Opening the season comes ’40s Broadway classic Born Yesterday, starring Christie Whelan Browne and Joel Jackson. The screwball romance is followed by John, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning Annie Baker and Brian Friel’s Faith Healer – presented in four purposefully scripted monologues and starring Colin Friels, Pip Miller and Alison Whyte.
Elsewhere, Three Little Words arrives as a new comedy from acclaimed playwright Joanna Murray-Smith while legendary actors Nancye Hayes, Sue Jones and Rhys McConnochie star alongside comedy favourites Virginia Gay, John Leary and Georgina Naidu in Minnie & Liraz, a hilarious story of kindly Jewish grandparents and raw ambition from Lally Katz.
The Bard makes an appearance with Macbeth, alongside the farcical Noises Off by Michael Frayn, the heartwarming Di and Viv and Rose, the high society classic Hay Fever, and the equal parts humorous and mysterious The Father.
Capping it off comes the world premiere of Vivid White from the multi-talented Eddie Perfect and the world premiere of Melbourne Talam, a vibrant new work about three young people from India searching for belonging in Australia.
NEON NEXT will focus on developing artists through dedicated creative workshops, a new Company in Residence program and more, while the annual Cybec Electric play reading series celebrates the inaugural Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts (Asia TOPA) by turning its attention to Asian-Australian playwrights. MTC’s range of artist access initiatives will also return, including its Assistant Directors Program, MTC CONNECT and the Women in Theatre Program.
