2025 is only three months away, and Belvoir St Theatre is already getting excited for it, announcing the 8 plays that comprise their upcoming season.
With stacks of stars, plenty of Australian work, and a show for everyone, there is lots to be looking forward to.
Ahead of their 2025 season, Manan Luthra shares his top picks of what’s to come.
Most Anticipated
Big Girls Don’t Cry and The Wrong Gods. The former’s plot is enough to get any Sydneysider interested. Three young First Nations women in 1960s Redfern are getting ready for the Deb Ball, described as not just the biggest night of the year, but of their lives. The combination of factors – an Australia at the peak of its civil rights movement, a play set in a suburb characterised by racism and struggle, and three powerful Indigenous female leads – make for a fascinating blend. Throw in renowned performers Stephanie Somerville, Dalara Williams (also playwright), and Megan Wilding, and the promise of drama, celebration, and hot takes, and it’s hard to think of a more exciting show.
But, there is The Wrong Gods. Past Belvoir seasons have included smash hits like The Jungle and the Sea, Nayika: A Dancing Girl (a show this outlet gave a perfect 5 stars), and Counting and Cracking (currently playing in New York City). All came from the brilliant playwright S. Shakthidharan, whom Belvoir has teamed up with once again here. Starring Nadia Kammallaweera, Radhika Mudaliyar and Vaishnavi Suryaprakash, The Wrong Gods is a play set in a valley in India. It concerns the changing relationship between Nirmala, a farmer, and her daughter, who aspires for a city education, during a time their valley is exposed to a new, foreign crop by new, foreign people. The play explores capitalism, Indian social and gender politics, change and more. There’s lots going on, but if precedent is anything to go off, The Wrong Gods will be incredible.
Most Fun
Meow Meow’s The Red Shoes. The show takes its inspiration from the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale of the same name, and the 1948 film adaptation starring Moira Shearer. The former was about Karen, a young girl cursed with shoes that force her to dance continuously. The latter was about Vicky, a dancer who experiences a whirlwind (and ultimately tragic) romance. Here, renowned cabaret performer Meow Meow brings the passion of dance to the stage. Asking the question ‘what if she could never dance at all? Can we save her? Can we save the world?!’, Meow Meow’s The Red Shoes promises to be full of energy and vibrancy. The season launch hinted at audience participation as well, so bring your dancing shoes (red or otherwise) and enjoy the personality, charm, and organised chaos Meow Meow will bring.
Experimental
Song of First Desire. Originally performed in Spanish, this play makes its English premiere at Belvoir next February. It is set in both 1968 and the present, and primarily details the daily life of Camelia, an elderly woman in Madrid, and Alejandro, the Colombian migrant looking after her. Alejandro’s presence exposes not only Spain’s troubling past, but the troubling past of Camelia and her family. How exactly this all happens, the nature of Camelia’s past, what occurs in the present day, and to what end is uncertain. But I am excited to find out.
Crowd Pleaser
Orlando. The popular (albeit complicated) Virginia Woolf novel is newly adapted for the stage in Belvoir’s 2025 season. Described as ‘one for those who like their theatre theatrical’, the play stars Janet Anderson as Orlando, who must travel across time (400 years, to be exact) in search of his love and his destiny. Featuring Shannen Alyce Quan from Fangirls and Nyx Calder of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child fame, this is an all-star cast for an all-star show. Promising to be full of pomp, laced with vivid design, and enough satire to cover a quarter of modern history, the phrase ‘less is more’ has never applied less to a play. Book tickets now before this guaranteed sell-out sells out.
For more details on Belvoir St Theatre’s full 2025 season, please click here.
