Venue: Qtopia (Darlinghurst NSW), Feb 11 – 21, 2026 Playwright: Director: Kaz Therese Cast: Beks Blake, Danica Lani, Chris McAllister, Angel Tan Images by Jessica Hromas
Theatre review Four drag kings converge in They Will Be Kings to excavate the layered narratives of their becoming. Chase Cox, Dario di Bello, Fine China, and Jim Junkie each emerge from distinct origins, propelled by singular raisons d’être—yet together they orchestrate a meditation on gender’s fluid architecture. Against the grain of a world that insists upon the fixed polarity of male and female, their collective performance unravels the artifice of such certainties, illuminating instead the protean, unruly nature of identity itself.
Under Kaz Therese’s direction, the production achieves a wonderful alchemy—transmuting four distinct sensibilities into an elegant, unified architecture. They Will Be Kings emerges as a clever meditation on gender variance: its ontological textures, its protean expressions. Each performer—Beks Blake, Danica Lani, Chris McAllister, and Angel Tan—contributes a singular artistic vocabulary, yet coheres through an ethos of collective intentionality. The result is not mere showcase but invocation: an ensemble that summons the audience toward expansiveness, demanding not passive reception but active transformation of mind and heart.
Gender presents a fundamental paradox. It functions as a system built on fixed categories, yet lived experience constantly spills beyond these boundaries into territory that resists easy definition. Humans inevitably sort one another into boxes, yet what we most desire is freedom.
Gender, at its best, offers pleasure, play, and genuine self-expression; yet too often it serves darker purposes—erasure, marginalisation, the violent enforcement of conformity. It is something we can resist, yet also something we can savour. To understand how it works—its mechanisms of control—is essential if we hope to move beyond its restrictions and dangers, transforming vulnerability into agency.
Venue: Wharf 1 Sydney Theatre Company (Walsh Bay NSW), Feb 2 – Mar 22, 2026 Playwright: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Director: Zindzi Okenyo Cast: Grace Bentley-Tsibuah, Deni Gordon, Markus Hamilton, Tinashe Mangwana, Maurice Marvel Meredith, Sisi Stringer Images by Prudence Upton
Theatre review The Jaspers of Chicago are a prominent family, with patriarch Solomon having left an indelible mark on American history as a luminary of the Civil Rights movement and a pillar of his community, counting Dr Martin Luther King Jr. among his many friends. Yet, at some point, things began to unravel.
In Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Purpose, we witness how a legacy can be tarnished, in a story that explores broken dreams, misplaced faith, and the quiet dangers of human complacency. As we discover that the Jaspers are not who they are believed to be, we are confronted with the illusory nature of celebrity and reputation, and reminded that true democratic agency — and personal destiny — ultimately demands individual vigilance and control.
It is a sensational piece of writing, rich with humour and sharp insight, and driven by a plot that is thrillingly unpredictable. Zindzi Okenyo’s direction keeps the audience riveted as each dramatic surprise unfolds with sustained force. Under her guidance, the relationships feel fully realised and believable, allowing us to invest deeply in the complex dynamics at play.
The cast is broadly likeable, if somewhat uneven, with Markus Hamilton leaving the strongest impression, delivering a mesmerisingly profound performance as Solomon. His daughter-in-law Morgan is brought to life by a remarkable Grace Bentley-Tsibuah, who is magnificent in her intensity, inhabiting a role brimming with resentment, rage, and defiance.
Production design by Jeremy Allen creates a Jasper residence that feels suitably traditional and respectable, its windows looking out onto heavy, persistent snowfall that quietly reinforces the play’s sense of place. Lighting by Kelsey Lee shifts in subtle gradations to mirror changes in mood, while consistently flattering and revealing the nuances of each character.
James Peter Brown’s score enters sparingly, transporting us into something more ethereal between the very grounded disputes that form the scintillating emotional core of Purpose. The effect is to create moments of distance and reflection, as though inviting us to consider these deeply human interactions with greater objectivity.
It is natural to have political heroes, but they should serve as sources of inspiration rather than saintly figures upon whom we pin all our hopes and dreams. Solomon may have achieved a great deal in his lifetime, yet we must remember that political projects are never truly complete; they are ongoing, unfinished, and constantly contested.
The systems in which we operate are often made to feel beyond our control, with power appearing distant and elusive. In truth, these structures are bendable and mutable, if only we push harder to exercise our democratic rights and restore faith in the power of collective action — especially in an age marked by the rise of reprehensible authoritarianism and heinous oligarchic influence.
Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Jan 28 – Feb 7, 2026 Playwright: Izzy Azzopardi Director: Brea Macey Cast: Izzy Azzopardi, Renée Billing, Meg Denman, Grace Easterby, Caitlin Green, Isaac Harley, Travis Howard, Caleb Jamieson, Jordy Stewart Images by Jade Bell
Theatre review A group of young adults, only just emerging from adolescence, gather at a party where colour-coded clothing signals their relationship status. Izzy Azzopardi’s Traffic Light Party examines the ways we begin to conceptualise romantic connection at the earliest stages of adulthood. Newly confronting the world as independent individuals, they navigate a landscape shaped by inherited assumptions, prescribed values, and imagined futures. The work suggests that genuine understanding of love cannot be taught or pre-empted; it can only be earned by moving through the many surprises, missteps, and revelations that inevitably accompany the first real encounters with intimacy and desire.
Azzopardi’s writing is marked by an unmistakable honesty, and while it is evident that considerable thought underpins the text, not all of its ideas fully cohere into sophistication or depth. Direction by Brea Macey, however, provides meaningful elevation, infusing the work with admirable kineticism and a consistently striking visual language. Holly Nesbitt’s lighting design brings further dynamism, drawing on the story’s central motif to play expansively with colour and with ideas of transformation. The nine-strong cast performs with total commitment, their buoyant energy commanding attention in every moment, whether dramatic or comic.
The heart wants what the heart wants, yet it is often the very force that leads us into our deepest trouble. There is, perhaps, dignity in enduring profound heartache when it is born of genuine longing. But to suffer those same wounds as the cost of obedience — of contorting oneself to fit expectations or to follow rules that were never meant to serve you — is a lesson most eventually recognise as a particularly hollow kind of folly.
Venue: Belvoir St Theatre (Surry Hills NSW), Jan 29 – Feb 8, 2026 Playwright: Sheridan Harbridge Director: Sarah Goodes Cast: Sheridan Harbridge Images by Jade Ellis
Theatre review There have been few Australian women in the public eye whose rebelliousness has been openly celebrated, and Divinyls frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett remains the most indelible of them. Confrontational, anarchic and unapologetically wild, her on- and off-stage antics are rightly legendary, embodying a form of feminism that is still too easily dismissed as unpalatable. Amplified: The Exquisite Rock and Rage of Chrissy Amphlett, written by Sheridan Harbridge, insists that Amphlett be properly revered and memorialised. A biographical work woven through with many of the Divinyls’ greatest hits, Amplified is a tribute that is both accessible and surprising, effortlessly engaging while finding inventive ways to honour the life and legacy of a woman who refused convention at every turn. In Harbridge’s creation, we rediscover an Amphlett who continues to expose how little space Australia truly allows its women to misbehave.
As performer, Harbridge is faultless, deftly balancing our desire for a theatrical invocation of the icon’s essence with the grounded authority of a narrator whose warmth and enthusiasm we willingly surrender to. Under Sarah Goodes’ direction, Harbridge is given the space to tell Amphlett’s life story in a manner that feels consistently truthful and intimate, rarely relying on mimicry or lapsing into cheap sentimentality. The result is a work of rare sincerity—anchored, generous, and emotionally exacting—that achieves what the finest art aspires to: opening our hearts to a story worth telling, and in doing so, nourishing in us something that is collective and enduring.
Glenn Moorhouse’s exacting musical direction ensures a seamless flow between commentary and song, one that feels instinctive, purposeful, and never forced. The four-piece band brings ferocious spirit to this Australian rock-and-roll story, suitably cacophonous and libidinous in its energy. In fitting dialogue with this post-punk aesthetic is Michael Hankin’s production design, which balances rawness with clarity, meeting the visual demands of a one-woman show while allowing it to feel assured and fully realised. Paul Jackson’s lighting is similarly evocative, casting the narrative in shifting, enigmatic tones and conjuring vivid echoes of Amphlett hitting her stride on stages both humble and monumental.
In an ideal world, women would be free to become whoever they choose and to behave however they wish, so long as no harm is done. In the world as it exists, however, it falls to those with access—however limited—to power to exert it in the service of redressing systems that remain transparently unjust and exploitative. Chrissy Amphlett had ample incentive to obey every rule of the music industry and of the society that shaped it; many of her peers did exactly that, and were rewarded with far greater wealth and security. Amphlett’s defiance—calculated and instinctive alike—endures however as a legacy that remains dangerous, necessary, and worth remembering. Women may learn obedience as a means of survival, but progress is never secured through compliance; it is forged by recognising moments for resistance and exploiting them, again and again, to fracture a status quo that depends on silence to endure.
Venue: Ensemble Theatre (Kirribilli NSW), Jan 23 – Mar 14, 2026 Playwright: David Williamson Director: Janine Watson Cast:Mandy Bishop, Sarah Chadwick, Jo Downing, Andrew McFarlane, Matt Minto, Johnny Nasser Images by Phil Erbacher
Theatre review Six people, occupying different rungs of social privilege, gather for a dinner party where envy, resentment and competitiveness simmer just beneath the surface. As the evening unravels, these tensions erupt into a series of heated exchanges, before everyone departs fundamentally unchanged. David Williamson’s The Social Ladder begins with the familiar and fertile promise of drama born from class conflict, but soon slips into a sequence of uneven debates that feel less like interrogation than indulgence—an airing of the wealthy’s grievances in which working-class voices are conspicuously denied wit, agency, or meaningful rebuttal.
Janine Watson’s direction, however, succeeds in generating genuine mirth and momentum, creating a theatrical experience that, while offering little in the way of intellectual satisfaction, nonetheless delivers a buoyant sense of jovial humour. The cast is admirable for a level of commitment that can only stem from a deep dedication to the craft of acting, particularly given the thinness of the material at hand. Their ability to forge a convincing ensemble chemistry is, in this context, quite remarkable. Mandy Bishop, as Katie, the party’s host, is especially commendable, deftly balancing wonderfully heightened comedy with an emotional interior that remains consistently believable.
Veronique Benett’s production design is a visual pleasure, using the trappings of an affluent home to create a staging that captivates through its considered sense of extravagance. Lighting by Matt Cox and music by Clare Hennessy are employed with welcome restraint, functioning as subtle embellishments rather than distractions, and mercifully avoiding the addition of further clutter to an already laboured affair.
The play concludes with a series of awkward, self-satisfied declarations from its wealthiest characters, who promise increased charitable donations in the coming year—as though philanthropy might serve as a redemptive gloss for their deeply unappealing conduct. Yet the gesture rings hollow. A society structured around fairness should not depend on the benevolence of the rich; it should simply require them to pay their taxes. As wealth inequality continues to widen unchecked after decades of escalation, such last-minute moral concessions feel less like insight than evasion.
Venue: Sydney Town Hall (Sydney NSW), Jan 15 – 22, 2026 Playwright: Virginia Gay Director: Clare Watson Cast: Benjamin Hancock, Calliope Jackson, Antoine Jelk, Aud Mason-Hyde, Annabel Matheson, Amber McMahon, Dylan Miller, Elvy-Lee Quici (with the Sydney Roller Derby League) Images by
Theatre review Billie is only sixteen, yet she is already grappling with significant mental health challenges, including night terrors. Much of her distress stems from her mother Maxine who, despite her good intentions, has struggled to provide stability, never quite finding her footing as an adult. This changes when she stumbles upon the world of roller derby. Mama Does Derby, co-created by Virginia Gay and Clare Watson, unfolds with an engaging premise and a thoughtfully constructed plot populated by well-defined characters, though much of its early humour feels strained and overly explicit. Thankfully, the compulsion to elicit laughter recedes in the later sequences, allowing the work to settle into its emotional core and to land with greater resonance when it matters most.
Watson’s direction makes imaginative and dynamic use of space, generating a sense of theatrical play that enlivens a story which might otherwise risk feeling overly static or confined to the domestic. Jonathan Oxlade’s production design cleverly draws on the world of roller derby, introducing wheeled elements that allow the set to transform fluidly and with considerable visual pleasure. His costume design for Nathan—the corporeal manifestation of Billie’s night terrors—is, moreover, a striking and memorable creation. Lucy Birkinshaw’s lighting is richly textured, further engaging the eye, and while Luke Smiles’s sound design at times feels overwrought and unduly intrusive, Joe Lui’s music direction—realised through a live three-piece punk band—proves an unequivocal delight and a standout feature of the production.
Elvy-Lee Quici, as Billie, is surprisingly convincing in capturing the rhythms of adolescence, but it is the emotional authenticity she brings to moments of heightened feeling that proves most impressive. As Maxine, Amber McMahon crafts a compelling portrait of a flawed mother, never inviting judgement, but instead allowing compassion for a woman who requires time to find her way. Benjamin Hancock is unforgettable as Nathan, imbuing his athletic embodiment of a metaphysical presence with theatrical extravagance and an exquisite measure of camp, adding a vivid and memorable dimension to the production. Crucially, the inclusion of a ten-strong derby team drawn from the Sydney Roller Derby League is, in itself, a meaningful and impactful presence within the work.
In Mama Does Derby, lives are depicted as complex and challenging, yet persistently threaded with joy. Billie and Maxine may continue to strive for better circumstances, and while a measure of harmony feels attainable, life is never presented as an unbroken state of perfection. As a coming-of-age story, the work reminds us that it is the capacity to navigate obstacles—and to locate humour within moments of setback—that gradually lightens the passage of time, making each successive year more bearable, and more delightful.
Venue: Carriageworks (Eveleigh NSW), Jan 7 – 18, 2026 Playwright: Travis Alabanza Director: Sam Curtis Lindsay Cast: Travis Alabanza Images by Dorothea Tuch
Theatre review Travis Alabanza embarks on the deceptively simple task of making their first burger, a venture that is daunting from its very inception. Expectations loom large: rules to be followed, standards to be met, and a destination already mapped out for a journey that has barely begun. Conscious of the weight of these prescriptions, Alabanza invites a volunteer to join them on stage—specifically a straight white man. The choice is pointed rather than incidental, reflecting the reality that so many of the rules governing our lives, both in the UK where the work originated and here in Australia, are institutionalised by those who fit precisely that description.
A work that confronts both trans identity and lived experience as a person of colour, Burgerz is scintillating theatre that embeds danger at its very core. The volunteer does not appear briefly for light-hearted audience interaction; instead, he remains on stage alongside Alabanza for a substantial duration of the performance. This sustained presence heightens a palpable sense that “anything could happen”—a tension that lies at the heart of compelling theatre. More crucially, it mirrors the lived precarity of navigating heteronormative spaces as a trans person of colour, where the possibility of violence is never abstract, but ever-present, hovering in the background of even the most mundane encounters.
The risks Alabanza takes pay off emphatically. Immersed in an unrelenting atmosphere of vulnerability, the audience is held rapt, invested from the opening moments to the final beat. Alabanza’s exquisite wit and disarming charm ensure an unwavering alignment with them, while their intimate command of the material allows each unrehearsed moment of spontaneity—prompted by the surprise presence of a volunteer—to be met with razor-sharp sass and impeccable comic timing. Their capacity to generate genuine chemistry with a stranger is unequivocally extraordinary, resulting in a performance that is both singular and indelibly memorable.
Under Sam Curtis Lindsay’s direction, the work unfolds with instinctive precision, shaping a journey of unexpected texture and continual surprise, one that proves quietly and deeply emotional. The production remains consistently delightful while keeping audiences alert to its shifting rhythms and tonal turns. Soutra Gilmour’s production design embraces a pop-inflected sensibility that complements Alabanza’s signature, calculated flippancy. Lighting by Lee Curran and Lauren Woodhead, together with sound design by XANA, steers the staging through finely calibrated transitions of mood and atmosphere, reinforcing the work’s emotional and theatrical dexterity.
A man once hurled a burger at Alabanza in a public space, an act intended as humiliation and degradation. Alabanza can do everything within their power to reclaim and reframe the incident and its significance, yet a harder truth remains: it is not personal reckoning alone that must shift, but the conditions that permit such acts to occur. We watch Alabanza sink into deep contemplation, meticulously interrogating and dismantling the forces that render the world both resolutely and insidiously exclusionary.
What ultimately comes into focus is an irrefutable understanding that meaningful change requires collective responsibility. We are bound together by the inevitability of shared existence, and the work of recognising—let alone sustaining—one another’s humanity remains the most profound challenge of simply being here.
Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Dec 10 – 20, 2025 Playwright: Trent Foo Director: Monica Sayers Cast: Trent Foo, Jolin Jiang, Tiang Lim Images by Robert Miniter
Theatre review It is Christmastime, and Heeba finds himself tasked with hosting the family’s annual celebration. In an effort to imbue the occasion with meaning beyond ritual and excess, he summons his Chinese ancestors—less as a supernatural flourish than as a means of interrogating what might truly make the season resonate, and of reflecting on his own sense of self at a moment when the holiday’s frivolity threatens to overwhelm its substance.
Trent Foo’s Dickens-inspired A Chinese Christmas is a vulnerable and tender offering, the work of a young artist searching for cultural anchorage within a milieu still stubbornly centred on whiteness. While the piece would benefit from a more cohesive and dynamically structured narrative, its gentle ruminations on heritage, belonging, and identity possess an undeniable charm, one that lingers well beyond the festive trappings.
Monica Sayers’ assured direction offers much to engage with, shaping a production that approaches its subject with striking honesty and humour. The work articulates, with sensitivity and clarity, the experience of existing in-between worlds, while reanimating traditional concepts in ways that feel newly resonant rather than merely inherited.
Amy Lane’s inventive set design situates the audience within a liminal realm, almost purgatorial in its effect, while Cat Mai’s lighting deepens the atmosphere, heightening the production’s ghostly, otherworldly qualities with deft theatricality. Equally accomplished is Jolin Jiang’s music and sound design, which balances the ethereal with a distinct sense of Chineseness with notable finesse, enriching the experience through textures and tones too often flattened or dismissed as simply “foreign.”
Jiang performs a substantial portion of her score live on stage, embodying the ethereal presence of Lady Dai with striking precision and interpretive acuity. Foo is abundantly charismatic and energetic, infusing the central role with a valuable soulfulness that imparts to it a keen sense of purpose. As Heeba’s grandmother, Tiang Lim is quietly memorable, her graceful presence serving as an evocative embodiment of ancestral lineage and inherited memory.
In an increasingly secular world, Christmas persists as a day of collective observance—less a commemoration of a deity’s birth than an occasion for connection, with kin both biological and chosen. It becomes a moment to engage with tradition, to acknowledge the journeys that have unfolded, and to situate oneself more consciously within the present.
In this hallucinatory episode, Heepa encounters the past, the present, and that which is yet to come, not through the moralistic scaffolding of Dickensian redemption, but via a framework shaped by intersecting destinies. These convergences render tangible and meaningful the ways in which one might navigate an existence that honours those to whom one remains, forever, inextricably bound. Here, remembrance itself becomes an act of love, and for Heepa, moving forward with resolve means carrying them gently—at once inheritance and solace.
Venue: Qtopia (Darlinghurst NSW), Dec 3 – 13, 2025 Playwright: Jonathan Harvey Director: Finn Stannard Cast: Poppy Cozens, Max Dÿkstra, Michael Hogg, Willa King, Jake Walker Images by Alexandra Tiernan, Yingying Zhang
Theatre review
It is challenging enough for two teenage boys to fall in love, but the lower-socioeconomic circumstances into which Jamie and Ste are born make the prospect exponentially more fraught. Jonathan Harvey’s seminal Beautiful Thing may be more than thirty years old, yet not a moment of it feels antiquated. Still resonant and urgent, the play continues to illuminate a vital social discourse while remaining every bit as entertaining and affecting as it ever was.
Under the direction of Finn Stannard, this production proves a genuine delight, distinguished by its keen focus on the intimacies between characters and its palpable tenderness toward individuals navigating their own distinct hardships. The set, designed by Laila McCarthy and Zoe Young, is both convincing and versatile, while Raphael Gennusa’s unadorned lighting design shifts quietly, guiding us gently through the changing moods of each scene.
Jake Walker engenders genuine empathy as Jamie, delivering a persuasive portrait of youthful innocence edged with quiet longing. Max Dÿkstra may veer toward understatement as Ste, yet his restraint never obscures the depth of the young man’s turmoil, which remains palpable throughout. Their mutual friend Leah is vivaciously inhabited by Poppy Cozens, whose irrepressible sass and streak of mischief punctuate the play with welcome irreverence. Equally playful is Willa King as Jamie’s mother, Sandra; she injects the production with invaluable verve and humour, while capturing with striking precision the realities of a single mother navigating the precarity of the lower working class. Her boyfriend Tony, portrayed by Michael Hogg, may not always land the comedic beats, but he compensates with a deft sensitivity that emerges at precisely the moments the drama most requires.
In 1993, few could have imagined that same-sex marriage would become a lived reality within a single generation, yet history has a way of revealing humanity’s capacity for radical progress. For many queer youth, particularly those in the West, growing up beyond the strictures of heteronormativity has grown markedly less daunting with each passing decade. Living in poverty, however, remains a far more stubborn barrier to liberation, especially in an era marked by worsening wealth disparities that entrench disadvantage as swiftly as social attitudes evolve. It is a sobering reminder that equality in law does not instantly translate to equality in life — and that love, though triumphant, still has to fight for its footing.
Venue: Ensemble Theatre (Kirribilli NSW), Nov 28, 2025 – Jan 11, 2026 Playwright: Jeffrey Hatcher (from the original by Frederick Knott) Director: Mark Kilmurry Cast: Garth Holcombe, Madeleine Jones, Kenneth Moraleda, Anna Samson, David Soncin Images by Phil Erbacher
Theatre review Margot is conducting an affair, unaware that her husband Tony is quietly engineering her murder. Yet in Dial M for Murder, even the most meticulous schemes refuse to unfold as intended, giving rise to a cascade of unforeseen twists. Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of Frederick Knott’s seminal play and film may not conform to the conventions of a traditional whodunnit, but it possesses all the hallmarks of an investigative classic—suspenseful, cunningly constructed, and keeping us on tenterhooks as we strain to anticipate its final reckoning.
Marvellously taut direction from Mark Kilmurry, laced with a gentle, sly humour, yields a thoroughly engaging night at the theatre. While Kilmurry’s treatment of this 1952 tale is not especially inventive, it has no difficulty holding us captive throughout. Each plot revelation is unveiled with delectable finesse, delivering the kind of satisfaction that reminds us why this genre endures so effortlessly.
Nick Fry’s handsome set design allows for fluid, elegant movement, while presenting a sophisticated colour palette that evokes the period yet remains visually appealing. His costumes, impeccably realised, convincingly embody the refinement of the English upper class. Matt Cox’s lighting, with its warm amber glow, flatters the stage picture and injects a quietly simmering dramatic tension. Madeleine Picard’s music, lush and evocative of mid-century cinema, proves sumptuous throughout, ever attuned to deepening the atmosphere of intrigue.
Anna Samson and Garth Holcombe embody, with remarkable acuity, a couple burdened by secrets. Both deliver finely detailed performances that steer the narrative through its dizzying succession of twists, offering a delectable touch of extravagance that never tips into excess. Madeleine Jones and David Soncin provide compelling support, but it is Kenneth Moraleda’s turn as Inspector Hubbard that proves especially irresistible. He infuses the role with a distinctive quirkiness, lending the production an added spark that elevates its overall charm. At the end, the production is an excellent reminder of how perversely delightful it can be to revel in a story woven from such unabashedly heinous acts.
Suzy Goes See 