Step into the awe inspiring and intimate splendour of a 1600s candle-lit playhouse (with lighting design by Lisa Mibus) as acclaimed actor and theatremaker Alexandra Aldrich unveils the first iteration of her radical, female-centric reimagining of John Ford’s wildly controversial work, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore'. 

A razor sharp powerplay about the dark arts of marketing behind climate denial, this Melbourne premiere follows an acclaimed season in Canberra. Playwright Christopher Samuel Carroll performs opposite Damon Baudin, whose performance in 'Boys on the Verge of Tears' earned rave reviews earlier this year.

An affliction known as the RUMBLESKIN is stretching itself across the country. No one knows how it began, but everyone has a story about it. From director Alonso Pineda ('Nothing', fortyfivedownstairs) and playwright Ames May Nunn ('Our Monster's Name Is Jerry', Theatreworks), 'RUMBLESKIN' is a new queer folk tale exploring transformation in a strange and dangerous land.

In this audacious reimagining of Strindberg’s masterwork set on the eve of Greek Easter, the classic is torn from its 19th-century roots and reborn in the pressure-cooker of modern fine dining, where old hierarchies die hard and nothing stays simmering for long. Director Harry Haynes ('Cygnets', Theatreworks) will collaborate with renowned chef and Masterchef alum Conor Curran to bring the world of the play to life through taste, aroma, and atmosphere.

Following its acclaimed, award winning debut with 'Elegies; A Song Cycle' at fortyfivedownstairs in 2024, Clovelly Fox — one of Melbourne’s most exciting new theatre companies — returns with a fresh take on 'Ordinary Days', the contemporary musical by Adam Gwon. Directed by Green Room Award-winner Tyran Parke (who first brought this gem to life at Chapel Off Chapel), this production promises heart, humour, and a beautifully intimate theatrical experience.

In her bold and immersive style, renowned director Tanya Gerstle distils Shakespeare’s tragedy to its raw essence, working with a powerhouse ensemble (Christopher Kirby, Dushan Philips, Lucy Ansell, Matthew Furlani and Tanya Schneider) to deliver an intense, deeply human exploration of jealousy, power, and betrayal. With this production, Melbourne Shakespeare Company continues a stellar run at fortyfivedownstairs that includes 'Julius Caesar' in 2023 and 'Hamlet' in 2024. 

Melbourne’s multi-award-winning Lyric Opera returns to fortyfivedownstairs following the success of 'Fly' in 2019 to present the Australian premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s “dazzlingly original score”, hailed as a masterpiece of modern opera. “Commanding and captivating” mezzo-soprano Olivia Federow-Yemm performs the role Isabelle Eberhardt, supported by a cast of Melbourne’s most talented young singers and instrumentalists.

Created and performed by Emma Louise Pursey and directed by the incomparable Susie Dee, this powerful new solo work draws artist Joy Hester from the margins and places her centre stage. Two decades in the making, this deeply personal work blends arresting physicality with direct storytelling and multidisciplinary design to reclaim Hester’s legacy with passion, compassion, and life-affirming humour.

Directors Blake Barnard ('Dark Erotica Quartet') and Keith Brockett ('Footfalls') have assembled a stellar cast (Maude Davey, Cait Spiker, Shaun Goss, and Tim Wotherspoon) for this double bill. In 'Dark Erotica Quartet', three seemingly disparate scenes, structured like a concerto and featuring live music, celebrate the lost art of spoken erotica. And in 'Footfalls', Davey embodies the role of May, a woman bound by duty and lost in quiet anguish in Beckett's meditation on grief, devotion, and the frail borders between. 

Multi award-winner Iain Sinclair ('Hamlet', fortyfivedownstairs) directs John Logan's contemporary classic, featuring Dylan Smith ('The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power') as master abstract expressionist Mark Rothko. Working with his assistant Ken (newcomer Jordan Briggs) following the biggest commission in the history of modern art, Rothko faces the agonizing possibility that his crowning achievement could also become his undoing. 'RED' is a searing portrait of an artist's ambition and vulnerability as he tries to create a definitive work. 

Playwright Brodie Murray ('The Whisper', fortyfivedownstairs) draws on stories handed down from his grandfather and father to tell a historical thriller that explores the contrasting relationships settlers and Blak peoples have with Country, ecology, leadership and spirituality. After sold out seasons at the Castlemaine State Festival and Yirramboi Festival in 2021, 'Soul Of Possum' returns under the direction of Beng Oh and Balla Neba (movement director). 

Fresh off multiple Green Room Award wins for 'Spring has Sprung or The Beautiful Show' and 'Twenty Million Thousand Leagues Under the Sea', and following the successes of 'The Owl in the Woods' and 'The Hertz Family Reunion', theatre renegades Pummel Squad are coming to fortyfivedownstairs with their third annual pantomime: a raucous celebration of death, hubris, and all we love about theatre.

In a regional town, grief holds a group of women together. Their bond is fragile – some close, others linked more by memory than friendship. When one of their own announces his transition, loyalties splinter, old wounds reopen, and the meaning of identity and belonging is fiercely contested. Midsumma Festival presents the world premiere of MacEllen’s deeply honest and human play, directed by Kitan Petkovski ('The Inheritance') and featuring a stellar cast.

Following a sellout performance in 2024, The Highly Strung Players return to fortyfivedownstairs with two plays by award-winning author Peter Rose, who founded this absurdist troupe more than thirty years ago. These are rehearsed readings, with a changing ensemble. The Highly Strung Players began appearing at fortyfivedownstairs in 2017.