In this Melbourne exclusive, revolutionary trans icon Jo Clifford hosts a deeply personal introduction to her ground-breaking play, 'The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven'.
A new Australian play by Emmanuelle Mattana, 'Trophy Boys' is a queer black comedy and drag extravaganza about power, privilege, and high school debating. Directed by Marni Mount and presented as part of the 2023 Midsumma Festival.
Acclaimed and award-winning pianist Coady Green has once again pulled together an outstanding group of musicians and ensembles for a two-week music series featuring ten performances with highly varied programs.
The Institute of Enquiring Minds presents this recital by legendary Australian pianist Michael Leslie, who will perform Bach's beloved Goldberg Variations.
The Melbourne premiere of Adelaide playwright Duncan Graham's acclaimed psychological thriller about a stalked flight attendant, performed by Christina McLachlan and directed by Laurence Strangio ('L'amante anglaise' and 'Krapp's Last Tape').
Abiy Sahle (saxophone), Alexander Nettelbeck (piano), Conrad Henderson (bass), and Lawrence Grifa (drums) perform original instrumental compositions highlighting the unique scales and rhythms of Ethiopian Music in an uplifting performance. This concert will highlight the music of Abiy Sahle’s recent album release, ‘The Peace Tune’.
Actors Mark Diaco and Justin Hosking – co-founders of HSTheatre ('The Long Red Road' at fortyfivedownstairs) – will alternate the roles of brothers Austin and Lee in a new production of Sam Shepard’s modern masterpiece about the double nature of sibling rivalry.
Join this family of storytellers - Uncle Larry Walsh, Victoria Morphy, Hannah Morphy-Walsh, and Isobel Morphy-Walsh - and their special guests, as they weave creation, song, story, and movement together. Presented as part of the 2023 Yirramboi Festival.
Paul Capsis, the inimitable and incomparable icon of cabaret, returns to fortyfivedownstairs for the Melbourne premiere of 'Dry My Tears', following an acclaimed run in Sydney. Accompanied by The Song Company's Francis Greep, Capsis will perform an acoustic set that includes music by Kurt Weill, Elton John, and Johnny Mercer.
Presented by Fever103 theatre and directed by Monique Marani, this new Australian play about a young Cambridge student’s discovery of the Night Climbers (a secret society that gathers on the rooftops) is a powerful and poignant exploration of the barriers women face in traditionally male institutions, and the strength it takes to dismantle them.
Bloomsday in Melbourne's annual celebration of James Joyce continues with the Victorian premiere of his only play, exploring questions key to his masterpiece 'Ulysses' (1922). If love is constrained by conventional bonds of fidelity, is it love at all?
Director Beng Oh and writer Jane Miller continue their acclaimed collaboration ('True Love Travels on a Gravel Road' and 'Cuckoo' at fortyfivedownstairs) with an adaptation of Medea for our times.
Following the success of 'Punk Rock' at fortyfivedownstairs in 2019, Patalog Theatre returns with a new production of iconic playwright Caryl Churchill’s masterwork 'Far Away', directed by Cassandra Fumi and featuring Alison Whyte, Lucy Ansell, and Darcy Kent.
A double bill of Benjamin Nichol’s acclaimed plays - the multi-Green Room award-winning 'kerosene', directed by Nichol and performed/co-directed by Izabella Yena, and the acclaimed 2022 Melbourne Fringe hit 'SIRENS', directed by Liv Satchell, co-created by Izabella Yena, and performed by Nichol.
Pianist Coady Green, violinist Sofija Kirsanova, and cellist Elina Faskhi perform a recital program of works by Schubert, Linda Kouvaras, and Stuart Greenbaum.
An afternoon of opera, Filipino folk-song, and golden age musical theatre, hosted by bass-baritone Eddie Muliaumaseali'i, and featuring Samantha Hargreaves (soprano), Coady Green (pianist), Bernardo Soler (guitarist), and Amanda Hargreaves (soprano).
Following the success of 'King Lear' at fortyfivedownstairs in 2021, Melbourne Shakespeare Company returns with the Bard’s political thriller 'Julius Caesar', directed by Richard Murphett.
Alice Bishop directs the premiere of this new play by Bridgette Burton ('Rhonda is in Therapy'), the tragi-comic story of Myra Foreman, a woman who missed her life on earth and is now going to live it, in space.
Back by popular demand! A return season of Cassandra Fumi's acclaimed production of 'The Crocodile' by Tom Basden, a play about art, animals, and what happens when you try to take on the system from within… a crocodile.
Artefact Theatre Company's Matthew Cox directs Nick Payne’s gloriously romantic, award-winning hit, starring Mark Yeates ('Much Ado About Nothing', 'Mr Burns') and Bridie Pamment ('The Real Inspector Hound').
Bloomshed ('Paradise Lost' presented by Darebin Speakeasy) go up against a sub-elite AFL team in an all-out Battle Royale for the heart of an aging southern belle. Think dodgeball meets Tennessee Williams in this bold creation from one of Melbourne’s most exciting new companies.
The world premiere of a bold new folk musical adaptation of Virginia Woolf's seminal novel 'Orlando', a whirlwind tale of romance and betrayal in which a young poet changes gender and lives for over 200 years.
On 5 November 2023, to celebrate the 91st birthday of Barry Jones AC, a select group of seasoned performers, artists, industry pioneers and beloved friends gathered to perform a selection of his favourite works, spanning the centuries and the globe. The recording of the event is now available to view for a limited time only. All proceeds from sales go towards supporting the arts at fortyfivedownstairs.
Following the enormous success of 'Psycho Beach Party' over a decade ago, Little Ones Theatre (led by director Stephen Nicolazzo) returns for one last time to bring you another camp travesty from Charles Busch, New York’s Queen of Queer Theatre. It's time to laugh and get your fangs out, just in time for Christmas!
After successful appearances in 2017 and 2018, The Highly Strung Players return to fortyfivedownstairs with three duologues written by Peter Rose and performed by Rose, Claudio Bozzi, Ellie Nielsen, and Jurate Sasnaitis.
Exploring a world of styles and influences from jazz to latin, funk, reggae, and soul with a fresh and open musical approach. Danceable grooves, deep rhythmic bass lines, and driving percussion characterise The New Impromptu Quartet's sound.
After acclaimed seasons in the West End and on Broadway, winning both the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Play, 'The Inheritance' by Matthew López (inspired by E. M. Forster's novel 'Howards End') will have its Australian premiere in a bold new production directed by Kitan Petkovski ('The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven') and featuring a cast of 13 actors.