Canberra’s thriving independent theatre scene is currently the most active and vibrant it has been since the 1990s – and it’s not just confined to the inner city and suburbs.

Mockingbird Theatrics at Belco Arts and The Mill Theatre in the Dairy Road precinct at Fyshwick have both been at the forefront of presenting plays you may never have seen before – and good plays, too – from around the world.

As well, The Mill’s director Lexi Sekuless  is opening the doors to a big Sunday Story Time in 2026, partnering with the Upstaging Festival. Original works will be read on stage by Mill actors in a simple, intimate format – one voice, one story – designed to be heard aloud. Submissions are now open and close here on February 14.

The Mill is just coming up for air after its production of God, in which the audience got to vote on the outcome of the play. The company has not yet unveiled a full season for 2026, but will open with Stanley Houghton’s The Dear Departed, adapted for radio by ArtSound’s Bart Meehan. The Mill Theatre team will record a fresh version of the radio play live each night as part of the show.

Meanwhile, Mockingbird Theatrics – whose space has just been officially renamed by Belconnen Arts Centre as The Mockingbird Studio, or simply The Studio – will be up and running from February with a solid season of no fewer than 11 plays, including classics such as Shakespeare in Love and Sartre’s No Exit.

Good news for the company is that Mockingbird alumnus Callum Doherty – recently seen in The Drawer Boy, Fully Committed and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, as well as further afield with other companies – has been accepted into the three-year Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting). Charlotte Roberts, another of Baldock’s one-on-one students, has also earned a place in the acting course at Queensland University of Technology.

Mockingbird Theatrics — 2026 season at a glance

A Hundred Words for Snow (Mockingbird Too)
Poetic, heartwarming coming-of-age journey to the Arctic Circle. Starring Zoë Ross.
January 28–31

Shakespeare in Love (Mockingbird Theatre Company)
Witty, romantic backstage comedy about young Will Shakespeare and his muse.
February 11–28

Breaking the Code (Mockingbird Theatre Company)
Powerful biographical drama of Alan Turing – genius, secrecy and injustice.
March 18–28

No Exit (Mockingbird Too)
Sartre’s darkly funny existential classic: “Hell is other people.”
April 15–18

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Mockingbird Theatre Company)
Tony Award–winning modern comedy of family chaos and rivalry.

C*ck (Mockingbird Too)
Razor-sharp modern classic about identity, desire and impossible choices.
June 17–20

Bull (Mockingbird Too)
Brutal, darkly comic workplace thriller – survival of the cruellest.
July 15–18

The Girl on the Train (Mockingbird Theatre Company)
Gripping psychological thriller where memory can’t be trusted.
August 5–22

Every Brilliant Thing (Mockingbird Too)
Interactive, one-actor exploration of grief, hope and the joys of living.
September 9–12

Face to Face (Mockingbird Theatre Company)
David Williamson’s confronting drama of justice, truth and accountability.
October 7–17

Posh (Mockingbird Too)
Savage, darkly comic dissection of privilege, power and entitlement.
November 11–14