CW brings you the latest in arts and entertainment news from around the Canberra region. This time, we look ahead to the entertainment coming to our stages throughout the 2024 season.
Canberra Theatre
The city central theatre, entertainment and music destination has a knock-out year in the works for 2024; here are just a few of the highlights that will be taking place on the three stages.
On 1-3 February, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show brings to life one of the most famous children’s books of all time featuring more than 75 striking puppets, which include the beloved bug and other favourite Eric Carle characters. On 2-3 February, one of the most celebrated international dance companies presents Akram Khan Company’s Jungle Book Reimagined with a new take on the classic story as Mowgli is a refugee in a world ravaged by climate change.
On 1-2 March, audiences will be amazed by Afrique en Cirque, as they experience the colours, heart and soul of Guinea with gravity-defying acrobats, explosions of energy and contagious African rhythms. Stunt Double takes the stage on 14-16 March, an unmissable genre-bending experience, where you witness the makings of a 1970s action blockbuster from the perspective of the stunt men and women.
Next is Dog Man: The Musical on 19-20 April, an adaption of the children’s book series by Dav Pilkey that is sure to have both children and adults laughing out loud. May offers Humans 2.0, an incredible exploration of the next level of circus in a symphony of acrobats, sound and light.
In an exciting move, CTC co-produces the Australian premiere season of Peter and the Starcatcher on 15-27 October. The smash hit Broadway production comes to Australia for the first time to share the untold story of Neverland before Peter, the island and Captain Hook, with puppetry, live music and an unforgettable story.
Learn about these shows and more at canberratheatrecentre.com.au
The Q – Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre
In 2024 The Q – Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre is sharing a big colourful mixtape of a season. From heartwarming tales to catchy tunes and the big and flashy, there is something for everyone.
Opening the season on 16 February, Garry Starr returns for one night only to perform all of Greek mythology during a single sitting in Garry Starr Greece Lightning. Kicking off Q The Locals is Happy Meals, Happy Kids by Jade Breen on 7-9 March; set on the edge of the apocalypse, teenagers hold our fate in their hands. Next from the locals is the Eulogiser Bunny on 16 March; finding the fun in funerals, playwright Cameron Ribbons invites you to life’s final party.
Then That Science Gang brings one for the kids in You are a Doughnut! on 22-23 March; learn about the body with song, dance, sketches and engaging science. On 27 March, Catapult Dance captures that odd-one-out feeling as a group of people who don’t know each other come together for a party in Awkward. Next on the kids’ roster is Whalebone on 11 May, a masterful blend of heart, humour in a journey to a fantastical realm of tech and storytelling.
The third installment in A Slightly Isolated Dog’s trilogy of sexy works, The Trojan War takes the stage on 14-15 May. Using the fall of Troy as a backdrop, the group explores questions around the current chaos of our times through songs, wit and storytelling. Matters of the heart come to the stage with a woman, a dog, a campervan and 4,500km of open road in Highway of Lost Hearts, a regional story with original live music. The next Q the Locals presents a powerful solo show by Mark Salvestro in The Will to Be on 13 June. Laced with the words of Shakespeare, the production tells of a junior university officer dismissed from his role in a time when being gay was illegal.
Joy, drama, crisis, fear and revelation take the stage in Echo Theatre’s production of Bombshells on 18-27 July; the acclaimed play shares the innermost thoughts of a group of women. You are invited to a thought-provoking, energetic and entertaining night at the theatre with The Sunshine Club on 31 July-1 August; Aboriginal soldier Frank Doyle returns from WWII to find a changed world with the same prejudices. The final Q the Locals is Ordinary Days on 5-7 September, a funny life-affirming musical for those who need to take a breath now and then, set in the city that never sleeps.
Three young people set off a series of events they couldn’t have imagined in SLAP. BANG. KISS on 11 September; overflowing with activism, community and hope, presented by some of the finest young performers. A comedy concert for all ages, Make Some Noise brings good times to the stage on 13-14 September. Closing out the 2024 season is a touch of Shakespeare with A Midsummer Night’s Dream in an exciting outdoor production at a TBC date.
Find The Q – Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre 2024 season at theq.net.au
ACT HUB
The Kingston theatre gem ACT HUB is offering a year of ‘Colour and Light’ with its 2024 season featuring nine productions from three resident independent theatre companies.
Everyman Theatre brings back Queers on 14-24 February. In a British ale house, The Prince’s Arms, a century of evolving social attitudes and political milestones in gay history is seen through the stories of seven individuals. On 10-21 April, Chaika Theatre presents a site-specific translation and adaption of Chekhov’s Seagull; the indoor-outdoor production showcases love triangles, quarrels and erupting egos.
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress takes over the theatre on 8-18 May. Avoiding the celebrations for reasons to be revealed, five bridesmaids hide out in a room in this funny, cheeky exploration of women’s spirit. The Tennessee Williams staple, A Streetcar Named Desire takes the stage on 19-29 June. Presented by Free-Rain Theatre Company takes on the timeless story of former Southern belle, Blanche Dubois, her sister Stella, and brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski. Next up is Mary Stuart on 24 July-3 August; staged by Chaika Theatre, Friedrich Schiller’s tale of two queens at war gets an empathetic, insightful and feminist revision.
On 4-14 September, Free-Rain Theatre Company present August: Osage County, a tragicomedy that explores some of the worst moments in life as a family comes together after the disappearance of the patriarch. Everyman Theatre presents an examination of survival healing, the class divide and the concept of home in The Inheritance on 12 October-2 November. The final production of 2024 promises to go out with a bang; Tick, Tick… Boom on 11-21 December is a tale of dreams, relationships and artistic struggles through the journey of a young composer.
Find more information on ACT Hub’s 2024 season at acthub.com.au
Mill Theatre at Dairy Road
Known for bringing experimental and out-of-the-box theatre to our region, Mill Theatre at Dairy Road is promising even more excitement in 2024.
The season opens with Nassim Soleimanpour’s BLANK on 3-24 February, a celebration of the human imagination as the performer and audience work together to fill in the blanks in the script. Then on 23 March, HELIOS brings a tale of the son of the god of the sun to the stage, transporting the ancient story into the modern day. Next, The Show-Horn Sonata takes the stage on 3-27 April; brought back together by the filming of a documentary, Sheila and Bridie were freed from a Japanese POW camp 50 years earlier.
The theatre turns into a courtroom for Terror on 29 May-15 June. A fighter pilot who shot down a plane and took 164 lives to save 70,000 is charged with murder with the audience left to decide if he is innocent or guilty. Regrouping three years after Reason to be Pretty, Reasons to be Happy follows the same four characters as they search for objects of desire and happiness at the Mill in August.
October welcomes Rockspeare Henry Sixth Part Two; the audience returns to the Wars of the Roses as tensions continue to increase between the houses of York and Lancaster, accompanied by an original soundscape. The last offering of the 2024 season is Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice on 20 November-14 December; the playwright reimages the myth of Orpheus through the heroine in this ever-enduring love story.
More about Mill Theatre at Dairy Road’s 2024 season here: milltheatreatdairyroad.com
Canberra Youth Theatre
Along with moving into a larger space that will mean they can offer more theatre performing, directing, devising, designing, and writing programs, Canberra Youth Theatre has announced two exciting new shows for 2024.
Heading to the Courtyard Studio at Canberra Theatre Centre is the winner of the 2022 commission Work, But This Time Like You Mean It by Honor Webster Mannison on 20-29 September. Take a look behind the scenes of a fast-food store as a group of young people try and make it through their shift, a surreal comedic look at our first jobs.
October sees the CYT collaboratively created show The Department of Responsible Adulting in an office building somewhere in Canberra. Armed with lanyards the leaders of tomorrow are undertaking the ultimate employee evaluation in this interactive performance that switches the roles. Created to promote intergenerational conversation and empower youth, this new venture is one not to miss.
Find out more about the programs and season of Canberra Youth Theatre; canberrayouththeatre.com.au
Canberra Rep
In its 92nd year, Canberra Rep plans to provide something for everyone from the audience to the actors and creatives attached, their 2024 season has laughs, drama, mishaps and a farewell.
Kicking off the season on 22 February- 9 March is Last of the Red Hot Lovers. In 1960s New York, a sexual revolution is taking place and middle-aged, married Barney Cashman wants to be involved so he takes his shot, at his mother’s apartment. The end is here for a talented entertainer in The Actress on 2-18 May as the stage is transformed into a dressing room for the final farewell to past connections. Moments of peace are interrupted in Dead Man’s Cell Phone on 13-29 June. Jean is hoping for a bit of quiet in a café answers a stranger’s phone, she discovers the owner is dead and now she is caught in the stranger’s past in this bizarre comedy.
William Golding’s schoolyard classic, Lord of the Flies takes the stage on 25 July- 10 August. The faithful production captures humanity’s capacity for self-destruction telling the story of a group of schoolboys who are the only survivors of a plane crash on a deserted island. Three families seek shelter from a storm in the Australian classic Away on 5-21 September, together they go on a journey of grief, healing, connection and found family. The final offering for the year has characters rebelling against their author and calling out Bloody Murder on 21 November- 21 December in this murder mystery turned comedy.
Discover Canberra Rep’s 2024 offerings at canberrarep.org.au
Canberra Daily is keen to hear from you about a story idea in the Canberra and surrounding region. Click here to submit a news tip.
