Fat Pig: The Opera is a chamber opera by composer Matt Boehler and librettist Miriam Gordon-Stewart, which is based on Neil LaBute's 2004 play. When sparks fly between Tom and the smart and confident - but fat - Helen, he grapples with defending their relationship against a harsh, image-obsessed workplace culture. As pressure mounts, he’s forced to choose between love and the shallow approval of his toxic colleagues.
Directed with clarity and care by Kate Millett and presented by Forest Collective and BK Opera, this Australian premiere of Fat Pig presents a reflective and affecting opera that explores body image, love, and social expectations through expressive music and storytelling.
Caryl Churchill’s 2012 play Love and Information presents over 50 brief, disconnected scenes and more than 100 characters, all exploring how people absorb knowledge, communicate, and try to connect in a noisy world. Each becomes a snapshot of human interaction and emotion. In this 2025 production, director Belle Hansen embraces this chaos with a clever, considered approach that honours the fragmented structure while injecting moments of surprise and style.
Harry Gill’s set design is particularly inventive, featuring a revolving circular platform divided into three segments, allowing for swift transitions and playful staging. It gives the cast lots to work with and keeps the audience on their toes. The multiple entry and exits points along with the versatility in how the stage is used and locations are established, serve to stave off monotony and give scenes some delightful flair thanks to Hansen’s direction.
Ripening, written and directed by Jayde Kirchert, explores the experience of pregnancy through Lea, a woman nearing the end of hers. She focuses closely on Lea's personal journey, supported by an all-female cast, that offers different perspectives on what it means to become a mother. It’s a thoughtful look at some of the challenges and emotions that be stirred up in the lead up to giving birth.
Kirchert delivers an engaging exploration of the path to motherhood through Lea (Veronica Thomas), a woman on the cusp of giving birth. Although Lea is in a relationship with her male partner, his complete absence from the narrative allows Kirchert to centre her story and amplify a range of viewpoints on motherhood via an all-female cast. The play also does an excellent job of creating a bond between Lea and the audience - regardless of whether they’re pregnant, female, or neither.
Perth-based theatre company The Last Great Hunt returned to Melbourne with Night Night, a visually arresting, emotionally resonant piece that speaks volumes without uttering a single word. It is another example of the stunning innovation they bring to their work; in this instance, as we are transported to the vast isolation of Antarctica and probe the depths of human curiosity and connection. A bold, imaginative, and quietly profound story, it further cements The Last Great Hunt as one of Australia’s most inventive and affecting contemporary performing arts makers.
Co-created and directed by Arielle Gray, Luke Kerridge, and Tim Watts, the show stars Gray as Pip, an Antarctic scientist on a quest to uncover the origins of life. Her path takes a surreal turn when she encounters a lone albino penguin, leading to the discovery of a mysterious glowing entity, played brilliantly by Watts' hands. (Yes, his hands).
Beetlejuice the Musical has landed in Melbourne with a blaze of black-and-white stripes, undead antics, and high-octane madness. Adapted from Tim Burton’s beloved 1988 film, this musical version cranks up the mayhem, blends in a hefty dose of heart, and delivers a gloriously grotesque night at the theatre.
The book by Scott Brown and Anthony King honours the original film and Burton’s offbeat vision while injecting a welcome touch of originality. Lydia’s grief and her complicated relationship with her father take centre stage, adding depth and emotional complexity. The chaos, macabre oddities, and laughs from the movie are all here, but now there's added warmth and feels.
In Harold Pinter's 1978 play Betrayal, we witness a relationship breaking down, or flourishing, depending on which you're referring to, and which direction you're looking. Told in reverse, the story begins with the end of an affair and winds back to the first stolen kiss and the impact this has on our three leads. Presented by Thursday's Child, this production offers a compelling interpretation of Pinter’s icy dissection of love, loyalty and loss.
There are no twists here, as the audience knows from the outset how it ends, or starts. The challenge then, is to make the journey back engaging and intriguing, and the cast more than rises to the occasion. Heath Ivey-Law, as the deceived husband Robert, delivers a measured, emotionally aloof performance whose true feelings about his wife's betrayal remain just out of reach. He's a character we can't get a read on, and that ambiguity adds to the tension.
