Melbourne Theatre Company today unveiled thirteen world-class stage productions for its 2025 season.
From classic plays to international hits and world premieres to works that could only have been made in Melbourne, audiences are invited to immerse themselves in stories that ask them to think, feel and reflect in a season that bridges the familiar with the unexpected.
Sharing her enthusiasm for the upcoming season, Anne-Louise Sarks, Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Melbourne Theatre Company said, ‘The brilliant plays we have collected for you reflect our passion for stories of all kinds. In season 2025 we will bring you work direct from Broadway, new adaptations of cherished stories, world premieres, and Melbourne-made works that put the spotlight on extraordinary new talent. And each will do what only theatre can do: put you there in the room, with actors and audience, sharing a special experience that exists only for one night’.
Season 2025 was launched off the back of a stellar 2024 that included the wildly popular new Australian work 37, the sold-out run of Julia, the twice extended English, the boldly reimagined A Streetcar Named Desire, and Topdog / Underdog which is currently enthralling audiences and critics.
Subscriptions for 2025 are on sale now at mtc.com.au.
37
Nathan Maynard’s 37, the laugh-out-loud highlight of the 2024 season returns. Regardless of whether you’re a footy a footy fanatic, this is an Australian story that wins hearts all round. This high energy, blood pumping, cheeky and gritty production gets at the core of what drives the national obsession, AFL. Community, identity, mateship and the price of winning: it’s all up for grabs. 37 is a co-production with Queensland Theatre.
Never Have I Ever
Direct from its UK international premiere, the Australian premiere of Never Have I Ever is written by Deborah Francis-White, famed for The Guilty Feminist podcast. This provocative comedy is a Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for the modern era, and is brought to life by a young and dynamic cast under the direction of Melbourne Theatre Company’s Resident Director, Tasnim Hossain (English).
The Removalists
From a legendary Australian writer, David Williamson’s classic The Removalists returns to the stage, under the direction of Anne-Louise Sarks, and is more relevant today than ever. This dark satire, born and set in Melbourne, remains a piercing examination of power, authority, and violence. Originally crashing through the walls of genteel Australian theatre in 1971, this production honours the play’s roots and takes an unflinching look at our society.
The Black Woman of Gippsland
From celebrated writer Andrea James (Sunshine Super Girl and Big Name, No Blankets), comes a powerful First Nations story of Victoria’s dark past, told as a thrilling modern mystery that unfolds with beauty, tragedy and rebellion. 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 Black Woman of Gippsland is presented as part of the YIRRAMBOI Festival and is part of Melbourne Theatre Company’s NEXT STAGE program.
The Wrong Gods
Following the global success of Counting and Cracking, Melbourne audiences be treated to S. Shakthidharan’s latest play, The Wrong Gods, a production that is as different as it is compelling. Featuring returning cast from Counting and Cracking, this new work delivers rich, poignant, and beautifully crafted writing in a gripping tale full of hope, betrayal, tradition and self-discovery. The Wrong Gods is co-produced by Belvoir St Theatre.
Mother Play: A Play in Five Evictions
Direct from Broadway, Mother Play makes its Australian premiere following its 2024 four-time Tony nominated and two-time Drama Desk Award-winning season. Led by Australia’s film, theatre and television legend Sigrid Thornton and directed by Lee Lewis OAM, Mother Play written by Paula Vogel, is a funny, heartbreaking, and deeply relatable play that offers actors a gift, allowing them to muster the full range of human emotion in service of a story that cannot fail to stir the heart.
Kimberly Akimbo, A Musical
Kimberly Akimbo took Broadway by storm winning five Tony Awards including Best Musical, in a production that celebrates the beauty of living in the moment with heart, humour, and quirky charm. Directed by four-time Helpmann Award-winner Mitchell Butel and starring Casey Donovan, Marina Prior, and Christie Whelan Browne this award-winning musical is packed with infectious energy and tunes that soar. Kimberly Akimbo is co-produced by State Theatre Company South Australia.
Destiny
Bold and uncompromising, Destiny is a powerful family story set against the backdrop of 1970s Apartheid South Africa, where love, loyalty, and survival collide in a fight for a new, uncertain future. Commissioned and developed through Melbourne Theatre Company’s NEXT STAGE program, this new work is written by and stars award-winning actor and playwright Kirsty Marillier alongside Barry Conrad (The X Factor, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical). Directed by Zindzi Okenyo (Is God Is), Destiny explores the strength of family bonds in a world increasingly fractured.
Rebecca
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is the timeless tale that reinvented the Gothic romance for modern audiences and was cemented into legend by Alfred Hitchcock’s masterful film adaptation. Adapted and directed by Anne-Louise Sarks, this new production supported by the Company’s NEXT STAGE program and created for the Sumner Theatre is performed by a powerhouse cast in Pamela Rabe (Seventeen), Nikki Shiels (A Streetcar Named Desire) and Bert LaBonté (The Mountaintop).
Dying: A Memoir
When acclaimed author Cory Taylor was diagnosed with a terminal illness, what followed was an astonishing creative surge that resulted in a memoir. Poignant and uplifting, Dying: A Memoir is an exploration of life and the moments that make it meaningful. Starring Genevieve Morris in a performance that will make you laugh, cry, and reflect; Benjamin Law (The Family Law) adapts Taylor’s infamous book which Barack Obama named as one of his favourites in 2017. Dying: A Memoir is a NEXT STAGE commission
Much Ado About Nothing
For the first time in thirty years, Shakespeare’s best romantic comedy, Much Ado About Nothing is presented on the Melbourne Theatre Company stage. Directed by Mark Wilson (Jacky) and starring Fayssal Bazzi (Stateless) and Alison Bell (The Letdown) this lively, funny, and heartwarming production breathes new life into the classic tale of love, deception and playful mischief and will be a joy for both longtime Shakespeare fans, and newcomers alike.
The Robot Dog
The Robot Dog is a cheeky comedy set in an all-too-believable future and is a writing 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). The Robot Dog is an intercultural sci-fi comedy with a big, beating heart and a provocative exploration of AI, language, technology, and the ethical dilemmas that will shape our future in a fast-evolving world. The Robot Dog is a Next Stage commission and is presented in association with Asia TOPA.
Legends (of the Golden Arches)
Fantastical, funny, philosophical and exploring the enduring power of friendship; Legends (of the Golden Arches) draws on the unique talents of many theatre artists from Australia’s Asian diaspora. Written, directed, and performed by Merlynn Tong (Golden Blood) and Joe Paradise Lui, Legends (of the Golden Arches) is a powerful, deeply personal examination of the Chinese cultural experience and the enduring power of friendship, revealed through a hilarious yet subtly moving lens. Legends (of the Golden Arches) is produced by Performing Lines WA, and presented with RISING.