3-13 November
NIDA’s 2025 Spring Production Season will be led by acclaimed Directing alumni Marion Potts (1991), Constantine Costi (2013), Lee Lewis (2003) and Benjamin Schostakowski (2013).
This Spring Season, NIDA lights up with royal battles, divine chaos, forgotten histories, and restless dreams. Mary Stuart pits two queens in a fight for one throne. Orpheus in the Underworld hurls us into a riotous Can-Can-fuelled afterlife. The World Premiere of The Royal Experiment uncovers the women who knew how to eradicate smallpox centuries before the world listened and Peter Pan shimmers in a live-cinema dreamscape, where eternal youth meets the courage to grow up.
The Royal Experiment is a daring new NIDA-commissioned world premiere written by Melanie Tait (How To Plot A Hit In Two Days, The Queen’s Nanny, The Appleton Ladies Potato Race) and directed by Lee Lewis (Queensland Theatre, Griffin Theatre Company). For centuries, women across cultures knew how to stop smallpox but science, politics, and prejudice buried their knowledge for 300 years. This fast-paced, time-travelling comedy unveils the absurdity of how medical breakthroughs are ignored, dismissed, or stolen.
Writer Melanie Tait said, “I’m excited we get to develop this epic story (with the brilliant Lee Lewis and the bright young minds and talents of this cohort of NIDA students!) of how the efforts of women over centuries contributed to the eradication of smallpox – one of the deadliest and most devastating diseases in all of human history.”
Kate Mulvany’s contemporary adaptation of Mary Stuart is brought to life by the award-winning director with over 50 production credits, Marion Potts. This blockbuster production will crackle with psychological intensity and political intrigue as it reimagines the fateful rivalry between Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I.
Marion Potts said, “The story of Mary and Elizabeth has been chronicled repeatedly over time – but never through the lens of a contemporary Australian female playwright. This is a fresh and irreverent exposure of a world teeming with dangerous but often bungling political players – and is never too far off from our own.”
A new and contemporary interpretation of Peter Pan is adapted and directed by NIDA’s Head of Directing Benjamin Schostakowski. J.M. Barrie’s classic is stripped of Edwardian nostalgia and plunged into a dreamlike world where the borders between childhood and adulthood, fantasy and reality, are blurred.
Benjamin Schostakowski said, “Wendy Darling is at the heart of our strange and beautiful live cinema adaptation of Peter Pan. This timeless story offers the artists involved exhilarating material to reimagine a Neverland that speaks to an anxious generation of young adults. It’s an absolute joy in the rehearsal room, working with such passionate and talented student artists. The future of the industry shines brightly with their ambition and skill.”
Constantine Costi’s (La Traviata on Sydney Harbour) production of Orpheus in the Underworld, a co-production with the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, presents Jacques Offenbach’s satirical opera, in a riotous, visually stunning production with razor-sharp wit, dazzling vocal performances, a whirlwind of divine comedy and devilish fun.
Constantine Costi said, “It’s thrilling to have the chance to work alongside the extraordinary talent at NIDA and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Collaborating with such a vibrant young company brings a vitality and daring that reinvigorates the work from the inside out. This next generation of opera and theatre makers remind us that opera can be outrageous, excessive, and gloriously alive”.
Liz Hughes, NIDA CEO said, “It is an absolute highlight that we have NIDA alumni sharing their expertise and experience as leading professional directors to the exciting productions on offer in our 2025 Spring Season. This annual creative partnership of professional Directors working with NIDA students is a cornerstone of NIDA’s industry-focused training and practice-based education.”
Theatre lovers, industry, alumni, family and friends are warmly welcomed to attend these diverse and dynamic productions showcasing the exceptional talent of NIDA third year Acting students in their final long-form performances under the expert guidance of some of Australia’s leading directors.
In addition to the talented performers, NIDA’s Spring Season is brought to life by the dedicated efforts of students across NIDA’s various disciplines including Directing, Design, Costume, Hair and Make-up, Set Construction, Props and Effects, Technical Theatre and Stage Management whose hard work behind the scenes ensure that each production is executed with professional precision and creative vision.
David Berthold, NIDA’s Artistic Director in Residence said, “It’s been a joy to curate four productions that look backwards and forwards in unexpected ways, bringing history, myth, and imagination into vivid dialogue. Mary Stuart and The Royal Experiment powerfully centre women’s perspectives and agency, while Orpheus in the Underworld and Peter Pan offer satire and dreamlike reflections on the worlds we inherit and resist. I can’t wait for audiences to encounter the talent and ambition that will bring these productions to life.”
Directors Potts, Costi, Lewis and Schostakowski are available for media interviews.
For interviews contact Vanessa Hollins: [email protected]
Header Image (L-R): Melanie Tait (writer), Marion Potts (director), Theo Clarke (student), Chemon Theys (student), Lee Lewis (director), Poppy Townsend (student), Ben Schostakowski (director), Constantine Costi (director), Ella Wilkinson (student). Photo by Jacquie Manning.