar cast including Nikki Shiels, Pamela Rabe and Bert LaBonté.

This timeless tale reinvented the Gothic romance for modern audiences while Alfred Hitchcock’s masterful film adaptation further cemented its legend as one of the iconic tales of the twentieth century. Now Anne-Louise Sarks invites us back to this ghostly manor, conjuring up the living and the dead who haunt its halls. Infidelity, manipulation and murder crowd in as du Maurier’s tightly knit narrative unfolds, and questions of identity, memory and obsession play out in spellbinding fashion. Performed by a cast including Pamela Rabe (The Children), Nikki Shiels (A Streetcar Named Desire) and Bert LaBonté (Topdog/Underdog). When a young woman falls hard for a dashing older widower, she moves to his bewitching country estate with no idea of the dark history that lies lurking amongst the grounds. The spectre of his first wife Rebecca infuses every shadowy corner while the domineering housekeeper Mrs Danvers is a constant watchful presence.

 

Dying: A Memoir
An adaptation by Benjamin Law
Based on the book by Cory Taylor

25 Oct— 29 Nov 2025. Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio

Rich with humour and life, Genevieve Morris takes you on a playful journey to explore the essential things that are put into perspective as we all approach the finishing line.

When the acclaimed author Cory Taylor was diagnosed with a terminal illness, what followed was an astonishing creative surge that resulted in a memoir Barack Obama named as one of his favourite books of 2017. Taylor’s wry insights into the rituals, language and taboos surrounding mortality can be witty, provocative or eye-opening – sometimes in the same breath. With honesty and unsentimental clarity she confronts the swamp of anxiety and despair that traditionally surrounds death and opens the door to the bright clear-eyed vision it ultimately grants us. Learning to face death is, in the end, learning to live fully. Taylor’s last work has been adapted with great care by writer and broadcaster Benjamin Law (Torch the Place), a family friend of Taylor’s, who brings a loving ear to this most intimate tale. Genevieve Morris invites you on a potent and playful journey to explore the essential things that are put into perspective as we all approach the finishing line.

 

Much Ado About Nothing
By William Shakespeare

14 Nov — 19 Dec 2025. Southbank Theatre, The Sumner

Shakespeare’s ultimate romantic comedy is a theatrical feast to send the year out on a high with Alison Bell (The Letdown) and Fayssal Bazzi (Stateless) as the iconic Beatrice and Benedick. 

Beatrice and Benedick are the most modern of Shakespeare’s couples. They have history. They love to hate each other, yet everyone around them knows they’re perfect for each other. Can love really conquer all?

This brutally funny battle of the sexes is brought ferociously to life by Helpmann Award-winner Alison Bell (The Letdown) and AACTA Award-winner Fayssal Bazzi (Stateless) in his Melbourne Theatre Company debut, under the direction of Mark Wilson (Jacky).

 

Add Ons

The Robot Dog
By Roshelle Yee Pui Fong and Matthew Ngamurarri Heffernan

1 — 19 Mar 2025. Southbank Theatre, The Lawler

A cheeky comedy set in an all-too-believable future, The Robot Dog sinks its teeth into some of the most provocative and challenging questions of our time. Bark meets byte in this tale exploring technology, language and culture in a fast-evolving world.

It’s 2042 and Australia is more automated than ever before. Janelle, a woman of Cantonese heritage, and her partner Harry, a First Nations man, move back into Janelle’s family home after the death of her mother. As they attempt to navigate their work, relationship and job seeking requirements, they find themselves assisted by the quirky AI controlling their home and a robotic therapy dog. Janelle and Harry are quickly swept into a world of augmentations, restrictions and chaos. Does their new hi-tech life help them connect to culture and each other, or does it hinder it?

An intercultural sci-fi comedy The Robot Dog is a collaboration between Hong Kong-born multidisciplinary artist Roshelle Yee Pui Fong and Luritja writer and technologist Matthew Ngamurarri Heffernan with director Amy Sole (Blak in the Room).

 

LEGENDS (of the Golden Arches)
By Joe Paradise Lui and Merlynn Tong

5 — 28 Jun 2025. Southbank Theatre, The Lawler

This funeral will be the death of them. A rip-roaring ride plunging two best friends into the depths of the Chinese afterlife, LEGENDS vaults across genres, realities and theatrical convention with an infectious zest.

Co-created by Joe Paradise Lui and Merlynn Tong (Golden Blood), LEGENDS draws on the unique talents of many theatre artists from Australia’s Asian diaspora. It’s a powerful, deeply personal examination of the Chinese cultural experience and the enduring power of friendship, revealed through a hilarious yet subtly moving lens.

Merlynn and Joe are used to fiery clashes – but what old friends aren’t? As they spend a night holding vigil for their dead grandfathers, their conflicting attitudes towards traditional values grow more and more heated. Merlynn wants to preserve the rites of her forebears, while Joe thinks it’s all a load of superstition. But the lords of the Underworld have their own thoughts on all of this, and they’re going to drag our heroes beyond the grave to resolve their differences.