Join a diverse line up of stars and strangers for a night of queer stories, unexpected tales of lives well lived and battles fought, pride, prejudice, love and humour, hosted by Maeve Marsden.

Based on a series of interwoven true stories, Polygraph is a play noir: part metaphysical thriller, part murder mystery and part love story.

Special event – opening night

CLOSING CELEBRATION (Drop in at any time during public hours to work on your piece, there will also be a number of facilitated craft classes run by Ramona Barry – 19 May to 29 July)

MoMA and the city that never sleeps – Lecture Series

A sweaty play about the petty and the profound, the mundane and the mythic, Contest asks how we might be with each other if we don’t have to win.

The streets will be filled with fun, snow (real and simulated), moving rides, free kids activities and market and food stalls.

A tale of daring and willpower, the importance of a good assistant, and of course, a white rabbit!

A sweaty play about the petty and the profound, the mundane and the mythic, Contest asks how we might be with each other if we don’t have to win.

Midwinta Gala 2018

A tale of daring and willpower, the importance of a good assistant, and of course, a white rabbit!

A free event exploring cinema’s stylised visions of future cities, from the machinery of Metropolis to the mind-bending experiments of Dark City.

Successful politician Sir Robert Chiltern has it all – money, power and the love of his adoring wife. But when the mysterious Mrs Cheveley threatens to expose a dark secret from his past, will his reputation, career and marriage be ruined?

The A1 Darebin Art Salon celebrates art, expression and creativity within our community. Works must be recent or new and artists must live, work or study in the City of Darebin. Works must be no larger than A1 size.

The Storytime program is for children aged 3-5 years, their parents and carers.

Blending lyrical, rapid-fire text with poetic imagery and domestic drama, Oil Babies is a dangerous, pithy and at times comedic work that speaks directly to the concerns we hold now.

Spice Trails is an immersive live art series of performative dinners and installations created by artist Rasha Tayeh.

An exclusive and unique CONVERSATION WITH THE STARS of Twin Peaks.

The iconic Australian musical, The Boy from Oz, turns 20 in 2018, and to celebrate we’re staging a new production. 

2:20 AM is drawn from Lister’s own experience of losing a family member to suicide, along with real stories of people directly impacted by suicide.

Melbourne Theatre Company  2019 Season Launch.

Erth’s prehistoric creatures are unmistakably ‘alive’ and mostly friendly, in this fun, educational and unique performance that will delight all audiences from ages 5 years and up.  

Erth’s prehistoric creatures are unmistakably ‘alive’ and mostly friendly, in this fun, educational and unique performance that will delight all audiences from ages 5 years and up.  

Set in the legendary city during the roaring “jazz hot” 20s, Chicago tells the story of two rival vaudevillian murderesses locked up in Cook County Jail.

Blasted will give Malthouse Theatre audiences the chance to experience the power and controversy of Sarah Kane, and the play that shook the world.

The Storytime program is for children aged 3-5 years, their parents and carers.

Have You Tried Yoga is a window into the invisible or very visible life of those living with chronic illness and disability.

The much loved book by Roald Dahl bounds off the page in this spectacular live show.

(Limited Tickets!) On the eve of her wedding, Sophie’s quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited 20 years ago.

The Storytime program is for children aged 3-5 years, their parents and carers.

Get ringside for a rare theatrical combo: engrossing storytelling paired with the visceral thrill of live boxing.

(LIMITED TIX!) See John connect with the other side as he returns to visit Melbourne live. There will be question and answer sessions and messages from loved ones on the other side and more.

So you think you know Hamlet? A hilarious rethink of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy – only this time Ophelia gets all the best lines.

This savage new performance work from the award-winning team behind GROUND CONTROL (Next Wave 2016) and ANGRY SEXX (Melbourne Fringe 2014), asks how do we tear down the monument of masculinity, and what tools can we find in the dirt?

One of the most-read and famous children’s books of all time, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ emerges off the page in a masterful theatrical experience for the whole family.

Wodonga Brass presents this traditional Carols by Candlelight.

MoMA and the city that never sleeps – Lecture Series

Bell Shakespeare’s Associate Director, James Evans, will direct a production that’s seething with rage, leaving audiences breathless at how quickly violence reveals the fragility of democracy.

ONE STREET – MANY MOBS – ONE COMMUNITY

Forest Hill College Performance

Since 9/11, the number of journalists who have been imprisoned for their work has risen steadily.

Our year-round hard-core hands-on support for artists, will help every step along the Great Road of the Festival – and beyond.

MoMA and the city that never sleeps – Lecture Series

Circus Oz Big Top will be nestled within the trees beside the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, presenting a 70-minute non-stop spectacle of acrobatic mayhem for audiences of all ages.

Come on an impossible voyage to find the mythical snark in the wonderful world of Lewis Carroll.

The Talk is a terribly undomesticated evening. It’s one account of what happens when you start talking about sex with your family: what ‘the talk’ is, and what it shouldn’t be.

Join Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic of The New York Times, for a talk about the challenges and opportunities facing cities around the world. (Lecture with Q and A)

Celebrate the legacy of Disney in this ice skating spectacular!

Join us for a frank and compassionate conversation about dignity and autonomy for older Australians.

Drawing on queer and ancestral mythologies, Carrion collides distant past with far future, heralding the changes that lie waiting inside us.

One of Australia’s most eminent and awarded playwrights takes Lorca’s classic tragedy out of the villages of Spain and into the heat of rural Western Australia.

Don’t miss your chance to rediscover the real story of Oz in this fantastic musical treat featuring over 40 on stage!

From writing the body, to reconceptualising disability and deafness, to dark YA fantasy and more, explore ways to subvert, defy and reimagine conventions about writing and disability.

What is happening locally to support LGBTIQA+ communities of colour and communities of faith?

Kicking off the conference, our five festival ambassadors share their five rules for writing. Whether you’re emerging, emerged or somewhere in between, these gems of advice are bound to get you inspired.

Ruben is full of anger and dancing on the edge. His sister Adele has already lost one brother, and will not lose another.

New Yorker Mari Andrew shares how resilience and a sense of humour can help us survive the tumultuous journey to adulthood. 

New Yorker Mari Andrew shares how resilience and a sense of humour can help us survive the tumultuous journey to adulthood. 

Creating performances based on the investigation of multi-sensory perceptions and creative provocations, they are paving the way for inclusive arts practice.

To launch the 2018 Emerging Writers’ Festival, some of today and tomorrow’s most exciting and celebrated voices will examine our histories and imagine the stories of the future.

Princess Park is a beautiful place, a wonderful space for the community to enjoy and we ask you to join us to pay our respect and to RECLAIM THE PARK.

New York Times award-winning investigative reporter covering racial injustice, Nikole Hannah-Jones and actress Shareena Clanton discuss politics and race in a live discussion

What can younger Australian feminists learn from older feminists, and vice versa?

X barks the spot in the new tour PAW Patrol Live! “The Great Pirate Adventure!”

The inspirational true story of Carole King’s remarkable rise from teenage songwriter to global superstar.

Nothing hit’s you like Holden State of Origin in Melbourne! The pre match speeches will be Auslan interpreted at the ground.

How are ideas, and our expectations, around gender and sport evolving? And how does sport inform our sense of self? Who gets to play, and who gets to win, in the field of sports?

Little Kids’ Day In will be a fun day especially for kids aged 5 and under, their parents and carers. (Auslan session runs from 11am-1pm)

A collection of truly diverse stories – sometimes surprising and funny, often confronting and always illuminating – that paint a rich and detailed picture of what it means to come of age as an Aboriginal Australian.

Small and Loud offers emerging theatre writers, performers, comics and musicians the opportunity to try out their freshest ideas that are still in development when they’re ready to be tested in front of an intimate live audience.

Join a diverse line up of stars and strangers for a night of queer stories, unexpected tales of lives well lived and battles fought, pride, prejudice, love and humour, hosted by Maeve Marsden.

You will leave this event with new ideas and insights about how courage, wisdom and imagination can lead us towards a more compassionate, less anxious society.

Experience the thrill of a radio suspense drama played out before your eyes.

While synopses and pitches are useful marketing tools, they can also play a much more important role.

Expect open dialogues about racism, ableism, misogyny, transphobia, queerphobia, unacknowledged class privilege and an understanding of their influence on mental health.

Four performers. One hundred apocalypses. Sixty minutes.

myriad collective is proud to present TRANSPOSSIBLE: Trans and gender diverse communities envisioning creative futures.
 

Features site-specific installations, interventions and improvised performance works – designed to connect audiences to the indirect and not so subtle politics inherent in everyday architecture.

In an increasingly connected world where the question of immigration is often an anxious or heated one, being a newcomer can be uncomfortable, funny and weird. But it also makes for some great stories.

The Emerging Writers’ Festival launches its 2018 programme with a night of performances that reimagine the past and paint a picture for the future.

A performance that is shared equally between dog and handler..this work highlights the intimate and instinctive connection between humans and dogs.

Set to the rhythm of the sun, we start by paying our respects to Country and Elders before setting off on our pilgrimage across the Festival. Each day of Next Wave, a new artist leads us through a new Ritual.

Meet Next Wave programmers, ask questions, and hear about how to put together a killer application for the next Next Wave.

An overactive imagination just might save your life!

PLASTIC SHAKESPEARE continues the MUSC tradition of reconfiguring Shakespeare in inclusive, interesting and playful ways

“This is so stunningly beautiful and touching “children” of all ages should come away with a smile” – Susan Hetherington, ABC

The grand finale of the VCE Season of Excellence 2018, Top Acts showcases extraordinary performances by VCE composers, dancers, musicians and actors.

An overactive imagination just might save your life!

“This is so stunningly beautiful and touching “children” of all ages should come away with a smile” – Susan Hetherington, ABC

Be entertained by special performances from musicians featured throughout the festival whilst enjoying sumptuous cheese and wine among friends.

The artists of these two exhibitions are jointly delivering an Artist Talk/Yarning Circle together. Come and learn from them.

At the Athenaeum Theatre in May, plunge into a discussion of history, hope and American upheaval with this exceptional author.

Instead of relying on medication, for Depression, does the answer lie in changing the way that we’re living?

Tough decisions must be made, but at the end of the day we’ve all got to eat. Crunch Time is a performative dinner party designed to model the processes of democracy.

How is it possible to understand the trials and realities of the refugee experience?

Hannie Rayson’s one-woman show Hello, Beautiful! This hilarious and personal evening with one of Australia’s best-loved playwrights will make you feel as if you’ve been listening to stories told by your new best friend.

Come over to our place and get your Festival off to a cracking start, courtesy of our friends at Archie Rose!

Set to the rhythm of the sun, we start by paying our respects to Country and Elders before setting off on our pilgrimage across the Festival. Each day of Next Wave, a new artist leads us through a new Ritual.

An undeniable, unclassifiable and prolific talent, Eileen Myles writes poetry, fiction (most famously, Chelsea Girls), non-fiction and art criticism.

A celebration of dance for all ages and all levels of ability.

A celebration of dance for all ages and all levels of ability.

A celebration of dance for all ages and all levels of ability.

Step into the control room with artists, experts and emergency services to help us build an imaginary scenario as we map out how a rapidly spreading infectious disease might affect Melbourne.

Based on the Oscar-winning film, PRISCILLA is the hilarious adventure of three friends who hop aboard a battered old bus bound for Alice Springs to put on the show of a lifetime.

What is the emotional cost of writing memoir, and how do you cope with the fallout?

An audio-describer, a short statured performer, a wheelchair-using actor, and an award-winning poet with Marfan Syndrome take to the stage. What could possibly go wrong?

Auslan interpreters will be present for pre and post match entertainment at the MCG.

“Transformative and Wild! SEE GRUMBLE!” – Peaches 

TBA

Melbourne’s hottest queer comedy troupe, slathering audiences with intoxicating queer madness.

Both brutally honest and gloriously unpredictable, UK rising star Sophie Willan makes bold, unapologetic work that is raucously funny and completely original.

It just keeps getting taller and taller!

With a cheeky, charming and unique observational style, Larry explores his life as a working-class, gay Glaswegian with hilarious honesty

In dark times, the idea of hope can seem revolutionary. Living in a dangerous, unpredictable and rapidly changing world can leave us feeling helpless. But there are reasons to be hopeful.

The Storytime program is for children aged 3-5 years, their parents and carers.

“Bravo. Go see it.” 5 stars! The Age

Weave Movement Theatre is a disability inclusive ensemble of artists who also live with a disability

Lately she has been realising that things aren’t always what she first thought they were and her brand new show I Get It Now is the hilarious culmination of these discoveries.

It just keeps getting taller and taller!

This is a unique 2 day workshop for interpreters and language consultants.

Immature? Unprepared? Scared of teenagers? Steve Bugeja was perfect for the job.

The Centre’s fallen out of Western politics. Fin Taylor picks it up, dusts it off and mounts a full attack on the present-day Left and its moral high ground.

Join Mudcrabs as they present three one-act plays featuring the best comedy writing the University of Melbourne has to offer.

Randy quit comedy, found God and moved to the suburbs. Now he’s furious.

Tommy Little is as stupid as they come. Lucky for the rest of us stupid makes for great comedy

Cal’s made some awful decisions – relationships, jobs, the ‘90s. She’s made some great ones as well, she just didn’t realise at the time. People say that everything happens for a reason, but what if it’s just a terrible reason?

Join Melbourne’s Arts Industry at the iconic Comedy Theatre on the 9th of April as they celebrate and applaud the achievements of their talented peers.

Fun for the whole family as Garfield tries and find adventure.

Masterfully combining physical comedy, characters and original music, The Travelling Sisters are ‘insane geniuses of sketch comedy’.

Jordan Shanks (friendlyjordies) is a satirist comedian, live radio host and YouTube video/podcast creator. 

We’ve all got fears and anxieties, Geraldine is plucky enough to face hers.

A charity music festival with 100 percent of the proceeds going to help young Australians with disabilities across the country!

In an industry that encourages rawness and vulnerability via humour and personal storytelling, where is the ‘too far’ line in terms of personal revelations?

This lineup of experienced Australian Rules journalists (and fans) will unpack the highs and lows of the year in women’s footy.

Michelle Ashley & James Blyth have worked together as interpreter and consultant on a number of productions, and will share with you their approaches and strategies when interpreting for children and their families.

Lead by Marc Brew, this masterclass is an inclusive and accessible opportunity for artists, performers, dancers, movers, theatre-makers and choreographers with and without disability.