Sydney Theatre Company 2026 Season

Sydney Theatre Company has announced the 2026 Season – the first for Artistic Director Mitchell Butel (pictured above) – and Australian artists are in the spotlight, along with a few good tunes.

Across thirteen productions, the season includes three World Premieres of brand-new Australian writing: Whispering Jack: The John Farnham Musical by Jack Yabsley, Bennelong in London by Jane Harrison and Strong is the New Pretty by Suzie Miller; the Australian Premiere of the most awarded play of 2025, Pulitzer and TONY Award-winning Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; the Sydney Premiere of new Australian musical based on Miles Franklins’ My Brilliant Career adapted by Dean Bryant, Matthew Frank and Sheridan Harbridge.

With over 80 performers on stage throughout the year – including the return to the stage for Australian stars David Wenham, Miranda Otto and Sam Worthington, the STC debut of rising stars Googoorewon Knox (Hamilton), Keiynan Lonsdale (Dance Academy) and Sisi Stringer (Mortal Kombat, Vampire Academy) and the return of STC audience favourites Justine Clarke, Pamela Rabe, Helen Thomson, Jonathan Biggins, Ewen Leslie and Guy Simon - Butel says 2026 is ‘season of dream teams’ that celebrates the brilliance and diversity of Australia’s theatre talent and the power of live storytelling:

‘’Theatre has the power to touch hearts, challenge beliefs, invite empathy, delight, provoke, inspire, enlighten and, importantly, entertain. I am honoured to have the great privilege of inviting artists and playwrights I respect and admire to bring brilliant, entertaining theatre to the people of Sydney.

Image: Doubt A Parable

“In 2026, our artists, both onstage performers and creatives behind the scenes, represent the generations from emerging to veterans. My career started as an actor and I’ve been lucky to work for almost every theatre company and performed on stages across Australia but Sydney Theatre Company feels like home. I grew up professionally on these stages and I want to celebrate my theatre elders and peers – the actors, directors and creatives who taught, supported and inspired me – and create those same opportunities for the next generation of artists.

“In programming this season, some of the themes that have emerged in the works are around change and difference. Experiencing live storytelling in a theatre together allows us to hold space for different and competing views, to foster empathy and perhaps even change our perspective. The stories in our 2026 Season look back at significant moments in history, celebrate those who have fought to make change and explore how telling stories can help us to understand the present and ourselves’’.

WORLD PREMIERE: Whispering Jack: The John Farnham Musical written by Jack Yabsely and directed by STC Artistic Director Mitchell Butel: The story of the 1986 album that changed John Farnham's Life and Australian music. 

WORLD PREMIERE: Bennelong in London written by Jane Harrison (Stolen, The Visitors) and directed by STC Resident Director, Ian Michael: The story of Bennelong who, abducted by Governor Phillip in 1789, becomes his go-between with the Eora people and later, the first Aboriginal man to visit Great Britain and return.

Image: Strong is the New Pretty

WORLD PREMIERE Strong is the New Pretty by Suzie Miller (RBG: Of Many, One and Prima Facie) directed by Lee Lewis: The untold story of the women who fought to make the formation of the AFLW a reality.

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE of the most awarded play of 2025, TONY Award-winning Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by Zindzi Okenyo: A family drama about an influential African American family, on the highest pedestal of politics and about how unresolved tensions, family history and legacy influence present-day struggles.

Image: An Iliad

David Wenham returns to STC for the first time in 26 years in An Iliad, adapted from Homer’s Iliad by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare and directed by Damien Ryan: How do we tell the story of history and make sense of the present? An appeal for hope and empathy from a world-weary poet recounting the myth of the Trojan War until humanity changes.

Pamela Rabe and Sam Worthington return to STC in the Pulitzer and TONY Award- winning, Doubt: A Parable written by John Patrick Shanley and directed by Marion Potts: One of the most electrifying plays of the 21st century set in early 1960s The Bronx, during a moment of significant change for the Catholic church, this drama explores the tension between tradition and progress.

Image: Miranda Otto

Miranda Otto and Ewen Leslie return to STC for The River written by celebrated British playwright, Jez Butterworth and directed by Margaret Thanos: An interrogation of the mysteries of intimacy, love and connection, exploring the collision of memory and desire - how past experiences and interactions influence present reality.

SYDNEY PREMIERE of new Australian musical based on Miles Franklin’s My Brilliant Career, adapted by Dean Bryant, Matthew Frank and Sheridan Harbridge and directed by Anne-Louise Sarks: An Australian literary classic transformed into a punk period musical that's introducing Miles Franklin’s fiercely intelligent Sybylla, who fought against the idea that a woman’s ambition in 1890s Australia should begin and end at finding a wealthy husband, to a new generation.

Image: The Unfriend

Helen Thomson returns to STC for the Australian Premiere of The Unfriend, written by Steven Moffatt (Doctor Who, Sherlock) and directed by Simon Phillips: A dark comedy that will challenge everything you thought you knew about the importance of good manners.

Mitchell Butel returns to the Sydney stage for the first time since 2018 in Larry Kramer’s semi-autobiographical The Normal Heart, directed by Dean Bryant: The advocacy story of the early 1980s fight against conspiracy, indifference and discrimination to bring attention to the AIDS crisis.

Image: Girls & Boys

Justine Clarke returns to STC in Girls & Boys written by Dennis Kelly and directed by Mitchell Butel: This ticking time bomb of a story shifts gears from romantic comedy to harrowing shock in a twist that will leave you breathless.

SYDNEY PREMIERE of political satire Housework written by Emily Steel and directed by Shannon Rush: Iconic media polymath Indira Naidoo joins comedy queens Susie Youssef and Emily Taheny to juggle sex scandals, culture-wars and motherhood in a high-stakes and hilarious sitting week in Canberra.

The Gospel According to Paul: The Second Coming, written and performed by Jonathan Biggins - co-creator and star of The Wharf Revue and one of Australia’s favourite comic actors - and directed by Aarne Neeme: An exploration of the zeitgeist zingers and political achievements of former Prime Minister Paul Keating, whose eviscerating wit, approach to economic and foreign policy and demand that the Australia confront the wrongs of our past changed the country.

TICKETS

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SEASON DETAILS

PURPOSE
By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Zindzi Okenyo
Designer Jeremy Allen
Lighting Designer Kelsey Lee
with Deni Gordon, Markus Hamilton, Tinashe Mangwana, Sisi Stringer

2 February – 22 March | Wharf 1 Theatre

Image: The Normal Heart

THE NORMAL HEART
By Larry Kramer
Directed by Dean Bryant Designer Jeremy Allen
Lighting Designer Nigel Levings Composer Hilary Kleinig

Sound Designer Andrew Howard
With Mitchell Butel, Tim Draxl, Michael Griffiths, Emma Jones, Evan Lever, Keiynan Lonsdale, Mark Saturno
9 February – 21 March | Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

MY BRILLIANT CAREER
A new musical based on the novel by Miles Franklin
Book by Sheridan Harbridge and Dean Bryant
Music by Mathew Frank and lyrics by Dean Bryant
Directed by Anne-Louise Sarks
Musical Director Victoria Falconer
Choreographer Amy Campbell
Set & Costume Designer Marg Horwell
Lighting Designer Matt Scott
Orchestrator/Vocal Arranger James Simpson
Sound Designer Joy Weng
With Cameron Bajraktarevic-Hayward, Victoria Falconer, Kala Gare, Raj Labade, Ana Mitsikas, Christina O’Neill, Jarrad Payne
21 March – 26 April | Roslyn Packer Theatre

THE RIVER
By Jez Butterworth
Directed by Margaret Thanos
Designer Anna Tregloan
Composer & Sound Designer Sam Cheng
With Miranda Otto
30 March – 9 May | Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

AN ILIAD
By Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare Adapted from Homer’s Iliad Translated by Robert Fagles Directed by Damien Ryan
Associate Director Ian Michael
With David Wenham
13 April – 30 May | Wharf 1 Theatre

DOUBT: A PARABLE
By John Patrick Shanley
Directed by Marion Potts
With Pamela Rabe, Sam Worthington
30 June – 2 August | Roslyn Packer Theatre

Image: Bennelong in London

BENNELONG IN LONDON
By Jane Harrison
Directed by Ian Michael
Designer Emma White
Lighting Designer Emma White
Composer & Sound Designer James Brown Cultural Advisor Matthew Doyle

Dramaturg Jules Orcullo
With Googoorewon Knox, Guy Simon

18 July – 16 August | Wharf 1 Theatre

HOUSEWORK
By Emily Steel
Directed by Shannon Rush
Designer Ailsa Paterson
Lighting Designer Nigel Levings
Composer & Sound Designer Andrew Howard
With Franca Lafosse, Indira Naidoo, Emily Taheny, Susie Youssef 5 September – 17 October | Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

GIRLS & BOYS
By Dennis Kelly
Directed by Mitchell Butel
Designer Ailsa Paterson
Lighting Designer Nigel Levings
Composer Alan John
Sound Designer Andrew Howard
With Justine Clarke
17 September – 1 November | Wharf 1 Theatre

THE UNFRIEND
By Steven Moffat
Directed by Simon Phillips
Designer Isabel Hudson
Associate Director Kenneth Moraleda
With Helen Thomson
29 September – 31 October | Roslyn Packer Theatre

STRONG IS THE NEW PRETTY
By Suzie Miller
Directed by Lee Lewis
Lighting Designer Paul Jackson
With Lucy Bell, Sheridan Harbridge, Amy Ingram
22 October – 5 December | Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

Image: Jonathan Biggins

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PAUL: THE SECOND COMING

Written and Performed by Jonathan Biggins
Directed by Aarne Neeme
Designer Mark Thompson

Lighting Designer Verity Hampson
Sound & Video Designer David Bergman
6 November – 20 December | Wharf 1 Theatre

WHISPERING JACK: THE JOHN FARNHAM MUSICAL

Book by Jack Yabsley
Directed by Mitchell Butel
Presented by Sydney Theatre Company

In association with Michael Cassel and Gaynor Wheatley 15 November – 20 December | Roslyn Packer Theatre