JULIA Comes to the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre in September
Performances run 3 – 13 September.
By: Stephi Wild Aug. 14, 2025
Following a sell-out, critically acclaimed premiere season in 2023 and a smash-hit national tour in 2024, Joanna Murray Smith’s political drama Julia, comes to the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre stage for a two-week season from 3rd to 13th September.
The final of three blockbuster productions in Merrigong’s 2025 season, screen and stage legend Justine Clarke steps into the shoes of Australia’s first, and only, female prime minister, delivering a performance that will be remembered for generations to come.
In 2012, Julia Gillard gave a speech that sent shockwaves around the world.
Now, over a decade later, Australia’s finest theatre makers – playwright Joanna Murray Smith (Switzerland, Honour), Helpmann Award-winning director Sarah Goodes (Red Stitch & STC’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf), designer Renée Mulder (STC’s The Importance of Being Earnest – have created a stirring and inspiring re-examination of that moment.
Julia is both a compelling insight into the person behind the mask, and a reflection on the experience of women in contemporary politics. In a thrilling coming together of history and art, this incredible dramatic imagining renders a powerful monologue that takes us through key moments in Prime Minister Gillard’s life, culminating in an electrifying verbatim performance of the ‘misogyny speech’.
Australia - Sydney Awards - Live Stats
Best Musical - Top 3
1.
MJ THE MUSICAL (Sydney Lyric Theatre)
8.1% of votes
2.
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (Gosford Musical Society)
7% of votes
3.
A CHORUS LINE (Curtain Bounce)
6.4% of votes
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