Is 2020 Canberra Theatre Centre’s biggest year yet?

Posted on 21 October, 2019

Hold onto your popcorn, theatre-lovers. In 2020, Canberra Theatre Centre is bringing a blockbuster season to Canberra.

2019 has seen a diverse line-up of comedy, drama, music and more at Canberra Theatre Centre (CTC).

But in 2020, CTC will be pulling out all the stops, with blockbuster musicals, iconic operas, theatre from every genre and era and diverse and quirky boutique productions.

“One of my favourite axioms is that art shows us ourselves through different lenses, whether it’s a microscope or a funhouse mirror,” says Canberra Theatre Centre’s Acting Head of Program and Presenter Services, Gillian Schwab.

“Season 20/20 is a collection of works that really shows us contemporary Australia and all our hopes and fears and larrikin humour. We’re seeing work with strong female roles led by teams of powerful creative women. We’re seeing the comedy and tragedy of intergenerational politics, and the best and worst of our national identity. Whether a new work, an adaptation, or a reworking of a classic, these shows are all about who we are right now.”

“It’s also a season of extremes from solo works to packed ensembles, fresh works from small independent companies to lavish works from the majors, boutique drama to homegrown musicals to opera. 20/20 is us in focus.”

From the side-splitting antics of Monty Python and feel-good singalong Bran Nue Dae to theatre that plumbs the depths of the human condition, we have the scoop on what you should be buying tickets to in 2020.

MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT

Credit: Marnya Rothe.

This one really needs no explanation.

From the team that brought the hilarious Calamity Jane to Canberra this year comes Monty Python’s hysterical physical comedy Spamalot, which has scooped a Tony Award for Best Musical and delighted audiences in London and New York.

26 February–1 March 2020

BELL SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET + THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

Credit: Pierre Toussaint.

Australia’s premier purveyor of The Bard’s work, this renown company is committed to delivering Shakespeare as you like it (sorry, Shakespeare pun).

With not one but two productions at Canberra Theatre Centre in 2020 (Hamlet and The Comedy of Errors), Bell Shakespeare will be serving up a dramatic icon with the former and a big dose of laughs with the latter.

Hamlet: 9–11 April 

Comedy of Errors: 2-10 October

CIRCA’S PEEPSHOW

Credit: Pedro Greig.

Billed as “a seductive dance through the hall of mirrors that is your imagination”, we’re excited to hear more about Peepshow, a new production from Circa, who aim to turn circus on its head.

22–24 April

BANGARRA DANCE THEATRE

Credit: Jacob Nash.

After celebrating 30 years this year, Bangarra will bring a fresh program of performances to the stage in 2020, and we can’t wait to see what they have in-store.

With a rich history of celebrating and narrating Indigenous stories through dance, Bangarra is always one to get in the diary—fast.

16–18 July

WAKE IN FRIGHT

Credit: Greer Versteeg.

Iconic Australian film Wake in Fright comes to the stage through the creative lens of Malthouse Theatre—but if you’re a fan of the film, this one-man production will turn your expectations on their head.

John Grant is well-read, but an outback misadventure strands him—cashless and jobless—in a harsh and remote Aussie outpost—Bundanyabba. What appears as a boring country town soon turns into John’s worst nightmare

5–8 August 

BRAN NUE DAE

Bran Nue Dae, Australia’s first-ever Aboriginal musical is a celebration of family, forgiveness and identity as Young Willie embarks of a journey across 1960s Australia, encountering two hippies, a wily Uncle and a German priest on a mission to win the heart of the girl he left behind in Broome.

With a feel-good mash-up of rock-and-roll, gospel, country and blues music, Bran Nue Dae will have audiences dancing in the aisles.

11–16 August

OPERA AUSTRALIA’S CARMEN

Credit: Jeffrey van de Zandt and Ben Symons.

Vivacious, passionate and brutal, Bizet’s Carmen will own the stage when it comes to Canberra Theatre in September 2020.

This new production highlights the colour and vibrancy of post-war Spain, evoking an era of bikers and shady police in a setting of teen angst and rebellion.

3-5 September

Find more information on the full Canberra Theatre Centre 20/20 program here.