The Festival of Emerging Artists showcases the major projects of NIDA’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Directing course, with the soon to be graduating directors each presenting a 40-minute stage production from 25 – 28 March, free to the public.
The festival is a culmination of the practical training delivered as part of NIDA’s Master of Fine Arts, Directing and is an opportunity for the seven emerging directors to connect with live audiences and present their skills and unique perspectives.
NIDA’s celebrated Directing alumni include Tony award nominee Kip Williams (Directing 2009), Directors Guild of America Award winner Shannon Murphy (Directing 2007), and CEO and Artistic Director of Opera Queensland Patrick Nolan (Directing 1991).
“These seven newly staged productions offer a vivid glimpse into the exciting future of the arts and entertainment industries,” said Dr Benjamin Schostakowski (Directing, 2013), NIDA’s Head of Directing.
“Each director has collaborated passionately with peers in Acting, Design, Technical Theatre, and a range of other creative disciplines to bring compelling works of drama and comedy to life, each more captivating than the last. Free and open to the public, this festival is an unmissable celebration of emerging talent and bold storytelling.”
2026 Festival of Emerging Artists Program:
Mega-Mall
Sophie is eighteen and stuck in the grind; clocking in, clocking out, and watching her pay disappear into the fluorescent void. Between wage theft, managers with God complexes, and customers who treat her like furniture, she’s just trying to keep her head above the retail tide. Director: Liam Wallis | Writer: Mark Rogers
The Actor’s Nightmare
George is an ordinary accountant who one day wakes up backstage in a theatre and is told he must go on. The problem? He doesn’t know the lines, the cues, or even remember rehearsing the show. Thrust onstage, George finds himself in the spotlight and forced to perform through some of theatre’s most challenging masterpieces. Director: Louise Birgan | Writer: Christopher Durang
Oh, The Humanity and Other Good Intentions
In this trio night of Will Eno delight, three short works; Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rain, Enter the Spokeswomen Gently and Oh, The Humanity are brought together that slip effortlessly from the ordinary into the quietly profound. From the strange choreography of online dating to a corporate announcement that spirals out of control, and a couple stranded with nothing but two chairs and wildly different realities, each play reveals how easily language, intention and certainty can unravel. Director: Ava Rusch | Writer: Will Eno
The Birds
Grief does not arrive in one shape. In this devised, ensemble-based musical physical theatre work, myth and movement merge to explore the many faces of loss. Inspired by Aristophanes’ The Birds and shaped by the visual languages of Slava’s Snowshow, Robert Wilson and Cirque du Soleil, the piece follows a man navigating the approaching death of his brother. Director: Cameron Taylor | Music, Book and Lyrics: Cameron Taylor & Otto Zagala – based on the play by Aristophanes
The Red Shoes
This bold new adaptation of The Red Shoes reimagines the classic tale through a contemporary, queer lens. After losing his mother, an orphaned boy is taken in by a wealthy widow who offers him shelter, fine clothes, and a striking pair of red shoes from a local shoemaker. The shoes awaken something within him, becoming a powerful symbol of his true self and his unspoken desire. Director: Jason Forrest | Poems by Anna Maria Murphy and Adapted by Emma Rice – based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen
Conviction
On the brutal shores of colonial Australia, a convict mother and her daughter disguise themselves as free settlers, desperate for another chance at life. When the arrival of a sinister redcoat threatens to expose their secret, hope gives way to terror and betrayal. As the day unfolds, the story fractures, revealing Zoey, a young woman confronting the weight of isolation, fear and self-doubt. Director: Emma Johns | Writer: Zoey Dawson
Like Stars in My Hands
In the final stages of an AIDS-related illness and trying to make sense of what’s to come, Simon finds a new lover for his boyfriend Marcello – their good friend Jimmy. Set in Sydney in 1993, amid the sex, drugs and the pulse of Darlinghurst and written by Timothy Conigrave (Holding the Man), this is a portrait of queer love, loss and resilience at the height of the AIDS crisis. Director: Esther Dougherty | Writer: Timothy Conigrave
Don’t miss your chance to witness the next wave of visionary Directors as they step into their professional careers.
For more information about NIDA’s Festival of Emerging Artists, visit: www.nida.edu.au for details. Tickets are free but require booking.
Image: NIDA’s MFA Directing students – photo by Maja Baska