In times of financial stress, it seems like everybody’s jumping into bed with everyone else.
I’m speaking metaphorically about theatre companies, of course.
Queensland Theatre has announced its 2027 season of eight mainstage plays, and five of them are co-productions – “co-pros” – with other Australian theatre organisations.
It’s no secret the arts are in a perilous place, with major musicals cancelling their tours mid-run and companies making cuts to claw back eye-watering losses, so cost sharing via co-production is naturally an attractive option.
The downside is fewer shows and the relative lack of employment for casts and crews. But as Queensland Theatre artistic director Daniel Evans points out, his season offers big shows – only one of which has a cast smaller than seven.
“I’m swinging big, and it feels like Queensland Theatre Company is now punching into a larger space and establishing ourselves, not just for Brisbane, but also for Queensland, and joining that national conversation,” he says.
Evans’ second season also continues his policy of “event theatre” – familiar titles to draw audiences who may prefer to know what they are getting.
He says he always imagines how potential audience members would react to hearing about the shows in their feeds.
“Would that be enough to pull you away from your scrolling to go, ‘I’m gonna put pants on, come out into the world, put my money down, and be part of that’?”
In times past a season featuring a top Broadway musical, a beloved Shakespeare and an adaptation of a popular novel might be considered pretty commercial for a state theatre company.
QT’s 2027 has all that and more: a murder mystery featuring a popular TV sleuth; a Homeric legend perfectly timed after The Odyssey’s box office triumph; and a hit rock’n’roll play clearly based on the making of Fleetwood Mac’s album Rumours.
Queensland Theatre 2027 season breakdown
An Iliad Feb-Mar
A Sydney Theatre Company co-production starring David Wenham, An Iliad sold out its run at the Wharf Theatres earlier this year and scored five-star reviews.
“I thought it’d be big news that he’s coming to Brisbane, but a lot of people see him in the New Farm Coles,” Evans quips about Brisbane resident Wenham.
“You’re watching an actor at the height of their powers. Imagine the Trojan War being told to you by this brilliant poet-cum-Aussie larrikin, who breaks the fourth wall and brings you on this incredible journey.”
Romeo & Juliet Feb-Mar
The star-crossed lovers get re-imagined with song, movement and First Nations storytelling.
“The Capulets and the Montagues are transposed into two warring tribes,” Evans says. “One is of the sky, one is of the earth, and their conflict comes around because of a broken song circle.
“High schools are studying Shakespeare and recontextualised myths, and we’re hoping that this really pulls in some educational audiences.”
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries: Death by Deckchair Apr-May
This co-pro with Sydney Theatre Company and Jones Theatrical Group is having its world premiere in Brisbane.
Amber McMahon is Phryne Fisher in the stage reboot of the TV series from the show’s original writer, Deb Cox, based on Kerry Greenwood’s novels.
“It’s sort of Knives Out on the ocean, meets Downton Abbey via The Great Gatsby and it’s very, very fun,” Evan says.
Stereophonic May-Jun
In 1976, a British-American band labours in the studio to match the smash success of their first album. If you ever thought the making of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours would make a good fictional narrative, then this is it.
QT has teamed up with both Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre for a play Evans says moves like “an Aaron Sorkin choreographed dance”.
“Everyone breaks up, makes up, they have complete nervous breakdowns, fall into addiction, and all the way through you hope against hope that they’re going to actually land the album.”
Counting and Cracking May-Jun
Queensland Theatre and Belvoir St Theatre have joined forces with Brisbane Powerhouse to remount this landmark Australian play, which travels to the West End and New York after playing at the Powerhouse.
“It’s massive: 21 people on stage, a sweeping saga that goes across many generations,” Evans says. “It moves between contemporary Sydney and past events in Sri Lanka, and so what you’re watching is a story of a family reconciling who they are with who they were.”
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Jul-Aug
With another Queensland Theatre-Opera Queensland co-production, Into the Woods, about to open at the Glasshouse, Evans is returning to Stephen Sondheim and what many regard as the composer’s dark masterpiece.
Andy Conaghan plays the murderous hairstylist, and Naomi Price (Calamity Jane) is his partner in crime, Mrs Lovett.
“Naomi was over the moon, it’s one of her dream roles. She is thrilled, as you can imagine, to be going from the wild west to a deliciously deviant baker.”
My Roman Empire Oct
The sole new Queensland work in the season is the winner of the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award from playwright Alberto di Troia.
A queer Australian writer travels to his ancestral village in Italy to scatter his father’s ashes, only to find the family history he imagined is complicated.
“It’s this funny, dark and sublime take on Eat, Pray, Love,” Evans says.
“Alberto’s playwriting voice is somewhere between Mike White from The White Lotus, it has that searing political bite, mixed with the poetry of Christos Tsiolkas.”
Little Women Nov
Louisa May Alcott’s novel of sisterhood and self-actualisation gets a new stage adaptation with Courtney Cavallaro (A Few Good Men) as Jo.
“When I tell people that we’re doing it, women say, ‘I’m a Jo March, I wanted to cut my hair off because I was such a Jo.’
“I’m hoping that audiences embrace it so it becomes our seasonal Christmas classic. Something that grandmas can bring their granddaughters to.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
