Bell Shakespeare Unveils 2027 Season Featuring New Takes on Classics and a National Tour

Breaking news to your phone. US mobile only. No password required.

Broadway + NYC

Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Off Broadway

Cabaret

Dance

Opera

Classical Music

West End / UK

International

Canada

Australia / New Zealand

Europe

Asia

Latin America

Africa / Middle East

Entertainment

Ctrl + K to open · Esc to close

The Australian theatre company will present three productions spanning Shakespeare classics and contemporary work.

Most Popular

Get all the top news & discounts for Sydney & beyond. No password required.

Bell Shakespeare has announced its 2027 Season, with three productions to be presented around the country. A contemporary staging of As You Like It will start the year, followed by a dark and dangerous production of Measure for Measure, and an extensive national tour of Yve Blake's critically acclaimed play Mackenzie.

Get all the top news & discounts for Sydney & beyond.

Opening the season in March, Shakespeare's joyous romantic comedy As You Like It is reimagined by Marion Potts (Henry 5, Doubt) for a camera-ready, reality TV era. Banished from court, Rosalind, played by Matilda Ridgway (Macbeth, Coriolanus), disguises herself as a boy and flees to the Forest of Arden with her cousin Celia, where she encounters Orlando, the man she loves. Potts explores how in the forest the characters' artificiality and hyper-performed gender roles are stripped away to reveal their truer selves.

Shakespeare's razor-sharp drama Measure for Measure is presented by the company for the first time in over 20 years as a raw 90-minute production that cuts straight to the play's dark heart. Overwhelmed by Vienna's growing corruption, the Duke steps aside, handing authority to his second-in-command, Angelo, who sets about enforcing long-dormant morality laws. When Claudio's fiancée becomes pregnant, Angelo swiftly sentences him to death. Claudio's sister Isabella, played by Rose Riley (Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet), makes an impassioned plea for her brother's life, and Angelo offers her a choice in return: he will release her brother if she will sleep with him. Director Saro Lusty-Cavallari highlights the contemporary resonances of the play, with a society gripped by rising puritanism, abuses of power, hypocrisy and temptation.

Yve Blake's hit play Mackenzie returns for an extensive national tour following its sold out world premiere run in Sydney and Melbourne this year. A hilarious, twisted, and deeply camp reimagining of Shakespeare's Macbeth, the production recasts Macbeth as a 13-year-old child star in the heights of early 2000s TV stardom and Lady Macbeth as her ruthlessly ambitious stage mum. Directed by Virginia Gay, and featuring four original songs by Blake, Mackenzie will tour to Capital Cities and regional centres across the country.

Bell Shakespeare Artistic Director Peter Evans said: 'Welcome to Season 2027: a season centred on gender, power and corruption, delivered with delight, absurdity and profundity. Marion Potts applies her insight to As You Like It, for a production that promises to reflect our media-savvy, image-conscious times. Meanwhile, Saro Lusty-Cavallari has created a finely edited and focused version of Measure for Measure, a play scholars sometimes refer to as a 'problem play', but I think it shows Shakespeare at the top of his game. It feels extremely contemporary in its portrait of a corrupt city, its extraordinary scenes of sexual harassment and abuses of power. Finally, I am beyond thrilled with the success of Mackenzie, and can't wait to take it to audiences all across the country. Shakespeare's ability to find himself amongst our contemporary concerns is demonstrated again with these three remarkable works. I look forward to seeing audiences in the theatre.'

Alongside this mainstage programming, Bell Shakespeare will present their extensive national outreach and education program in schools, communities and Juvenile Justice centres across Australia.

Other events throughout the year will include the inaugural John Bell Lecture, a new annual lecture series that will kick off in 2027 with John Bell , and a panel series titled Performing Gender, exploring gender in Shakespeare's plays. There will be deep dives into As You Like It and Measure for Measure, the continuation of the lively script reading series Play in a Day featuring John Fletcher 's 1611 play The Tamer Tamed, the return of the ever-popular Sonnets & Semillon, and school holidays programming.

Nominate your favorite local productions and performers before the deadline on October 31, 2026.

ALL THINGS MUST PASS Beatles Play to Open at Sydney Fringe Festival

Sydney Theatre Company Reveals 2027 Season with 13 Productions

DIVA to Make Australian Premiere at Eternity Playhouse

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO + JULIET to Return to Australia

When are you seeing ?

Get an Alert Each Time Stephi Wild Writes

BroadwayWorld TV

Breaking Broadway news & show discounts. No password required.

Breaking alerts by text. US mobile only.

POPULAR

Sign up for announcements and exclusive discounts on tickets to your favorite shows!

© 2026 — Copyright Wisdom Digital Media , all rights reserved. Privacy Policy

Episode

_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/sydney/article/AS-YOU-LIKE-IT-MEASURE-FOR-MEASURE-and-MACKENZIE-Set-For-Bell-Shakespeares-2027-Season-20260917)._