Pride and Prejudice returns, The Great Gatsby and more

“So, next year we’re bringing it back. It’s a really lovely ending to that story,” he said.

Pride and Prejudice is one of four shows in the company’s 2026 season based on well-known IP.

The season opens in February with a new adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, in collaboration with Brisbane’s Shake & Stir Theatre Company.

“Part of my job is to lure younger people into the theatre, so something that crosses over into the English syllabus will hopefully set a new generation on fire for live performance,” Evans said.

The Sapphires, Tony Briggs’ 2004 play about an Indigenous girl group entertaining Australian troops in Vietnam, is returning under the auspices of its original director, former Queensland Theatre head Wesley Enoch.

Like Gatsby, it has previously been adapted into a film.

Also familiar to movie-goers is the Stephen Sondheim fairy-tale musical Into the Woods, which was made into a 2014 film starring Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt and Chris Pine.

Queensland Theatre is collaborating with Opera Queensland and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra to stage the musical at the new Glasshouse Theatre.

“Brisbane is a musical theatre city, people absolutely adore the form, and there’s a wealth of musical talent in our backyard,” Evans said.

Loading

Other highlights include the world premiere of Strong is the New Pretty, the new play by acclaimed Australian playwright Suzie Miller, whose earlier work, Prima Facie, won both Olivier and Tony awards.

“It’s a real-life story from behind the formation of the AFL Women’s League, and the players, mums, dads, who rallied to make sure that women have a league of their own,” Evans said.

Queensland Theatre season tickets are on sale now.