Black Swan State Theatre Company draws back the curtain on its 2027 season
Black Swan State Theatre Company has announced its 2027 season, featuring six productions that span contemporary Australian writing, international classics, psychological drama and high-energy comedy.
The season brings together four works by Western Australian writers, two acclaimed international plays, emerging artists and established performers.
The six-show program moves between familiar stories and original works, including young women resisting forces shaping their lives, two strangers finding unexpected understanding, a father struggling to make sense of reality, and a journalist being drawn into a surreal comic mystery.
The 2027 season celebrates the collaborative spirit at the heart of theatre-making and the enduring importance of storytelling.
“While reflecting on seasons past and imagining the coming year, I keep returning to the undeniable reality that none of these shows can happen without complex collaboration and the deep consideration of many minds, hands, hearts, and voices,” said Artistic Director Kate Champion.
The season opens with a WA premiere of a fresh, mischievous take on E.M. Forster’s beloved classic, A Room with a View, adapted by Western Australian-raised playwright Grace Chapple and directed by Hannah Goodwin. Holidaying in Florence, Lucy Honeychurch finds her carefully ordered world disrupted by the city’s beauty and her unexpected connection with George Emerson. Back in England, she must choose between the security of convention and the possibility of a life lived on her terms. Immortalised in the 1985 Merchant Ivory film, A Room with a View explores love, sexual awakening and the courage to want something more. The play runs from Friday, March 5, to Sunday, March 14, at His Majesty’s Theatre.
Next is the world premiere of Wicked Little Beasts, a new play written by Gita Bezard and directed by Rachel McMurray. It follows a group of schoolgirls confined to their bedroom after a mysterious illness strikes their town. With no logical cure for the mass hysteria and their freedom increasingly restricted, the girls unite in an act of defiance. Told through the eyes of a young protagonist, Bezard delivers a story packed with surprises, humour, complexity and social commentary. Wicked Little Beasts runs from Thursday, May 20, to Saturday, June 5, at Subiaco Arts Centre.
Coming on stage for a long-overdue WA premiere is Hellie Turner‘s award-winning play Sardines. On New Year’s Eve 2002, street kid Jason breaks into the home of Gloria, a reclusive woman who has shut herself away from the world. Their initial hostility gives way to an uneasy connection as the pair confront their troubled pasts and discover the possibility of a different future. Turner’s funny, poignant, and at times dark play offers an examination of two people finding common ground despite their differences. The production marks the Black Swan directorial debut of Pippa Grandison and stars Alex Kirwan and Bishanyia Vincent, who bring this intimate production to the stage from Thursday, June 10, to Sunday, June 27, at Subiaco Arts Centre.
Florian Zeller‘s internationally acclaimed play The Father makes its debut in Western Australia this season. Translated by Christopher Hampton and directed by incoming Artistic Director Matt Edgerton, it offers an unflinching and deeply human exploration of memory, identity, family and the fragility of reality. Andre lives a quiet life in his Paris apartment, but his world is becoming increasingly strange. His watch keeps disappearing, strangers arrive unannounced, and the furniture seems to have a mind of its own, and he begins to question what is happening around him. As Andre struggles to hold on to his sense of self, his daughter tries to help him navigate an increasingly uncertain world. The Father features Broome-born and WA-raised actor Claire van der Boom, who makes a welcome return home to make her Black Swan debut alongside acclaimed WA actor George Shevtsov. The production runs from Saturday, July 17, to Sunday, August 8, at Heath Ledger Theatre.
Following close behind is Grace Chow‘s inventive new work, The Noodle Shop on the Corner of Fourth Street, making its world premiere. Maggie Wu is stuck writing online obituaries while dreaming of her big break. But one fateful lie sends her spiralling into a strange thriller-like world where she must confront ghosts, stray cats, family secrets and the mysteries of the Pacific Ocean. Directed by Ian Michael and featuring Chow in the cast, the play blends bilingual storytelling, genre-bending comedy and a touch of Kafkaesque horror. It runs from Friday, October 8, to Sunday, October 24, at Studio Underground.
Closing the season is The 39 Steps, a high-speed comic thriller in which four actors take on more than 130 characters in a feat of dexterity and comic invention. Adapted by Patrick Barlow from John Buchan‘s novel and Alfred Hitchcock‘s film, The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay as he becomes tangled in a web of intrigue, secret organisations and mistaken identities. Pursued by shadowy figures and fumbling law enforcement, Hannay must unravel the mystery before it is too late. Directed by Adam Mitchell, with composition and sound design by Ash Gibson Greig, the play runs from Saturday, November 6, to Sunday, November 28, at Heath Ledger Theatre.
Black Swan State Theatre Company has announced its 2027 season. For more info and to buy tickets, head to blackswantheatre.com.au
