LA MAMA is back in 2026! Be prepared to have your socks knocked off this February to May as intimate theatre returns to Carlton with LA MAMA’s return to presenting.
In 2026, LA MAMA will present their program in three parts. LA MAMA PRESENTS showcases eight new Australian works by some of the country’s most exciting writers bringing you some of the most urgent stories.
Comedy, drama, satire, gothic – each show will immerse you in its secrets, confront you with its truths, and delight you in its craft. All while still enjoying Melbourne’s cheapest tickets and warmest welcome – plus of course – the famous La Mama raffle at each show.
FEBRUARY: Maki Morita’s stunning 月を見る夜 Moongazing (Antipodes Theatre Company) draws from Noh, Japanese folktales and the digital realm to examine spiritual connection in an increasingly atomised world, while SAINTS created by Elbow Room takes us on a satirical tour through a revolutionary England to pose the question: how do we know we’re on the right side of history?
MARCH: 2025 Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting winner Glenn Shea completes his 30 year work An Indigenous Trilogy with the haunting gothic Some Secrets Should Be Kept Secret. And Joel Te Teira (La Mama Writing Intensive 2024, Cybec Electric 2025) brings us a riveting Māori dramedy that tests the friendships of men in Back to Te Maunga (Antipodes Theatre Company).
APRIL: Nicola Watson takes aim at priviledge in an isolated posh Airbnb in her dark comedy Spare a Thought for Jana Wendt (shortlisted for 2023 Patrick White Playwrights Award), and James Hazelden’s black comedy thriller Head | Thorax | Abdomen fragments the narrative in a darkly mysterious mindfuck that will keep you guessing right to the end.
MAY: Black comedy STUCK written by Megan Twycross and directed by Susie Dee takes aim at the systems that keep women down in a fluorescent-lit battle of wit, will and survival. Meanwhile GAG REFLEX by Flick (La Mama Writing Intensive 2024, Cybec Electric 2025) is the extremely controversial comedy that anyone who’s ever raised a child or been 16 needs to see.
From June – August, LA MAMA will present PLAY – it’s not about polish – it’s about potential and dares artists to risk, fuel experiment, and build the theatre of tomorrow. PLAY includes: SCRATCH, EXPLORATIONS and IMMERSE. A live platform for performance makers to test new ideas in front of peers and community.
From September – December, LA MAMA will present PARTNERSHIPS – programming that includes FESTIVALS (Hope Punk Climate Festival and Melbourne Festival of Puppetry), FRINGE (La Mama leans into the local cultural moment that is Melbourne Fringe), CULTURAL CONSERVATION IN ACTION (the conservation of our First Nation’s story, songs and dances are so crucial within our cultural cannon of artistic expression) and FARADAYS (a love letter to the neighbourhood and summer nights).
For more information about LA MAMA’s 2026 program, visit: www.lamama.com.au for details.
Image: Gag Reflex – photo by Darren Gill