Following a celebrated sell-out season in 2025, Queensland Theatre Company’s award-winning production of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice returns triumphantly to the Playhouse for a strictly limited encore season from 10 July 2026.
Inviting audiences once more into a world of sparkling wit, sweeping romance and irresistible tension for one final, glorious ‘turn about the room’ – this lavish, Austen-faithful romantic comedy is brought to life by an illustrious Queensland ensemble cast, whose magnetic chemistry animates the full splendour and scale of Regency England.
Across drawing rooms, country estates and society gatherings, the story unfolds in a delicate web of romance and reputation. Across its entangled love stories, it explores captivating chemistry, longing glances, bruised pride, romantic resistance and the unexpected thrill of falling for the last person you expect.
Adapted by award-winning playwrights Wendy Mocke and Lewis Treston, and directed by Daniel Evans alongside Bridget Boyle, the production brings Austen’s world vividly to life through sisters, suitors, families, fortunes, gossip and proposals on a grand theatrical scale.
QTC Artistic Director and Co-Director Daniel Evans says the return of Pride & Prejudice offers audiences both a second chance and an unmissable stage event. “This is a large-scale production defined by extraordinary craft and performance, ” said Evans.
“A talented company of 13 actors, alongside an extensive creative team spanning design, costume and set have come together to bring Austen’s world to life with remarkable detail, ambition and theatrical flair. It has wit, romance and spectacle, but what truly resonated with audiences was the scale and heart of the production.”
“From opening night, the response was immediate and exciting. People returned with friends and family, and those who missed out told us how disappointed they were to have missed the experience altogether. Bringing it back for this return season feels incredibly special,” said Evans.
Co-Director Bridget Boyle, who has read Pride & Prejudice every year since she was fourteen, says returning to the production has only deepened her love for what it has to say.
“There’s a reason this story continues to endure. The tension, the misreadings, the pride, and restraint between Elizabeth and Darcy create an extraordinary sense of anticipation, and when that emotional release finally comes, audiences feel it collectively,” said Boyle.
“What stayed with me from last season was the electricity in the room. You could feel audiences utterly captivated, leaning forward with every exchange, holding their breath at each glance and collectively gasping at the slightest touch. To witness that kind of connection night after night was remarkable, and it makes bringing this production back feel truly special,” said Boyle.
Co-adaptor Wendy Mocke says the focus was on clarity and fidelity to Austen’s original voice, rather than reinvention. “Austen’s wit and insight are already there in the text. Our focus was on shaping the work for the stage in a way that allowed those qualities to come through with clarity, elegance and immediacy, while remaining true to the original story,” said Mocke.
Featuring Matilda Award-winning design by Christina Smith, the production unfolds with sumptuous, finely wrought detail from softly falling snow to cascading rose petals, all set against a world of bespoke Regency-era costumes that evoke the elegance of Austen’s England. The majority of the acclaimed ensemble, led by Maddison Burridge as Elizabeth Bennet and Andrew Hearle as Mr Darcy, also returns.
Co-Directors: Bridget Boyle and Daniel Evans | Featuring: Gael Ballantyne, Maddison Burridge, William Carseldine, Daphne Chen, Chenoa Deemal, Janaki Gerard, Andrew Hearle, Stephen Hirst, Cameron Hurry, Amy Ingram, Perry Mooney, Bryan Probets, Jeremiah Wray | Designer: Christina Smith | Composer and Sound Designer: Guy Webster | Lighting Designer: Jason Glenwright | Intimacy Coordinator, Choreographer and Movement Director: Nerida Matthaei | Dramaturg: Saffron Benner | Co-Adaptors: Wendy Mocke, Lewis Treston
Pride & Prejudice
Playhouse – Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Cultural Precinct, South Bank (Brisbane)
Season: 10 – 26 July 2026
Information and Bookings: www.queenslandtheatre.com.au
Images: Andrew Hearle and Maddison Burridge – photos by Sam Scoufos