Perth’s upcoming stage shows promise high-camp melodrama, moving stories of identity, and powerful reflections on mental health. There are also fun and uplifting musical versions of movies we can’t get enough of, and brand new productions from Black Swan State Theatre Company and Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company.

Here are our picks of the best stage shows to see in Perth, listed in chronological order.

Red Ticket

Lily and Poppy are both new mums struggling with the weight of motherhood. The main difference is they’ve become mothers in different centuries. Whereas Lily is crushed by the pressures of modern-day “have it all” mentality, Poppy is bound for the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum. This haunting new production is written and directed by Josie Walsh, who wants to challenge the stigma around postpartum depression. Her atmospheric and deeply psychological play looks at misogyny and mental health with compassion and curiosity. 

Red Ticket runs until April 18 at The Blue Room Theatre. Tickets are on sale here.

Pretty Woman: The Musical

Relive the innocence of the 1990s in a musical adaptation of one of the most unlikely romcoms to be turned into a musical. Yes, a wealthy client still falls for the charms of a living-for-the-moment sex worker and promises to rescue her with the trappings of capitalism, but this time there are belting songs, such as I Can’t Go Back and Anywhere But Here. Samantha Jade and Perth-born Ben Hall play Vivian and Edward, and you can guarantee the audience will chime in on “Big mistake. Big. Huge.”

Pretty Woman: The Musical runs from April 18 to May 24 at Crown Theatre. Tickets are on sale now.

Which Way Home

Writer Katie Beckett based her play on her own memories of growing up with a single Aboriginal dad. The Murrawarri actor and playwright wanted to show how loving and caring men like her father are, which she says isn’t often portrayed on stage. In Which Way Home, Tash takes her dad on a road trip back to Country. It’s a story filled with reconnection – to each other and to place – with plenty of humour and heart. Real-life father and daughter Derek and Shaquita Nannup star in this Yirra Yaakin performance, directed by Cezera Critti-Schnaars (All Boys).

Which Way Home runs from April 28 to May 9 at Subiaco Arts Centre Studio. Tickets are on sale now.

The Shepherd’s Hut

Friendship can be forged in the most unlikely places. For 15-year-old Jaxie, on the run after the death of his abusive father, it’s in the remote saltlands of Western Australia where he meets Fintan MacGillis, a disgraced Irish priest living in exile. WA is the backbone of this Tim Winton story about survival, masculinity and forgiveness, which has been adapted for the stage by acclaimed playwright Tim McGarry (Boy Swallows Universe) and director Matt Edgerton. See it at its world premiere in May.

The Shepherd’s Hut runs from May 9 to 31 at Heath Ledger Theatre. Tickets are on sale now.

Dracula

Queensland Ballet and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra have teamed up for a biting new production of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It’s the creation of Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor, whose debut in 2018 was a critical smash and all-round crowd-pleaser. The gothic horror is camp, dramatic and seductive, leaning into the themes of repressed desires and sexuality. You’ll recognise the score from Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film, composed by Wojciech Kilar, plus other music by Kilar. There will be waltzes, stakes driven into hearts and, you guessed it, plenty of blood.

Dracula runs from May 15 to 30 at His Majesty’s Theatre. Tickets are on sale now.

Dirty Talk

Is there anything hotter than a spicy book? If you’re into sexy lit, or Booktok, you’ll know how arousing a fantasy rom-com can be. It’s even more fun if you listen to the audiobook version. Tapping into the pleasure genre are performer and producer Talia Zipper, director Marie-Eve Cigna, and co-writers Emily Jenkins and Tiahna Johnson, who’ve created a (potentially explosive) new queer rom-com that centres the female gaze and plays with the audio-erotica genre through an immersive soundscape. 

Dirty Talk runs from June 16 to 27 at The Blue Room Theatre. Tickets are on sale now.

The Almighty Sometimes

Australian playwright Kendall Feaver’s debut was awarded Best New Play at the 2018 UK Theatre Awards, among other accolades. Its central character, Anna, has grappled with mental illness all her life, and has been medicated since she was 11 years old. Now, as she approaches adulthood, she’s questioning who she might be without those pills. Are the meds suppressing her brilliance? Her weary mum Renée isn’t as keen to find out. The calm they’ve become accustomed to was hard-won. 

The Almighty Sometimes runs from June 19 to July 5 at Subiaco Arts Centre. Tickets are on sale here.

At What Cost?

Boyd, a Palawa man, has been tasked with cremating the remains of an ancestor returned from a London museum. He’s a leader in his community, with a baby on the way. But an unexpected arrival from a woman called Gracie starts a chain reaction of questioning who has the right to identify as Aboriginal, and who is entitled to land. When writer Nathan Maynard’s play debuted at Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre in 2022, the Trawlwoolway man from Larapuna Country called it “juicy”, though At What Cost is undoubtedly a tragedy. Nyaki-Nyaki director Maitland Schnaars shapes this production, presented by Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company.

At What Cost runs from July 17 to August 1 at Subiaco Arts Centre. Find tickets here.

Eugene Onegin

Ever regretted not asking that hottie out? Or saying “no” when they asked you? This Tchaikovsky opera is all about what could have been. Years after Eugene Onegin rejects Tatyana’s advances, he looks back on his decision with longing and regret. This Northern Ireland Opera production, featuring West Australian Opera Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, stars Samantha Clarke as Tatyana and Samuel Dundas as Onegin. Expect heartbreak, whispered confessions and duels at dawn. 

Eugene Onegin runs from August 6 to 15 at His Majesty’s Theatre. Tickets are on sale here.

Beetlejuice The Musical

Shake, shake, shake, Senora and get your body in line for a riotous time with Eddie Perfect, who plays the lovable demon Betelgeuse in this musical adaptation of Tim Burton’s 1988 film. It’s loyal to the original with striped suits, crude jokes and a ghoulish set. Perfect wrote the music and lyrics, and his performance has been celebrated for being even more vulgar than Michael Keaton’s. Those two calypso songs, Banana Boat Song (Day-O) and Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora), are guaranteed, as is a suitably sulky teenage Lydia, played by Karis Oka. 

Beetlejuice The Musical runs from August 16 to September 6 at Crown Theatre. Tickets are on sale now.

Past Events

George Glass’s Dial M For Mushrooms

Beef Wellington, anyone? Too soon? This Fringe World musical comedy takes audiences to court in an absurd and silly show based on the gripping murder trial of 2025. Dinner won’t be served, but the George Glass trio (Adelaide’s Nic Conway, Pud Hamilton and Chris Nenov) will bring their A game with funk-rock songs and knife-edge humour. 

George Glass’s Dial M For Mushrooms runs from February 4 to 8 at Studio Underground. Buy tickets here. 

Lacrima

Gripping, cinematic and suspenseful, this large-scale show thrusts audiences into the cutthroat world of haute couture. There are beadmakers in Mumbai, lacemakers in Normandy and a fashion designer in the UK who are all integral in the making of a wedding dress fit for a princess. The ambitious Perth Festival show by French director and filmmaker Caroline Guiela Nguyen is already sold out, but if your on-the-pulse cultural friend suddenly can’t attend, make sure you’re first in line to snap up their ticket.

Lacrima runs from February 6 to 10 at Heath Ledger Theatre. Tickets are sold out.

POV

There’s no dress rehearsal for becoming a parent, and this widely praised 70-minute show uses that anxiety-inducing premise to put two unrehearsed actors through their paces with one camera-wielding pre-teen. In this Perth Festival iteration, 11-year-old Bub is played by alternating actors Yuna Ahn and Grace Tione. Her parents are played by a pair of adult actors (from a troupe of 14), whose only task is to react in real time. It might be funny, it might be sad, but as the grown-ups are unprepared, no two shows could possibly be the same. 

POV runs from February 10 to 15 at Subiaco Arts Centre. Tickets are on sale now.

Haribo Kimchi 

At a pojangmacha (street food cart), an aproned Jaha Koo invites a couple of audience members to sit cartside for a four-course Korean meal. While they see Koo slice cucumber or fry pancakes up close, everyone else sees the performer chop, sizzle and scorch food through video projection. Koo isn’t just here to cook, he’s here to share a personal story of migration, nostalgia, comfort and loneliness. A gummy bear also makes an appearance. 

Haribo Kimchi runs from February 18 to 22 at Studio Underground. Tickets are on sale now. 

Meow Meow’s The Red Shoes

Black wig, long lashes, red lips and cigarette in hand, Meow Meow’s signature style is ever present in her latest interpretation of a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Just like in her reworkings of The Little Match Girl (2012) and The Little Mermaid (2016), the cabaret genius is here to remedy the wrongs of Andersen’s story. Where the original Karen was cursed to never stop dancing, Meow Meow is plagued to never stop performing. 

Meow Meow’s The Red Shoes runs from February 26 to March 1 at His Majesty's Theatre. Tickets are on sale now.

Anastasia The Broadway Musical

Faithful to the 1997 animated film, Anastasia The Broadway Musical is touring Australia for the first time with Georgina Hopson (Titanique) in the lead role. Hopson honours the magic of the movie, especially in her renditions of Journey to the Past and Once Upon a December. Joining her on stage is Robert Tripolino as Dmitry. There’s romance, adventure and sparkle, and just a sprinkle of deception, rebellion and defiance.

Anastasia The Broadway Musical runs from March 3 to 28 at Crown Theatre. Tickets are on sale now. 

RBG: Of Many, One

Heather Mitchell is a powerhouse in any role, but as Ruth Bader Ginsburg she’s the walking, talking trailblazing “notorious RBG”. Mitchell embodies the US Supreme Court justice with a certain grace and quietness that makes you feel like the jurist is right there on stage. Written by Olivier Award-winning playwright Suzie Miller (Prima Facie), the one-woman play is an entertaining and emotional whiz through RBG’s pivotal moments, from her teen years to her death in 2020. 

RBG: Of Many, One runs from March 19 to April 4 at Heath Ledger Theatre. Buy tickets here.