{"id":896788,"date":"2026-09-18T17:42:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T17:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/896788\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T17:42:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T17:42:27","slug":"most-nominated-play-in-tony-awards-history-leads-melbourne-theatre-companys-2027-program-australian-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/896788\/","title":{"rendered":"Most nominated play in Tony awards history leads Melbourne Theatre Company\u2019s 2027 program | Australian theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne has snagged the highly anticipated Australian premiere of David Adjmi\u2019s 70s rock drama Stereophonic<\/a>, which broke records in 2024 as the most nominated play in Tony awards history. It joins the Broadway and West End-acclaimed #MeToo play John Proctor is the Villain as the buzzy international hits crowning Melbourne Theatre Company\u2019s 2027 season.<\/p>\n

Stereophonic, which takes place inside the recording studio of a fictional British-American rock band teetering between breakthrough and breakdown, will land in Australia with all the hype of 13 Tony nominations and five wins<\/a>, hit Broadway and West End seasons and five-star<\/a> reviews.<\/p>\n

But the Melbourne Theatre Company<\/a> artistic director, Anne-Louise Sarks, fell in love with it before the buzz. \u201cIn 2023 I met with the company who was creating it and I was like \u2018that sounds very cool, I want that show [for MTC]\u2019. And then I watched it become this runaway hit. For me, what\u2019s really exciting about this show is how the audience feel like they\u2019re in the room with these artists as they\u2019re making the album and going through all the drama, heartbreak and struggle of creating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Masego Pitso will star in the Australian production of John Proctor is the Villain. Photograph: MTC\/Jo Duck<\/p>\n

Many commentators<\/a> have drawn comparisons between Adjmi\u2019s play, with its powder keg of big egos, complicated romantic relationships, drugs and booze, and the story behind seminal 1977 album Rumours \u2013 including Guardian\u2019s Gloria Oladipo, who called<\/a> it \u201credolent of Fleetwood Mac\u201d. The band\u2019s former sound engineer Ken Caillat thought Stereophonic was similar enough to his memoir about the making of Rumours that he sued the show\u2019s makers<\/a> in 2024. Adjmi has staunchly resisted the comparisons, citing a range of inspirations; the lawsuit was settled in 2024.<\/p>\n

Sarks won\u2019t be drawn into the debate, miming zipped lips before smiling and saying: \u201cI love Fleetwood Mac.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music is integral to Stereophonic, with original songs by former Arcade Fire member Will Butler not only interwoven but pivotal to the drama. One of the biggest hurdles was \u201cfinding actor-musicians who can play to the level of skill required, but also bring this very truthful, ultra real performance to the stage\u201d, Sarks said. Geraldine Hakewill (Ms Fisher\u2019s Modern Murder Mysteries) and Alex Malone (The Killings at Parrish Station) will lead the cast of seven, with the rest still to be announced. Taking the helm is Daniel Evans, artistic director of Queensland Theatre<\/a>, where the show will transfer following a season at Sydney\u2019s Belvoir.<\/p>\n

Sarks will direct the other international hit of the season: Kimberly Belflower\u2019s John Proctor is the Villain, about a group of teenage girls in rural Georgia grappling with Arthur Miller\u2019s Salem witch trials drama in the wake of #MeToo.<\/p>\n

Nominated for seven Tony awards, the play was a runaway hit on Broadway, where it starred Stranger Things\u2019 Sadie Sink and featured an electrifying dance break finale to Lorde\u2019s Green Light. Its London season sold out two months before it was due to open. A movie adaptation, produced by Tina Fey, is in the works.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nearly a decade since #MeToo [went viral], but it has never been more important to have a conversation around power and the stories and experiences we inherit and are expected to accept,\u201d Sarks said, \u201cand this play does that in such a fun, fierce way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Australian production, starring Masego Pitso (Is God Is<\/a>), will open in July and transfer to Sydney Theatre Company<\/a> in September.<\/p>\n

Rachel Griffiths will star as unsung art-hero Clarice Beckett in Clarice. Photograph: MTC\/Jo Duck<\/p>\n

There are other international gems, too. Winsome Pinnock<\/a>\u2019s comic drama The Authenticator<\/a>, about two Black academics tasked with combing through diaries written by an 18th-century slave owner, will make its Australian premiere at MTC, directed by Zindzi Okenyo.<\/p>\n

And there are classics: Edward Albee\u2019s Pulitzer prize-winning dark drawing-room comedy A Delicate Balance, starring Sigrid Thornton, Nadine Garner and Erik Thomson; and a one-woman reimagining of Richard III, starring Kate Mulvany.<\/p>\n

But the focus is firmly on Australian writing and stories, including new plays about unsung art-hero Clarice Beckett, starring Rachel Griffiths; a legendary 1985 meeting between Kerry Packer, West Indies cricket captain George Floyd and Bob Hawke that shaped Australia\u2019s stance on South Africa\u2019s apartheid; and a First Nations spin on HG Wells\u2019 War of the Worlds \u2013 itself inspired by Tasmania\u2019s brutal Black War<\/a> \u2013 written by award winning Noongar author Claire G Coleman (Terra Nullius).<\/p>\n

The artistic director\u2019s ongoing commitment to backing Australian stories seems to be paying off, with roughly 40% of single ticket purchases for new Australian works West Gate, My Brilliant Career and The Jungle and the Sea made by first-time MTC-goers.<\/p>\n

Amid cost of living pressures and shuttered musicals, MTC is \u201cgrowing our community and our culture,\u201d Sarks said. \u201cThere\u2019s good reason to be optimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbourne has snagged the highly anticipated Australian premiere of David Adjmi\u2019s 70s rock drama Stereophonic, which broke records…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":896789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134],"class_list":["post-896788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/896789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}