There’s a lot to be excited for this July with new works and adaptations arriving on stages and screens across Australia, and our alumni are behind the best of it. What can we say except, ‘you’re welcome’?
Set sail on 8 July with Disney’s live action adaptation of Moana starring Catherine Laga’aia (Stage and Screen Performance, 2025) alongside Dwayne Johnson, returning as Maui. Relive the story you fell in love with ten years ago, told for a new generation and featuring a new score by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
It’s the doctors who need saving in Stan’s new medical drama The F Ward, premiering on 17 July. A group of troubled interns are given one final chance at Sydney’s underfunded Pines Hospital, balancing high-pressure medical emergencies with messy personal lives. Keep an eye out for alumni, Susie Porter (Acting, 1995), Matthew Backer (Acting, 2010) and Lilian Alejandra Valverde (Acting, 2024) in the cast, and a behind-the-scenes shout-out to Script Editor, Xavier Hazard (Writing for Performance, 2024).
The dust settles in the Australian outback, but unfortunately there’s more drama than opals in ABC’s Treasure and Dirt, which begins on 19 July. This gripping crime series follows detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan as they investigate the murder of a miner, unearthing old grudges and stories that don’t quite pan out. Adding to the suspense are actors, Kris McQuade (Acting, 1971), Glenda Linscott (Acting, 1978) and Elena Carapetis (Acting, 1996).
Our friends at Belvoir St Theatre Company have gone above and beyond this month to bring The Jungle and the Sea to audiences, playing from 11 July – 2 August. A deeply moving story of love, survival and resilience in the face of conflict, the production follows one family’s journey through the devastation of civil war in Sri Lanka, blending real-life testimony with epic storytelling. In the cast and crew are Actor, Shiv Palekar (Acting, 2014), Set and Costume Designer Dale Ferguson (Design, 1989), Lighting Designer Damien Cooper (Technical Production , 1996), Assistant Director Mehhma Malhi (Directing, 2024) and Stage Manager Peter Sutherland (Technical Production, 1997).
“Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone” is easier said than done in Sydney Theatre Company’s remounting of Doubt: A Parable, on now until 2 August. Set in a Bronx Catholic school in 1964, John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama unravels as heinous accusations against a school’s progressive priest threaten to tear a community apart. Directed by Marion Potts (Directing, 1991), the production stars Zindzi Okenyo (Acting, 2006), with Lighting Designer Damien Cooper (Technical Production, 1996), Fly Supervisor Zac White (Live Production and Technical Services, 2018 & Scenic Construction and Technologies, 2021), and NIDA’s Design for Performance Course Leader Bob Cousins as the designer helping shape this razor-sharp revival.
Snap twice if you’re excited for Hayes Theatre Co’s production of The Addams Family musical, playing from 11 July – 9 August. Catchy songs and ghoulish fun brought to you by a massively talented ensemble cast including, Jenny Guigayoma (Acting, 2025), Georgia Oom (Musical Theatre, 2021 & Acting, 2024), Deborah Galanos (Acting, 1989), Elliot Aitken (Musical Theatre, 2023), Mae Li Cowell (Musical Theatre, 2022), Paloma Renouf (Musical Theatre, 2023),Kayla Ingle-Olson (Musical Theatre, 2023). No jump-scares behind the curtain, just the incredible work of crew members, Assistant Director/Choreographer Grace Stamnas (Musical Theatre, 2017 & Acting, 2022), Production Designer Dann Barber (Design, 2014), Associate Production Designer Meg Anderson (Design for Performance, 2022) and Sound Designer Chaii Ki Chapman (Technical Theatre and Stage Management, 2025).
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that the QPAC performance of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, is on stage from 10 – 26 July. This sparkling revival of everyone’s favourite enemies to lovers romance has been adapted by Wendy Mocke (Acting, 2017) and Lewis Treston (Playwriting, 2013), co-starring actor Jeremiah Wray (Acting, 2017) as the scoundrel Wickham, and other parts.
Header image: Catherine Laga’aia as Moana in Disney’s live-action MOANA. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2026 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.