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Monster by Duncan Macmillan

SydneyTheatre | March 7 - 21, 2026

“…A play that tests your liberal instincts to the limits...Macmillan's cracking play is a timely and gripping dissection of parenting and responsibility”
The Guardian

For the first time on the Sydney stage, Duncan Macmillan’s compelling and provocative play Monster confronts the reach of empathy and weight of moral responsibility when it comes to the violence of boys and men.

A teacher is tasked with working with a troubled teenage boy on the brink of permanent expulsion. When Tom (Albert Mwangi) and Darryl (Campbell Parsons) are left alone in a classroom, a tense battle of wills unfolds and a teenage boy's actions ripple through the lives of those around him. How do you reach a child who appears afraid of nothing and cares for no one?

“He's got zero empathy. You could be having a conversation and start choking to death and he'd…probably just sit there and finish eating whatever you were choking on.”

Written by acclaimed British playwright Duncan Macmillan (People, Places and Things and Every Brilliant Thing), Monster refuses to deliver easy answers. It asks the audience to question; Are monsters inside all of us? Are they born or are they shaped? And what responsibility do the systems and societies around us bear?

Following Tiny Dog Productions’ acclaimed 5-star co-production of The Children’s Hour at The Old Fitz Theatre in 2025, Monster will be on at KXT on Broadway as part of its 2026 Summer Season (6-21 March 2026). This production is generously supported by the City of Sydney and Darlo Drama.

Starring Romney Hamilton (The Children’s Hour at The Old Fitz), Linda Nicholls-Gidley (The House of Bernarda Alba), Campbell Parsons (Babyteeth at KXT) and Albert Mwangi (2025 Sydney Theatre Award nominee), this exciting cast will bring Monster to life under the careful guidance of Director Kim Hardwick and an incredible team of Sydney creatives.

Kim Hardwick (Baby Teeth, Mercury Poisoning, The Lives of Eve, Deadskin, The Walworth Farce) is an award-winning director and producer whose work has been staged in Australia and New York to critical acclaim. This marks her seventh production on the KXT stage.

Monster by Duncan Macmillan, produced by Tiny Dog Productions plays at KXT on Broadway in Ultimo from 6-21 March 2026, as part of the KXT Summer Season.

Brisbane by Matthew Ryan

BrisbaneTheatre | March 19 - 29, 2026

Australia. 1942. Fourteen-year-old Danny Fisher is coming of age when his hometown of Brisbane is invaded by the American Armed Forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. While events in the Pacific threaten to tear Danny’s family apart, he meets an American pilot, and hatches a dangerous plan. Australian soldiers, dance halls, riots and grief all make an appearance in this authentic Australian story. ‘Brisbane’ is a celebration of a childhood and a city – and a requiem for all that was lost.
Stage Noise readers get a discount - just use the code NOISE at the checkout!

Opera Double Bill: "The Impresario" (Mozart) & "Prima La Musica" (Salieri)

DarlinghurstTheatre | March 27 - 28, 2026

Operantics presents a sparkling double bill of Mozart's "The Impresario" and Salieri's "Prima La Musica" at The Eternity Playhouse on March 27-28!

Originally commissioned to be in competition with one another in the Viennese court, these sharp, fast-paced comedies turn opera back on itself, skewering artistic egos, rivalries, and the eternal tug-of-war between music and text. Full of vocal fireworks and theatrical wit, has much has changed in the world of opera?

Sydney-based not-for-profit opera company Operantics champions chamber-scale opera and art song, creating opportunities for emerging and early-career artists while bringing opera into intimate, contemporary settings.

Directed by Theresa Borg and conducted by Philip Eames, the production features Aidan Hodder, Camilla Wright, Hannah Burton, Matt Gaskin, and Lana Kains, accompanied by a chamber ensemble

The Impresario (Mozart) & Prima la musica (Salieri)

DarlinghurstTheatre | March 27 - 28, 2026

Operantics presents a sparkling double bill of The Impresario by Mozart and Prima la musica, e poi le parole by Salieri at The Eternity Playhouse this March!
Originally commissioned to be in competition with one another in the Viennese court, these sharp, fast-paced comedies turn opera back on itself, skewering artistic egos, rivalries, and the eternal tug-of-war between music and text. Full of vocal fireworks and theatrical wit, has much has changed in the world of opera?
Sydney-based not-for-profit opera company Operantics champions chamber-scale opera and art song, creating opportunities for emerging and early-career artists while bringing opera into intimate, contemporary settings.
Directed by Theresa Borg and conducted by Philip Eames, the production features Aidan Hodder, Camilla Wright, Hannah Burton, Matt Gaskin, and Lana Kains, accompanied by a chamber ensemble.

Three Little Words by Joanna Murray-Smith

BrisbaneTheatre | April 16 - May 9, 2026

Tess & Curtis. Bonnie & Annie. They’ve done life together for 20 years. They know each other's quirks, finish each other's wine, and can navigate a dinner party like a well-rehearsed dance. Their friendship is the anchor – until the night it all unravels with three little words.
Joanna Murray-Smith's wickedly smart comedy peels back the surface of modern relationships to reveal what happens when one person's freedom becomes someone else's crisis. Filled with uncomfortable truths and moments of hilarity, Three Little Words is about friendship, marriage, and the terrifying possibility that the life you've built might not be the life you want.
Stage Noise readers get a discount - just use the code NOISE at the checkout!

Ordinary Days Musical

SydneyTheatre | May 5 - 9, 2026

Bold & Blunt Creative presents: Ordinary Days
Music & Lyrics by Adam Gwon

Heartfelt, witty and beautifully layered, Ordinary Days follows four New Yorkers - Deb, Warren, Jason and Claire, as their ordinary lives collide in extraordinary ways. This must-see contemporary musical will make you smile, cry and even recognise yourself along the way, shining a light on the moments we rush past and revealing how purpose, love and connection are hiding in plain sight.

Because the smallest moments matter. And so do we.

Strictly limited season — book now before it’s gone.

Aidan O’Donnell: Co-Director, Producer
Jacob Macri: Co-Director
Chantal Elyse: Actor, Co-Producer
Jordan Berry: Actor, Associate Producer
Joseph O’Reilly: Musical Director

Cast: Jordan Berry, Ethan Bourke, Chantal Elyse, Lachlan Ceravolo

An approx running time: 90 Mins, without interval.
Mild adult themes, mild course language, reference to loss. Age advice 14+

Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello

BrisbaneTheatre | May 14 - June 6, 2026

Step into the theatre – and into uncertainty. Six Characters in Search of an Author begins as an ordinary rehearsal, until six silhouetted figures emerge from the shadows, demanding their story be told. Unfinished, abandoned, and insistent, they carry a truth too unsettling to be contained. Haunting, provocative, and unlike anything else in modern theatre, Pirandello’s masterpiece invites audiences into a world where ideas collide, certainty dissolves, and the stage becomes a space for questions that cannot be ignored.

Stage Noise readers get a discount - just use the code NOISE at the checkout!