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The ultimate theatre guide to Melbourne

What's on in Melbourne's theatres, clubs, cabaret bars and comedy spots.

The hidden entrance to Piccolo Teatro with a red door and lit up signage above.
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Piccolo Teatro: Magic Theatre

Specialising in astonishing magic shows and immersive live entertainment.

A ballet company performing on stage with ballerinas forming a guard around a central dancer.
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The Stuttgart Ballet: The Sleeping Beauty

Germany’s premier ballet company returns to Melbourne with a dazzling classic.

Dark image of a Dracula figure lit with red light on stage.
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Dracula: Ballet at its Darkest

A bold, cinematic reimagining of the gothic classic.

A young person with long blonde hair, wearing a green satin top and making an animated, expressive gesture with hands up near their face against a solid olive-green background.
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Tegan Higginbotham: Follow That Turtle!

Award-winning comedian Tegan Higginbotham is back with an unmissable hour of stand-up gold.

A woman Julia Cartagena with long brown hair in a high ponytail smiling, wearing a sparkly white top.

Julia Cartagena: Love Lives On

Julia Cartagena in an interactive evening with live readings and stories.

View of Melbourne from across the Yarra River
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Special Features: Improvised Movie and Documentary

Special Features is a hilarious, completely unscripted cinematic experience developed for the stage.

Two young women in school uniform in a purple room, one holding forward an American football.
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Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical

Packed with teen drama and iconic throwback hits.

Two performers on a stage, a man dressed in a suit, looking at a man with his arms outstretched suspended by an aerial rope above a low pool of water.
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Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan

A dazzling new operatic work by some of Australia’s most acclaimed creative talents.

Artwork for RocKwiz's Very Merry Christmas show, with stylized single colour depictions of host Julia Zemiro and quizmaster Brian Nankervis standing next to a red Christmas tree; on a blue background.

RocKwiz's Very Merry Christmas

RocKwiz returns with the best Christmas present you could hope for in 2026!

The empty spot lit stage and seating area at the theatre venue Club Voltaire.

Mading Jock & The Homies

Come along to a comedy show with Mading Jock and the homies.

Performer on stage doing circus tricks, acrobats hanging in the air.
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Fijian Flying Circus

A world-first fusion of Fijian storytelling and contemporary circus.

A scene from the musical My Fair Lady with Eliza Doolittle in a pink dress and hat and Henry Higgins in a tweed three-piece suit.
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My Fair Lady

Celebrating 70 glorious years since its debut, Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady returns to Melbourne.

Top down view of a jumble of small miscellaneous items, including miniature toys, a marker, and small plastic figurines.
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Yeah Sure, Why Not!

Proudly presents an immersive, cursed, comedy variety show experience that's different every month.

Actors dressed in medieval costumes posing grouped together with serious expressions.

The Secret of the Sword

A medieval fantasy opera with an original story, well-loved arias and sword fights.

Singers and dancers on a theatre stage in a scene from A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, with spotlights and stage sets.
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A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical

An inspiring, exhilarating, energetic musical memoir.

Close-up of woman's face with pursed lips.
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Hannah Camilleri: Dinner Hannah Show

Award-winning clown Hannah Camilleri brings her loose, playful, absurd comedy show to Fringe.

An illustration from the book The Very Cranky Bear, showing a black bear with hands on hips looking cranky against a blue background.
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The Very Cranky Bear

A grumpy bear, four unlikely friends and one brilliant sheep.

Three young people sitting casually in a gutter against an old brick building, relaxed and enjoying a laugh.
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This is Our Youth

A raw, witty and deeply human portrait of youth on the precipice of adulthood.

A dancer wears a vibrant green, light-up ballerina-style tutu dress with a matching crown, and large, glowing translucent fairy wings spread out behind her, standing against a dark background.
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Ballet of Lights: Peter Pan in a Sparkling Show

Peter Pan lights up Neverland in a dazzling dance spectacle.

Comic magician holding a briefcase emitting a sparkling wand and playing cards.
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Best of Fringe Magic

See world-class magicians performing their unique and impossible magic.

A distorted, dark painting of a figure whose eyes are obscured by a thick black rectangular bar, cradling a person's head close to their chest.
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Hitherto

The inaugural production by Gen X re-born ragtags The Zof Agenda, described as 'Adam & Eve on acid'.

Actors in red hoods holding a wolf costume.
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RED

A dangerous new work by Rollercoaster Theatre about power, survival, and who gets to tell the tale.

Person holding an old sticker to the base of their spine.

Out to See

A clothing-optional exploration of Australia's oldest legal nude beach and its depictions on screen.

People milling around Fed Square at night.

Melbourne's unmissable after-dark events

From hidden laneway markets to epic pop-ups, Melbourne gets lit once the lights go out.

A train station lit up in rainbow lights

Melbourne's best drag shows and queer-friendly venues

Find burlesque life drawing, cabaret and the best queer-friendly venues in Melbourne.

Woman dressed as a fairy smoking a cigarette and looking grumpy.
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Rama Nicholas in Fairy Smut

Comedy, fantasy and romance collide in this hilariously smutty tale.

People seated in cinema seats with ice cream and popcorn, reacting to movies.
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Cinema Club

Movie obsessed teens start a club to reenact scene, play games, and geek out over great films.

Singers Amelia Ryan and Libby O’Donovan, both wearing dark tops and smiling, posed against a red velvet curtain.

Morning Melodies: I Am Woman

Hear a tribute to the women who redefined Australian music in the swinging 1960s.

Drawing of an orange hand holding a paper tag by a red string next to a teal tree with other hanging tags on a dark background.
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Impro Melbourne: The Wishing Tree

See impro performers choose from the Wishing Tree and act out the audience's wishes.

A woman eating fire from sticks with Fringe Festival lettering in the background in blue.
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Melbourne Fringe Festival

Melbourne Fringe Festival returns with 500+ exciting, boundary-pushing arts events.

A man in a red racing suit with patches sewn all over it, wearing a helmet and glasses with a cartoon godzilla in the background.
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The Year There Were No Monsters

A brand new one-man comedy from the award-winning Shane Adamczak.

Three actors wearing beige clothes lined up together, noses bleeding and looking startled.
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Nosebleeds

A comedy-sketch show as hilarious as it is dark.

Abstract image in blue tones of a person looking at a staircase structure with a person laying on each stair.
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Hotel Pro Forma – Operation:Orfeo

A visual opera in three movements.

Three male actors - Rodger Corser, David Berry and Bert LaBonté - the lead cast for the stage adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption, posed against a light tan backdrop.
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The Shawshank Redemption: Live On Stage

This gripping adaptation tells an unforgettable story of hope, friendship and resilience.

Opera singers, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Georgia Wilkinson, smiling and standing next to each other in front of a black background.

Morning Melodies: Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Georgia Wilkinson

Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Georgia Wilkinson perform at this Morning Melodies concert.

People dressed as characters from Fawlty Towers, with Basil strangling Manuel as Sybil talks on the phone.
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Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience

The global sensation returns with a fully immersive dining experience.

Two performers wearing pale clothing, the man behind a women, whose arm he is hanging onto, against a cloud like backdrop.
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La Bohème

Puccini’s classic Bohemian love story is about youth, beauty, passion and heartache.

Performance team of four wearing costumes, on a small stage with red curtains, in front of a seated audience.
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Dice Goblins

An epic monthly Dungeons and Dragons campaign where improvisers go on a perilous adventure.

A group of people dressed in Dracula themed costumes all holding wine glasses.

Murder Among Monsters: Halloween Murder Mystery Dinner

An immersive three-course dinner where monsters mingle and someone ends up dead.

A woman and man wearing clown makeup, smiling, with their hands around each other's throats.
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FU*K! I Killed the Director

Two actors perform Romeo and Juliet moments after killing their director...accidentally.

More theatre and shows

Melbourne's major theatres

Audience in curved rows of seating looking towards the stage curtain inside the Regent Theatre.

Regent Theatre

This landmark theatre is one of Melbourne’s premier live performance venues.

Rows of red seats in the historic Princess Theatre.

Princess Theatre

Melbourne’s iconic Princess Theatre is regarded by many as Melbourne’s most spectacular landmark.

Tiered seating and red plush stage curtain.

Her Majesty's Theatre

This heritage-listed theatre has provided entertainment for Melbourne since 1886.

Comedy Theatre stage and tiered seating.

Comedy Theatre

The historic Comedy Theatre hosts musicals, drama and yes, comedies.

Heritage-listed Athenaeum building, with columns and ornate capitals.

Athenaeum Theatre

This heritage-listed venue hosts comedy, music and theatre.

Striking geometric design of the Southbank Theatre, illuminated at night.

Southbank Theatre

Performance space and home of the Melbourne Theatre Company.

Arts Centre Melbourne with winter trees and blue sky, surrounded by city buildings.

Arts Centre Melbourne

With its iconic spire, the Arts Centre Melbourne is a cultural and architectural landmark.

Performance space and seating inside La Mama Courthouse.

La Mama Courthouse

One of the great independent theatres of the city with a focus on diversity and inclusivity.

More theatre venues

Seating and stage in Fairfax Studio, an intimate theatre space.

Fairfax Studio

An intimate theatre presenting smaller-scale and experimental productions.

Performance space and seating inside La Mama Courthouse.

La Mama Courthouse

One of the great independent theatres of the city with a focus on diversity and inclusivity.

A performer wearing a bikini and holding a firestick above her open mouth in a small cabaret venue.

Speakeasy Theatre

A lively, historic vaudeville theatre featuring burlesque, cabaret, comedy and circus every week.

Discover more

Two friends are leaving a theatre.

The best pre- and post-theatre dining in Melbourne

Fuel up before a big show or extend your city visit at these local eateries.

A stage with a grand facade to look like a building, with crowds waiting for a band to come on stage.

The ultimate Melbourne live gig guide

Concert halls and music venues hosting live music this week

People sitting in a dark movie theatre and facing the screen.

Film

Melbourne has a thriving film scene, with film festivals and screenings at cinemas year-round.

A smiling library worker holding up three picture books with their front covers facing out, seated cross-legged on the floor in front of library display shelves.
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Songbirds

Come along to City Library on Fridays for songs, rhymes and stories.