There is no shortage of great things to do in Brisbane. Visiting breathtaking restaurants to amazing exhibitions and festivals, sometimes you find yourself hankering for a culture hit.

Luckily for us, there’s plenty of theatre in Brisbane in 2024. From toe-tapping musicals to gripping plays, here – in chronological order – are our picks of the best live theatre shows gracing Queensland stages in 2024.

The Woman in Black

Susan Hill’s 1983 gothic horror novel is no stranger to adaptations. The Woman in Black has been translated for the screen twice (including in a 2012 film starring a post-Potter Daniel Radcliffe) and interpreted for the stage by playwright Stephen Mallatratt. Mallatratt’s spooky adaptation went on to become the second-longest-running West End play in history after The Mousetrap. The story opens with solicitor Arthur Kipps sharing ghost stories about the spectre that haunts the eerie, secluded Eel Marsh House. The production stars Australian industry veterans John Waters (Rush, Offspring, Rake) and Daniel MacPherson (Neighbours, The Bill, Godspell). Waters reprises his role as Arthur Kipps, who he last brought to life in 2006.

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The Woman in Black runs from April 30 to May 11 at His Majesty’s Theatre. Tickets are available online.

Medea

In Greek mythology, Euripides’s character Medea is known for the murder of her two sons and ex-husband’s new lover. But Melbourne Theatre Company director Anne-Louise Sarks and renowned Australian actress Kate Mulvany present the story from an entirely new perspective in this internationally acclaimed interpretation. With the escalating tension all viewed through the eyes of Medea’s two young sons, Jasper and Leon, this new version reimagines the story of one of the most infamous mothers in theatre history.

Medea runs May 11 to June 8 at Billie Brown Theatre. Tickets are avaialble online.

RBG: Of Many, One

After a sell-out first season, Sydney Theatre Company’s one-woman ode to the notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg is heading on a national tour. With a script from Olivier Award-winning Australian playwright Suzie Miller (Prima Facie, Jailbaby), confident direction from Priscilla Jackman, and a virtuosic performance from renowned actor and toast artist Heather Mitchell, RBG: Of Many, One recounts the life of the woman who changed the face of the American legal system: from her childhood in Brooklyn and her courtship with husband Marty Ginsburg, to becoming only the second woman to be appointed to the US Supreme Court. Mitchell is captivating as she chronicles Ginsburg’s wins, losses and infamous dissents – as well as her late-in-life fame as an unlikely fitness icon.

RBG: Of Many, One runs from May 16 to 26 at Playhouse, Queensland Performing Arts Centre. Tickets are available online.

Blue

Moving out of home and growing up independently is a shared experience for all of us, and many playwrights have examined how this rite of passage shapes who we are. This writing debut from rising star and Kamilaroi man Thomas Weatherall (the Logie-Award winning star of Aussie smash-hit Heartbreak High), features Weatherall up close and personal in this tender one-man show. Drawing on his personal journey to adulthood, Weatherall’s story is told through Mark, a young man alone in his apartment one morning. It’s a touching exploration of grief, loss and setting out on your own. The Brisbane run is the show’s debut in Queensland, following its premiere at Sydney Festival in 2023.

Blue runs May 16 to June 1 at La Boite Theatre. Tickets are available online.

Diary of a Madman

Adapted from one of Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol’s most famous short stories, this darkly funny play chronicles an outsider’s descent into madness. Aksentii Poprishchin is a lowly Russian bureaucrat who tries to ascribe meaning to his existence by making entries in his diary and acting them out to his maid. Marked by delusion and grief, Poprishchin’s outbursts chronicle his gradual alienation from the world. The independent Australian Matrix Theatre company has received praise from critics for this staging of the classic tragicomedy.

Diary of a Madman runs May 16 to June 1 at PIP Theatre. Tickets are available online.

Beauty and the Beast the Musical

Dare we say Beauty and the Beast might have the best soundtrack in the Disney oeuvre? The ’90s classic is packed with some of animated cinema’s most memorable musical numbers and characters. This modern adaptation (from the producers of The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Aladdin and Frozen musicals) is bringing that magic to life on Brisbane stages this autumn, with the same much-loved songs from the original superstar creative team of Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice brought to life by a live orchestra, and big Broadway-style dance numbers. Whether you’re in the mood for nostalgia or looking to share the magic with the next generation, this dazzling stage production is your chance to see one of Disney’s best on an Australian stage. Be [their] guest.

Beauty and the Beast runs until June 9 at the Queensland Performing Art Centre’s Lyric Theatre. Tickets are available online.

Wicked

You might already be familiar with Dorothy, Toto, the Tin Man, Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion, but the musical goes back even further, telling the story of Elphaba (the green-skinned Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda the Good Witch – their rivalry, friendship and how they changed each other for good. Queensland-born Courtney Monsma (2012’s Dorothy) plays Glinda, the bubbly popular girl who goes on to become the famous “good witch”, while Sheridan Adams (Tick, Tick… Boom!, Cruel Intentions) plays the emerald-green Elphaba, who, as the hue of her skin would suggest, goes onto becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. Wicked comes to Brisbane after successful seasons at the Sydney Lyric Theatre, where the local season kicked off late last year, and Melbourne’s Regent Theatre.

Wicked is running from September 12 until November 17 at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC. Tickets are available online.

Grease

The leather jackets are on and the engines are roaring – time to escape the Perth winter with Danny and Sandy’s tales of summer loving. Young Australian stars Joseph Spanti (Danny) and Annelise Hall (Sandy) bring the lovestruck highschoolers to life in the local production of this iconic musical. The romp through ’50s culture and American high school life features some of the most memorable songs in musical theatre history: Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted to You and, of course, Greased Lightnin’.

Grease runs from January 4, 2025 at Queensland Performing Arts Centre. Tickets are available online.

Seasons of the below plays have concluded.

Danny the Champion of the World

One of the most influential and prolific children’s authors of all time, Roald Dahl’s work has graced the stage and screen for decades. Stage shows drawing on his most famous books, such as Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, have dazzled audiences. Now a cult favourite gets similar treatment. Danny the Champion of the World may not be the first Dahl book fans think of, but it’s one of his more riotous and interesting stories. A romp through the woods with pheasant-poaching galore, the tale sees nine-year-old Danny plotting against the greedy estate next door. This amateur production brings the fun-filled story to the children’s stage in Brisbane.
Danny the Champion of the World runs until April 27 at the Brisbane Arts Theatre. Tickets are available online.

37

Immortalised by Adam Goodes, the number 37 holds great significance in Aussie Rules. It should be no surprise, then, that the play bearing the same name (and set in the era of Goodes’s famous war cry) is as much a scathing social commentary as it is a love letter to Australia’s homegrown game. 37 follows an underdog regional footy team, the Cutting Cove Currawongs, as the star “Marngrook cousins” (named for the Aboriginal ball game thought to have inspired the AFL) arrive to take them to the top of the ladder. It’s directed by Noongar man Isaac Drandic and written by Trawlwoolway pakana playwright Nathan Maynard, whose previous collaborations include the provocative At What Cost?, which examines Indigenous identity in Tasmania. With 37, the duo has put together another powerful play, with performances as physical as the game itself.
37 runs until May 4 at Billie Brown Theatre. Tickets are available online.

Additional reporting by Lucy Bell Bird.

This article was originally published on April 22, 2024 but was updated on May 10, 2024 to include more plays and musicals coming to Brisbane this year.