Bell Shakespeare Reveals 2026 Season Lineup

Bell Shakespeare has announced its 2026 Season, with three productions to be presented around the country. A new production of Julius Caesar will open the year, followed by the world premiere of Mackenzie, a new play by Yve Blake, and an extensive national tour of the company’s critically acclaimed 2023 production of Macbeth. 

A new staging of Julius Caesar will be directed by Artistic Director Peter Evans and star Leon Ford (Elvis, Hamlet) as Cassius and Brigid Zengeni (Coriolanus, The Artful Dodger) as Brutus. Shakespeare’s political masterpiece explores the cost of ambition, loyalty and power, and what happens when an electorate is asking for an autocracy. The play follows the journey of Julius Caesar, who has returned from battle triumphant and is repeatedly offered the crown to rule. Fearful of Caesar’s growing influence, Brutus and Cassius hatch a chilling conspiracy that sets off a chain of violence with devastating consequences. Opening in Sydney in March, the production will tour to Canberra and Melbourne. 

Fresh off a stint touring her hit musical FANGIRLS in London, award-winning creator Yve Blake premieres her new work Mackenzie - a hilarious, twisted, and deeply camp reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The production explores if Macbeth was a 13-year-old child star in the heights of early 2000s TV stardom and Lady Macbeth was her ruthlessly ambitious stage mum. Directed by actor and Artistic Director at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival Virginia Gay, and featuring original music by Blake, Mackenzie will open in Sydney in June before touring to Melbourne. 

For the company’s annual national tour, Evans’ “utterly compelling” (Sydney Morning Herald) 2023 production of Macbeth will tour to over 20 venues across the country, starring Anthony Taufa (Coriolanus, Jailbaby) in the titular role alongside Matilda Ridgway (Coriolanus, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Bump) as Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare’s most haunting thriller follows the story of Macbeth, a Scottish general, famed for his exploits on the battlefield. Set in the moody 1920s, post-World War I, the production is a terrifying portrayal of moral collapse and an intense and compelling journey into the dark heart of humanity. 

Artistic Director Peter Evans said: “Welcome to season 2026, a season of ambition, guilt and idealised murder. First up is ‘Julius Caesar’, one of the most famous political plays of all time, centred on the most famous murder in western history. After ‘Coriolanus’ this year, I’m fascinated to produce ‘Julius Caesar’ again, another of Shakespeare’s history-based Roman plays, and see how one informs the other. Our national tour sees the return of our highly successful production of ‘Macbeth’ with a new cast to take our séance inspired nightmare world around the country. And excitingly we have a brand-new play ‘Mackenzie’ by Yve Blake. Yve is one of the most exciting and hilarious writers in Australia, and when she sent us her new play about an ambitious teenage TV star and her relentless stage mother we were delighted; horrified and delighted. We can’t wait to welcome audiences to the theatre next year.” 

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 a series of panel sessions titled Ambition and the Aftermath held in Sydney and Melbourne, the continuation of the lively script reading series, Play In A Day, featuring Henry VI Part 2 and the ever popular Sonnets & Semillon. To accompany the season of Julius Caesar, some of Australia’s pre-eminent academics will present a series of lectures offering fascinating insights into why this play remains so relentlessly relevant.

Australia - Sydney Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. MJ THE MUSICAL (Sydney Lyric Theatre)

8% of votes

2. THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (Gosford Musical Society)

6.9% of votes

3. A CHORUS LINE (Curtain Bounce)

6.3% of votes

Vote Now!