In a rare opportunity to see three of Australia’s finest actors on stage together, the internationally acclaimed play “ART” by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton, will run for a limited season in 2026.
Commencing in Sydney at the Roslyn Packer Theatre on February 10th, the production will then tour Brisbane’s QPAC from March 11th, Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre from April 24th, and Adelaide’s Her Majesty Theatre from May 20th, as part of State Theatre Company South Australia’s 2026 season.
Richard Roxburgh (“Rake”, “The Correspondent”, “Elvis”), Damon Herriman (“Better Man”, “Mr Inbetween”, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), and Ryan Corr (“House of the Dragon”, “Holding the Man”, “Kangaroo”) will star in the razor-sharp comedy about friendship, ego and the chaos a single opinion can cause.
ART is directed by Lee Lewis, with set and costume design by Charles Davis, lighting by Paul Jackson, sound design by David Letch for System Sound, and is produced by Rodney Rigby with Marriner Group, Paul Wheelton, and State Theatre Company South Australia.
Roxburgh said: “There is nothing else that does what theatre can do. At this odd and fractious time on our little planet, what a beautiful thing to be in a room where there’s communal experience, shared hilarity, shared pain. The shared examination of our crazy lives. It’s happening in real time. It’s alive. There is no AI, no coding that can touch it. That’s real electricity buzzing between us all. That’s real sweat. There’s nothing else like it. It’s theatre!
“Having the opportunity to do this incredibly funny modern classic with my actual friends, Damon and Ryan, under the clever eye of Lee Lewis, will be a complete joy.”
The production, which has won the coveted Tony Award for Best Play and Olivier Award for Best Comedy, follows a man, who buys a ridiculously expensive painting, with his friends who choose not to only question his taste, but question everything.
Egos flare, old wounds resurface, and a decades-long friendship begins to fracture. It explores how the smallest things, especially the unspoken, can spiral into something much bigger.
Rigby said: “It takes a great play, an extraordinary director and three actors who are friends that finally get to work together onstage, to explore friendship, art, opinions and the ensuing chaos of having a ‘point of view’.”
This 90-minute modern classic is brim full of intelligent laughs, standout performances, and sharp insight, and asks: can we truly see and still forgive the people we’ve known the longest? Because everyone’s a critic. Especially your friends.
Join the waitlist here for tickets.