In 2026, Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre will present nine mainstage shows, two late-night shows, and the return of Redfern Renaissance, performed by more than 100 artists.
It’s a joyful celebration of new Australian works, groundbreaking First Nations stories, extraordinary adaptations of best-selling novels, and Belvoir classics.
The season opens with ‘Dear Son’, set in the referendum’s aftermath. Twelve Indigenous men were asked to write a letter to their son – or father – about themselves, their mob, their story, their hopes for the future. From Thomas Mayo’s simple idea came ‘Dear Son’ – it’s a collection of messages to the future and the past, celebrating Indigenous fatherhood.
‘Amplified’, written by Sheridan Harbridge, is a live-wire journey through the words and music of Chrissy Amphlett in the form of a cabaret blending biography with concert. ‘A Mirror’ follows Adem, a mechanic who’s written a play, and naively submitted it for consideration. He’s called to the arts council and told he has potential – as long as he can write in the state-approved, patriotic way, instead of telling uncomfortable truths.
From the novel by Olga Tokarczuk comes ‘Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead’, a whodunnit which takes astonishing turns and a provocative story of animals, humans, and the spaces in between. Plus, ‘The Birds’ from Daphne du Maurier is a gothic horror story which inspired an immortal Hitchcock film.
‘The Jungle And The Sea’ is co-produced by Kurinji, and Lingalayam Dance Company – when violence escalates between the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Gowrie does everything she can to keep her family alive. . . But how does a family come together again, when the world is tearing itself apart?
‘Runt’, from the novel by Craig Silvey, follows 11-year-old Annie Shearer who lives in the little town of Upson Downs. When a developer threatens to bulldoze the house, Annie puts her sheepdog Runt’s talent to work, in a winner-takes-all plan. And, in ‘A Room With A View’, Lucy Honeychurch’s view of love and possibility is thrown out the window after a few days in Florence.
‘The Coconut Children’ is set in Cabramatta, 1998. Sonny Vuong and Vince Tran are 16. They have known each other since they were small – Sonny lives in a world of imaginary love affairs, while Vince has done things harder. He’s just out of juvenile detention and has seen how close brutality and despair can be when life knocks you off balance.
Belvoir’s Up Late offering includes three performances: Redfern Renaissance (co-presented with Sydney Festival as part of Blak Out), ‘Grumblism’, created and performed by Betty Grumble joined by guest artists, and ‘Role Play’, where a broke feminist podcaster rebrands as a provocative slutfluencer’ in pursuit of fame. . . Only to lose herself in the performance.
“The shows we’re offering this year come from artists asking, what can we make possible?” Belvoir Artistic Director Eamon Flack says.
“Can we make a place in this country for Black men to be both strong and vulnerable in public? Can we rouse the ghost of Chrissy Amphlett? Can art outwit the authority of the state? Can the dead speak of war? Can animals make justice? Can we figure out how to survive the overthrow of nature? Can we overthrow the patriarchy? Can a dog perform at Belvoir St? Can the proud Black spirit of Redfern live on? Yes, yes, yes, yes, why not, hopefully, yes, yes, yes!”
Belvoir St Theatre’s 2026 season begins with ‘Dear Son’ in January.
