Beloved Australian star of stage and screen, Noni Hazlehurst (Play School, Better Homes and Gardens, Every Family Has a Secret) returns to Adelaide Festival Centre’s Space Theatre from 25 June – 5 July for the South Australian premiere of The Lark – a powerful, moving meditation on life, death and change.
Originally commissioned and produced by Arts Centre Melbourne and Hey Dowling, The Lark is the second offering from the creatives behind award-winning 2015 solo production Mother.
Together, internationally recognised Australian playwright Daniel Keene, director Matt Scholten, and Noni Hazlehurst produce profoundly moving work, exploring emotive social issues rooted in straightforward storytelling and superb acting and direction.
“The opportunity to work with Daniel and Matt creating Mother was a rare privilege and a joy. To have the chance to collaborate again on The Lark is a miracle. No actor could ask for more,” said Noni Hazlehurst: .
The acclaimed, one woman show follows Rose Grey facing her final goodbye to The Lark, a small inner-city Melbourne pub slated for demolition. At 75 years of age, this building has been her entire life.
Her memories, both bitter and sweet, bind her to The Lark more strongly than she realises. As memories overwhelm her, Rose must break free from the past before it claims her forever.
Celebrated film, theatre and television actor, Noni Hazlehurst has graced our screens, stages and airwaves for fifty years. Hazlehurst’s extensive body of work has earned her numerous accolades including multiple Australian Film Institute (AFI) and Critics Circle Awards, and two Logie Awards for Best Supporting Actress.
In 1993 she was awarded a star on the Adelaide Festival Centre Walk of Fame and in 2016 she was inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame.
“It has been a joy to write The Lark for such a skilled and generous actor as Noni Hazlehurst. Setting the play in the heart of Melbourne, our hometown, has enriched the writing and empowered Noni’s performance. The play is both a celebration of and an elegy for a very particular place in our shared cultural landscape,” said Playwright Daniel Keene.
“What emerges is not just the story of one woman and her pub, but a universal tale of memory, loss, and the inexorable march of time.” – Australian Arts Review
The Lark
Space Theatre – Adelaide festival Centre, King William Road, Adelaide
Season: 25 June – 5 July 2026
Bookings: www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au
The Lark will also be presented at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre (5 – 9 August), Geelong Arts Centre (12 – 15 August), Theatre Royal Hobart (20 – 22 August) and Riverside Theatres Parramatta (16 – 26 September).
Image: Noni Hazlehurst in The Lark – photo by Cameron Grant, Parenthesy