Welcome to NIDA - National Institute of Dramatic Art
Our June and October seasons celebrate eight productions that stretch from gender politics to geopolitics, caress to carnage, to the nature of theatre itself.
The seasons feature new Australian works, Australian premieres of bold new international writing, musical theatre, opera, and work at the intersection of film and theatre.
These productions are led by top Australian and international professional directors, and feature work from a new generation of Australian storytellers.
David Berthold Artistic Director in Residence
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JUNE SEASON
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Music and Lyrics by
Stephen Sondheim
Book by
Hugh Wheeler
From an adaptation by
Christopher Bond
Directed by
Constantine Costi
Music Direction by
Andrew Worboys
Choreography by
Shannon Burns
A Musical Thriller
“Alright! You sir, you sir, how about a shave?”
Here is one of the American musical theatre’s greatest achievements, produced in theatres and opera houses around the world – a theatrically bold work full of soaring beauty, pitch-black comedy and stunning terror.
Kindness
Written by
Matthew Whittet
Directed by
Jessica Arthur
World Premiere
“I feel like I’ve got a hole in my chest...it’s getting bigger.”
Lukas isn’t in a good place. He hasn’t been for some time.
His friends Claude, Song and Dylan can’t sit by and watch anymore. Tenderly and patiently, they start to tell each other stories. Of the moments they all met. Of the times they were complete idiots. They tell these stories because they know their friend Lukas also needs to tell his. His life depends on it.
Scenes with Girls
Written by
Miriam Battye
Directed by
Imara Savage
Australian Premiere
“You are becoming a parody, hun… the human equivalent of a fucking Little Mix song.”
Tosha and Lou have each other. Other friends have come, got boyfriends, and gone. So what? Tosh and Lou are not interested in becoming clichés. They’ll never be like other girls. They won't sit in a narrative someone else thought up.
This is love. This is enough.
The Writer
Written by
Ella Hickson
Directed by
Zoë Hollyoak
Australian Premiere
“Does it scare you that the future might speak a language that you can’t understand?”
A young female playwright and an older male director find themselves alone in an empty theatre. She wants a new form of theatre that dismantles capitalism and overturns the patriarchy. He’s turned on by the commercial potential of her rage.
He flirts. She stares him down. She wants to do things her way.
OCTOBER SEASON
Sandaime Richard
Written by
Hideki Noda
Translated by
Robert Tierney
Adapted by
Ong Keng Sen
Directed by
Ong Keng Sen
Australian Premiere
“Our ears are filled with lies.”
In this witty satire of power, Shakespeare is put on trial for falsifying history and defaming Richard Sandaime (Richard III), the Grand Master of Ikebana.
The playwright will pit his wits against his prosecutor, Maachan. But who is Maachan? And who will win?
Splendour
Written by
Abi Morgan
Directed by
Nat Randall and Anna Breckon
“I select the best shot.”
An opulent drawing room in the Presidential Palace. Outside: civil war. A Western photojournalist awaits the return of the dictator. She is here to take his portrait. The dictator’s wife, her best friend and an interpreter wait with her. Prada shoes, vodka glasses and light fingers tap out the time. He is late, very late…
All four women harbour secrets and suspicions. All four are in danger. This is the day.
A Very Expensive Poison
Written by
Lucy Prebble
Directed by
Hannah Goodwin
Based on the book by
Luke Harding
“The second you start telling a story, you start telling a lie.”
Part biography, part spy drama, part absurdist nightmare, A Very Expensive Poison looks at the true story of the assassination by poison of Alexander Litvinenko by the Russian secret service in London in 2006.
At this time of unnerving global crises and with the rumblings of a new Cold War, A Very Expensive Poison sends us careening through the shadowy world of international espionage from Moscow to Mayfair. In the strange convergence of global politics and radioactive villainy, a man pays with his life.
The Coronation of Poppea
A co-production of NIDA and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Conducted by
Stephen Mould
Directed by
David Berthold
Music by
Claudio Monteverdi | Elena Kats-Chernin AO
Libretto by
Giovanni Busenello
Australian Premiere
The Coronation of Poppea – one of the great music dramas – charts the erotic and brutal politics of Nero’s Rome. Emperor Nero and his new love Poppea ruthlessly sweep aside anyone who stands in the way of their union. In this bloodthirsty drama, love triumphs. But at what cost?