As it prepares to celebrate its 35th anniversary next year, Bell Shakespeare has announced its 2025 Season.
To open the season, celebrated theatre maker and former Associate Artistic Director of Bell Shakespeare Marion Potts directs a new production of Henry 5. Starring dynamic newcomer Lebanese Australian actor JK Kazzi in his mainstage theatre debut, Shakespeare’s history play is given Potts’ female perspective on a story centered on young men going to war.
In Henry 5, one of the most famous war plays of all time, young Prince Hal has left his wayward adolescence behind and assumed the mantle of kingship. Following a humiliating insult by the French prince, King Henry launches England into a war with France to claim the throne he believes is rightfully his and, against all odds, he leads his troops from despair to climactic victory at the Battle of Agincourt. As Henry is hailed a warrior, and a hero, Shakespeare explores the costs of war.
For the first time in nearly 30 years, Bell Shakespeare stages one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known works, the political epic Coriolanus. Directed by Artistic Director Peter Evans and starring Logie winner Hazem Shammas (Macbeth, Safe Harbour, The Twelve, The Clearing) in the titular role and veteran Australian actor Peter Carroll, this production tells the tale of war, power and politics that is both thrilling and disturbingly familiar.
Coriolanus is a ferocious warrior and defender of Rome, but his contempt for the public, and his refusal to play the political game, see him banished from the city he once protected. When he joins forces with his former enemy to seek vengeance against Rome, the fate of the city, and of Coriolanus himself, hangs in the balance.
For the company’s annual national tour, Evans’ acclaimed 2023 production of Romeo & Juliet will tour to 26 venues across the country. Introducing the magnetic Madeline Li as Juliet, this beautifully intimate production brings audiences closer than ever before to the intensity and the heartbreak of Shakespeare’s most evocative tragedy.
“Welcome to Season 2025; three diverse plays and our exciting program of public events,” said Artistic Director Peter Evans. “The world is stranger than ever and as always Shakespeare has seen it or imagined it before. I struggle with whether to reflect, comment or distract when putting together our seasons.
“Next year, in our 35th anniversary year, we have chosen to reflect and comment, somewhat obliquely, but with sophisticated plays of the highest order. If it sometimes feels the world is fixated on finding easy answers, join us as we engage with the nuance and complex thinking of Shakespeare’s mind.”
Alongside this mainstage programming, Bell Shakespeare will present their extensive national outreach and education program in schools, communities and Juvenile Justice centres across Australia.
Other events throughout the year will include a series of panel sessions titled On Shakespeare, Power and Politics held in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, the continuation of the lively script reading series, Play In A Day, featuring King John and the ever-popular Sonnets & Semillon.
To accompany the season of Coriolanus and exclusive to season package holders and subscribers, Professor Liam Semler from the University of Sydney will give a talk interrogating the complex character, offering fascinating insights.
For more information about Bell Shakespeare’s 2025 season, visit: www.bellshakespeare.com.au for details.
Image: Hazem Shammas (Coriolanus), Madeline Li (Romeo & Juliet) and JK Kazzi (Henry 5) – photos by Pierre Toussaint