K-Pop Capers, AI Thrills and Corporate Comedy: Melbourne’s Best Theatre in 2026

Australian playwrights have been busy cooking up entertaining adaptations and entirely new stories, all hitting Melbourne theatres in 2026. There’s dark office-based comedy from Jean Tong, Megan Wilding’s intriguing Australian Open-adjacent romance, Marieke Hardy’s perimenopause version of Weekend at Bernie’s, and Michelle Lim Davidson’s real life-inspired mother-daughter reunion. Plus, classic texts reinvented for contemporary times. 

In chronological order, here are the most exciting plays and musicals coming to Melbourne this year.

My Brilliant Career

Miles Franklin’s debut novel, published in 1901, finally gets the lively musical treatment. A joyful adaptation by Sheridan Harbridge and Dean Bryant, this version transforms Sybylla Melvyn into a rockstar heroine, with dazzling sets and costumes by Olivier and Tony award-winner Marg Horwell and a poppy, folksy, pub-rock soundtrack. 

My Brilliant Career runs until February 28 at Southbank Theatre. Find tickets here.

Black Light

Intergenerational wisdom, trauma and survival are key themes in playwright Jada Alberts’s new play. It’s set in the Northern Territory, where four Larrakia mothers find themselves waiting out a societal breakdown; fuel and water are scarce and flights are grounded. The women have their differences, but their connection to Country is unifying. 

Black Light runs from February 13 to March 7 at Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse. Find tickets here.

Do Not Pass Go

Colleagues. You spend all day together, but how well do you really know each other? Playwright Jean Tong (Flat Earthers: The Musical) finds dark humour in the daily grind. Their new play taps into the corporate prison that is a dull, never-ending job. Two colleagues, Flux and Penny, are clocking in but mentally checking out. Can they find something more meaningful together than whatever it is they’re paid to do every day?

Do Not Pass Go runs from February 14 to March 28 at Southbank Theatre. Find tickets here.

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll

First performed in the ’50s, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll was the first Australian play to successfully tour overseas. It depicted working-class Australia in a new and incisive way, representing a landmark shift in homegrown stories told on Australian stages. Red Stitch is showing the full Doll Trilogy right now, including Kid Stakes and Other Times, so you can book in for a binge of Ray Lawler’s Calton-based dramas and watch all three in one day. 

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll runs until April 11 at Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre. Find tickets here.

Julius Caesar 

Ambition. Power. Envy. Murder. Shakespeare’s famed tragedy has it all, and this Bell Shakespeare production brings a modern slant to the Bard’s words with a set reminiscent of 1990s Eastern Europe. Artistic director Peter Evans has cherrypicked an elite squad, including Leon Ford (Elvis), Peter Carroll (Aftertaste), Brigid Zengeni (The Artful Dodger), Mark Leonard Winter (The Newsreader) and Septimus Caton (Coriolanus).

Julius Caesar runs from April 23 to May 10 at Arts Centre Melbourne. Buy tickets here.

The Glass Menagerie

Former Southern belle Amanda Wingfield just wants the best for her children. Abandoned by her husband and concerned about her family’s future, she hopes a gentleman caller might fall in love with her daughter, Laura, while her son Tom dreams of escape. Partly based on his own life, The Glass Menagerie made Tennessee Williams a household name – now Melbourne Theatre Company is bringing back the haunting play in a contemporary way with Alison Whyte as Amanda.

The Glass Menagerie runs from April 27 to June 5 at Southbank Theatre. Tickets are on sale here.

Game. Set. Match. 

A scene-stealer in everything she does, Megan Wilding is magnetic on stage. Here, she’s written, and stars in, an intriguing rom-com set on a balmy night in January while the Australian Open semi-final is taking place. There’ll be strawberries, violence, sexual tension and at least one funeral. 

Game. Set. Match. runs from May 1 to 23 at Beckett Theatre, Malthouse. Tickets are here.

Shoelace Chaser

Seventeen-year-old Thea cares for her mum, which means her life isn’t like that of other teenagers – she’s always thinking about what would happen if she wasn’t around. When friend Syd encourages her to pursue an athletics scholarship, she’s torn. Can Thea chase her dreams without running from her responsibilities? Leigh Lule (Trophy Boys) plays Thea in this feel-good comedy by Madelaine Nunn. 

Shoelace Chaser runs from May 9 to 27 at Southbank Theatre. Tickets are on sale here.

Prima Facie

Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie has come a long way. Since its premiere season at Sydney’s Griffin Theatre Company in 2019, it’s had seasons on the West End and Broadway (starring Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer), been translated into more than 30 languages, and is currently being adapted for the screen. Now the Olivier Award-winning play is back on Australian stages for a limited season. Sheridan Harbridge, who originated the role, is playing Tessa, a hard-edged criminal lawyer who finds herself on the other side of a criminal proceeding and is forced to rethink everything she knows about her profession. 

Prima Facie runs from May 20 to 31 at the Comedy Theatre. Tickets are on sale from February 27.

Losing Face

Weekend at Bernie’s but make it about perimenopause. Playwright Marieke Hardy has written an unhinged comedy about friendship and chasing the fountain of youth. It stars Michala Banas (Upper Middle Bogan) and Genevieve Morris (Dying: A Memoir), who go on a girls’ trip to a flashy new wellness resort where the cosmetic tweakments are just as tempting as the mocktails. 

Losing Face runs from June 22 to July 25 at Southbank Theatre. Tickets are on sale now. 

Mackenzie

Fangirls creator Yve Blake and Virginia Gay have teamed up with Bell Shakespeare to sprinkle a tonne of 2000s reality TV joy and ambition into a new, entirely original adaptation of Macbeth. In this version, the fated one is 13-year-old Mackenzie, backed by her ruthless stage mum Ruth (Nikki Britton from Deadloch). It’ll feature original songs, and an exciting debut from Hot Dub Time Machine’s Tom Lowndes as the play’s sound designer. 

Mackenzie runs from July 23 to August 9 at Arts Centre Melbourne. Tickets are on sale here.

Funeral Flowers

“Not everyone’s coming-of-age involves a gap year,” said writer Emma Dennis-Edwards to the Guardian about her award-winning play, first created for Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018. It’s about 17-year-old Angelique, who’s in the care system, her mum is in prison, and her boyfriend is involved in a gang – but she dreams of becoming a florist. Inspired by a true story, it’s about finding hope in dark times. Lucy Ansell (Strife) plays all the parts in this Australian premiere. 

Funeral Flowers runs from July 25 to August 23 at Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre. Buy tickets here.

Break of Day

Breaking the cycle looks different for everyone, but for Pam – a mum working night shifts at a giant retail warehouse in Burra Creek – it’s about making a better life for her daughter. In this world-premiere production, Kat Stewart plays the defiant Pam who’s trying to change their lives for the better. Break of Day is directed by Sarah Goodes, who also worked with Stewart on Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.

Break of Day runs from August 7 to 29 at Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse. Tickets are on sale here.

The Jungle and the Sea

S Shakthidharan’s monumental play Counting and Cracking took audiences to several periods and locations leading up to and during the Sri Lankan civil war. Its follow-up play The Jungle and the Sea was co-written by Shakthidharan and director Eamon Flack, and shifts the focus to northern Sri Lanka, dropping us into 1995, 2009 and 2022 – the year the play debuted. It’s just as epic as the first, with themes of survival, love and dignity.

The Jungle and the Sea runs from August 14 to September 12 at Southbank Theatre. Buy tickets here.

Koreaboo

Partly inspired by her own life, but with fictional K-pop twists, Koreaboo marks Michelle Lim Davidson’s debut as a playwright. The Play School presenter and The Newsreader actor also plays the lead role of Hannah, who journeys to Seoul to meet her birth mother to try to reconnect, despite their linguistic differences. But in her umma’s mind, Hannah is a Koreaboo – an outsider who’s simply obsessed with Korean culture. 

Koreaboo runs from September 24 to October 10 at Beckett Theatre, Malthouse. Tickets are on sale here.

Eliza 

AI on your mind? It’s on Tom Holloway’s, too. The Storm Boy playwright has written a new psychological thriller based on the invention of a computer program called Eliza. Its creator has been feeding Eliza with his secretary’s secrets, and as he’s praised for his innovation, Dr Weizenbaum (Dan Spielman) comes to realise there might just be ethical issues – and serious consequences.

Eliza runs from September 28 to October 31 at Southbank Theatre. Tickets are found here.

A Room with a View

Bump star Nathalie Morris steps into the lead role in this playful adaptation of EM Forster’s spirited book. It’s about a young woman grappling with societal expectations and following her desires – and it’s a little like she’s on the Edwardian equivalent of a gap year, according to writer Grace Chappel and director Hannah Goodwin. A gap year with a life-changing romantic kiss, of course.

A Room With a View runs from November 14 to December 19 at Southbank Theatre. Find out more here.

All About Eve

Christie Whelan Browne plays both veteran actress Margo and young fan Eve in this ambitious reimagining of the brilliant 1950 film starring Bette Davis. Where the film was haunting for its themes of ageing out and being replaced, this Malthouse production, directed by Dean Bryant, promises to spotlight our collective fascination with celebrity and youth. 

All About Eve runs from November 20 to December 12 at Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse. Tickets are on sale here.