Featuring nine mainstage plays, two special late-night shows and a return of Redfern Renaissance, performed by over one hundred artists, in a joyful celebration of new Australian works, First Nations stories, extraordinary adaptations of bestselling novels and true classics, Belvoir has announced its 2026 Season.
“The shows we’re offering this year come from artists asking, what can we make possible?” said Belvoir’s Artistic Director, Eamon Flack. “Can we make a place in this country for Black men to be both strong and vulnerable in public? Can we rouse the ghost of Chrissy Amphlett?”
“Can art outwit the authority of the state? Can the dead speak of war? Can animals make justice? Can we figure out how to survive the overthrow of nature? Can we overthrow the patriarchy? Can a dog perform at Belvoir St? Can the proud Black spirit of Redfern live on?”
“Yes, yes, yes, yes, why not, hopefully, yes, yes, yes!” says Eamon.
BELVOIR’S 2026 SEASON:
DEAR SON
Upstairs Theatre: 8 – 25 January
In the referendum’s aftermath, twelve Indigenous men were asked to write a letter to their son – or father – about themselves, their mob, their story, their hopes for the future, and the things they’ve never said before. From Thomas Mayo’s seemingly simply idea came Dear Son, a collection of messages to the future and the past that celebrate Indigenous fatherhood and might even light a way to come together. A Queensland Theatre and State Theatre Company South Australia production, co-presented with Sydney Festival | Based on the book by Thomas Mayo, adapted by Isaac Drandic and John Harvey | Director: Isaac Drandic | Featuring: Jimi Bani, Waangenga Blanco, Trevor Jamieson, Kirk Page, Aaron Pedersen, Tibian Wyles
AMPLIFIED
Upstairs Theatre: 29 January – 8 February
Chrissy Amphlett was a seismic force in a school uniform. Now the legendary rebel-queen of Australian rock
is reimagined by the prodigiously talented Sheridan Harbridge. Take a live-wire journey through the words and music of the Divinyl’s legend in this electrifying new cabaret that blends biography with concert, as Sheridan fronts a live four-piece band while channelling Chrissy’s fierce spirit in a “rock odyssey” of music, storytelling and unapologetic attitude. Produced by Jacaranda Productions | Written by Sheridan Harbridge, co-created by Sheridan Harbridge, Glenn Moorhouse and Sarah Goodes | Director: Sarah Goodes | Featuring: Sheridan Harbridge
A MIRROR
21 February – 15 March
Adem’s a mechanic who’s written a play, and naively submitted it for consideration. He’s called to the arts council by a bureaucrat, Čelik, who suspects Adem has potential – if only he can learn to write in the state approved patriotic way, instead of telling uncomfortable truths. Together with his new assistant Mei and national playwriting treasure Bax, Čelik takes his new protégé through a crash-course in how to write a celebrated play for the national stage… | Playwright: Sam Holcroft | Director: Margaret Thanos | Cast includes: Yalin Ozucelik and Rose Riley
DRIVE YOUR PLOW OVER THE BONES OF THE DEAD
Upstairs Theatre: 28 March – 3 May
The Nobel Prize-winning author’s masterpiece, now a theatrical tour-de-force. Janina Duszejko, a woman of retiring age, lives quietly in a remote village. But one winter, men start being murdered in her district, and nobody seems to have an answer. Like a Polish Miss Marple, Mrs Duszejko takes it upon herself to work out exactly what’s going on. A whodunnit which takes astonishing turns, a provocative story of animals, humans and the spaces in between, and one of the most memorable characters of modern literature | From the novel by Olga Tokarczuk, adapted and directed by Eamon Flack | Cast includes: Paula Arundell, Marco Chiappi, Gareth Davies, Emma Diaz and Pamela Rabe
THE BIRDS
Upstairs Theatre: 16 May – 17 June
Nature isn’t behaving. The weather is doing strange things, the sea and sky sound different, and things that were once innocent, benign, harmless, are taking on dark and alarming aspects. Daphne du Maurier’s 1952 gothic horror story captured the paranoia and tension of the Cold War and inspired an immortal Hitchcock film. Now, a new adaptation by Australian writer Louise Fox brings this classic to the stage, a version feverish and suspenseful, for a new age, with new anxieties. A Malthouse Theatre production | Adapted by Louise Fox | Director: Matthew Lutton | Featuring: Paula Arundell
THE JUNGLE AND THE SEA
Upstairs Theatre: 11 July – 2 August
The smash hit play by the team that made Counting and Cracking returns for a limited Sydney season. When violence escalates between the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Gowrie does everything she can to keep her family alive. She sends her husband and one daughter to Australia for safety. She takes her other two daughters to search through the jungles of northern Sri Lanka for her estranged son. But how does a family come together again when the world around them is tearing itself apart? How is peace made? How can we honour the dead? Co-Produced by Kurinji, and Lingalayam Dance Company | Written and Directed by S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack | Featuring: Anandavalli, Prakash Belawadi, Emma Harvie, Nadie Kammallaweera, Shiv Palekar, Dushan Philips, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Rajan Velu and Musicians Indu Balachandran, Arjun Puveendran
RUNT
Upstairs Theatre: 22 August – 20 September
11-year-old Annie Shearer lives in the little town of Upson Downs with her best friend, a rescued stray called Runt. Runt’s a brilliant sheepdog – nimble as a pickpocket’s fingers and lightning-fast from years of eluding dog-catchers, police, and angry butchers. So, when a developer threatens to bulldoze their house, Annie puts Runt’s talents to work in a winner-takes all plan | From the novel by Craig Silvey, adapted by John Leary | Director: Neil Armfield | Cast includes: Peter Carroll, Julie Forsyth, Rebecca Massey and Steve Rodgers
A ROOM WITH A VIEW
Upstairs Theatre: 3 October – 1 November
Lucy Honeychurch could follow the path set out for her – life would be easy and comfortable. But a few days in Florence, and her view of love and possibility is thrown out the window. Sublime art and architecture, an array of folk who see the world through different eyes, and the attentions of the passionate George Emerson might just change her forever. But back home in her room Tuscany feels like another universe. Will she stay safe with her slightly underwhelming fiancé Cecil? Or will Lucy find a new room, and a new view? Co-produced with Melbourne Theatre Company | From the novel by E.M. Forster, adapted by Grace Chapple | Director: Hannah Goodwin | Cast includes: Tom Conroy, Nathalie Morris and Brigid Zengeni
THE COCONUT CHILDREN
Upstairs Theatre: 21 November – 20 December
Cabramatta, 1998. Sonny Vuong and Vince Tran are sixteen; they’ve known each other since they were small. Sonny lives in a world of imaginary love affairs and nineteenth century novels. But Vince has done it harder. He’s just out of juvenile detention, he’s seen how close brutality and despair can be when life knocks you off balance. And now they’re back in each other’s lives, thanks to some weird goings-on – a grandma who’s hitting the bottle, a stash of porn at the Cabra Golf Club and the inevitable secrets from the old country coming to the surface | Book Author & Playwright: Vivian Pham | Co-Directed by Hannah Goodwin and Catherine Vǎn-Davies | Cast includes: Gemma Chua-Tran, HaiHa Le and Brandon Nguyen
BELVOIR UP LATE:
REDFERN RENAISSANCE
Downstairs Theatre: 15 – 24 January
Redfern Renaissance returns to Belvoir St Theatre for its second year as part of Sydney Festival 2026! This powerful Blak Out program, curated by Belvoir’s Community Liaison Coordinator and acclaimed Wiradjuri Yuin actor Angeline Penrith (Wayside Bride, Winyanboga Yurringa), honours the storytellers and trailblazers who built the foundations of Black theatre in Australia. Co-presented with Sydney Festival as part of Blak Out | Creative Director: Angeline Penrith with special guest artists
GRUMBLISM
Upstairs Theatre: 31 January – 8 February
A performance, party and portal. A meeting of energies to bring bodies together in presence, possibility and pleasure. Join Betty Grumble as she leads a genre dance of guest artists in a night of alchemical celebration, theatrical ecstasy and hyphenate avant-garde bliss | Created and Performed by Betty Grumble
ROLE PLAY
Upstairs Theatre: 1 – 8 February
A broke feminist podcaster rebrands as a provocative “slutfluencer” in pursuit of fame, only to lose herself in the performance. Darkly hilarious, gripping, and surreal, Roleplay is an interrogation of modern sex, womanhood, the commodification of feminism, and a sharp reckoning with the cost of inauthenticity in the age of the personal brand | Written and Performed by Hannah Reilly | Director: Paige Rattray
For more information about Belvoir’s 2026 Season and subscription packages, visit: www.belvoir.com.au for details.
Image: The Coconut Children (supplied)