From courtrooms to saloons, outback towns to the corridors of power, Queensland Theatre stokes a reignited love of theatre with its captivating 2025 Season program.
The state’s premier theatre company stages eight mainstage productions in 2025 – including three at QPAC’s Playhouse – and infuses its program with world premieres, award-winning works, big-name artists, Queensland stars and unmissable storytelling.
The 2025 Season begins with a sumptuous retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, followed by a rollicking musical revival of Calamity Jane, David Williamson’s spiky and sassy Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica, the heartfelt ensemble piece Dear Son, the critically acclaimed Julia, a ripped-from-the-headlines retelling in Back to Bilo, fearless new work Malacañang Made Us and Aaron Sorkin’s razor-sharp smash, A Few Good Men.
Cementing the “Queensland” in Queensland Theatre, the company launches its ambitious Creative in Cairns initiative, delivers programs in 73 regional Queensland districts, and stages its first mainstage performance of 2025 in Toowoomba.
Queensland Theatre CEO Criena Gehrke said the 2025 Season was a theatrical love letter to audiences, old and new, with each programmed work a new page carefully crafted to enchant and entertain.
“Queensland sits at the epicentre of our 2025 Season, from the stories we tell, to the artists on the stage, to the creative forces working behind the scenes and critically, to the people in our audiences who trust us to inspire, excite and delight them,” said Gehrke.
“We are so proud to present a season that includes two world premieres – Dear Son and Malacañang Made Us – alongside bold new work, reimagined classics, blockbusters and globally resonant events adapted for the stage.”
“Whether you are a Queensland Theatre veteran or inspired to join us for the first time, we know you’ll fall in love with the 2025 Season,” said Gehrke.
Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch welcomed the launch of Queensland Theatre’s 2025 Season. “With a wealth of stories, programs and productions for audiences and communities across the State, Queensland Theatre is offering an expansive and inclusive season of work in 2025,” said Minister Enoch.
“Queensland Government investment in Queensland Theatre’s First Nations Development Program over the next two years will also work to create new First Nations-led theatre work and exciting career pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and arts workers.”
Austen’s timeless wit sets the tone for the 2025 Season in a Bridgerton-esque retelling of Pride & Prejudice, premiering at Toowoomba’s Empire Theatre (13 February) before playing QPAC’s Playhouse (20 February to 9 March).
Patrick White Award-winners Wendy Mocke and Lewis Treston breathe fresh life into literature’s original romantic comedy with Bridget Boyle and Queensland Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director Daniel Evans co-directing an all-Queensland cast including Maddison Burridge and Andrew Hearle.
The Bille Brown Theatre transforms into an immersive old-time Western piano bar – complete with on-stage saloon seating – for a raucous revival of the musical hit Calamity Jane (22 March to 17 April). Starring Queensland’s first lady of song and stage, Naomi Price (Drizzle Boy, Ladies in Black), and directed by Richard Carroll, Calamity Jane promises a whip-cracking evening of grit and giggles.
Double Gold Logie-winner Georgie Parker (Home and Away) and Glenn Hazeldine (Colin From Accounts) reunite to trade barbs and banter in David Williamson’s Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica – 15 years after they starred in its world premiere and 30 years since Parker last trod the Queensland Theatre boards.
The dynamite duo reprises their roles as two single, middle-aged people – wholly incompatible in every way – in a gleeful two-hander about accidental attraction at Bille Brown Theatre (28 May to 21 June).
The versatile Bille Brown Theatre then sets the stage for the world premiere of the poignant and powerful Dear Son (28 June to 19 July), directed by Queensland Theatre’s Head of First Nations Theatre, Isaac Drandic, who crafted the work with John Harvey.
The page-to-stage adaptation embodies the handwritten and heartfelt letters of 12 Indigenous men to their sons, published in author Thomas Mayo’s titular book and including missives from Stan Grant, Troy Cassar-Daley and Charlie King.
Justine Clarke steps into the shoes of Australia’s first female Prime Minister in Julia – a revelatory re-examination of an unforgettable moment in feminist history: Julia Gillard’s seminal 2012 speech to Parliament.
The box office hit that expertly blurs the lines between fact and fiction is written by Joanna Murray-Smith, directed by Helpmann Award-winner Sarah Goodes and makes its Queensland premiere at QPAC’s Playhouse (16 to 30 August).
Back to Bilo – a Queensland story that became another rallying chapter in Australia’s history, makes its mainstage debut at Bille Brown Theatre (3 to 13 September). The remarkable true tale of a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee family ripped away from their adoptive Biloela home captured the nation’s headlines and hearts and is told with compassion and care by Brisbane theatre-makers, Belloo Creative.
Giving a platform to brave and bold new voices, Jordan Shea’s Queensland Premier’s Drama Award-winning play, Malacañang Made Us, makes its world premiere at Bille Brown Theatre (18 October to 1 November). The epic play begins with the fall of Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos and unfurls over decades, countries, generations and ideologies, drawing on O’Shea’s laser insight and lived experiences.
The 2025 Season ends with the rousing courtroom drama A Few Good Men, Sorkin’s cinematic smash returning to the stage at QPAC’s Playhouse (22 November to 7 December). Emulating the play’s blistering plotline, a cast of rising stars go head-to-head with a swathe of stage legends in this theatrical tour-de-force, directed by Daniel Evans.
Aside from its mainstage program, Queensland Theatre’s 2025 Season champions new voices, new works and new audiences across the state. The ambitious Creative in Cairns initiative celebrates stories from the state’s stunning northern reaches that connect people to Country, told by a community whose knowledge and traditions span millennia.
Queensland Theatre is also championing new works that reflect richness and diversity through its First Nations Development Program and design-focused Professional Development Program for Key Creatives. The company’s commitment to developing the Australian canon continues with six works under creative and artistic development in its New Stories, New Works initiative.
The First 20 offers a laidback and attention-grabbing taster of what’s to come, where local playwrights share the first 20 minutes of their new works over one afternoon at Bille Brown Theatre (9 November).
For more information, including full program and ticket packages on offer, visit: www.queenslandtheatre.com.au for details.
Image: Daniel Evans, Fiona MacDonald, Criena Gehrke and Isaac Drandic – photo by Morgan Roberts | Pride & Prejudice – photo by Sam Scoufos | Dear Son – photo by Sam Scoufos | A Few Good Men – photo by Sam Scoufos