Patrons of The Q, The Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, can comfortably expect a year of delicious entertainment if artistic director Jordan Best’s announcement of the 2026 theatre season on Monday evening was anything to go by.

Waxing philosophical and riffing on the old curse, “may you live in interesting times”, Best reflected on the complexities of recent years, but has nonetheless come up with a scintillating line-up.

Front and centre is The Q’s dedicated Q The Locals enterprise, which sees Canberra region artists supported to create new work for the stage. These are all world premieres.

One such work will be The Good Boy Game, written by Patrick Vermillion and staged by rising local director Caitlin Baker. This world premiere is billed as a darkly funny deep dive into radicalisation, masculinity and the price we pay to seem like good people.

Then there’s dance star Liz Lea’s new work Diamond, her reflection on ageing and womanhood — a sparkling, unapologetic celebration of life. Think how diamonds are forever.

Very late in the year comes Christopher Samuel Carroll’s new work Crims, drawn from true stories from Sydney’s 1920s underworld. Developed with what Carroll calls an eclectic ensemble of local performers, audiences can expect a larger-than-life theatrical style.

As for the rest, Best says: “Trying to figure out what audiences want sometimes feels like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube in the dark.”

Even so, she has come up with a carefully balanced season of drama, comedy, cabaret and, above all, children’s entertainment – one of the trademarks of The Q.

Dummies Corp return with Splash Test Dummies Circus, The Listies bring their latest chaotic hit This Show is a Joke!, and Tim Winton’s The Bugalugs Bum Thief comes to life on stage. Young audiences will also be captivated by Saplings from Australian Theatre for Young People, Mario the Maker Magician, and the bewildering Quizzical Mr Jeff.

A drama highlight will include Mandela Mathia’s Lose to Win from Belvoir St Theatre, telling the true story of a South Sudanese refugee’s journey to the Australian stage.

To wind up, Echo Theatre returns with Bombshells and closes the year with an open-air classic – not necessarily Shakespearean – following the success of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth.

At a glance: The Q in 2026

• Hot Department – Five years of high-camp, unhinged sketch comedy, February 5;
• Ukulele Death Squad – Musical pirates deliver sea shanties and glorious mayhem, February 8;
• SWAN? – Lauren Brady’s raunchy, award-winning Fringe parody of Swan Lake, March 25;
• Lose to Win – Mandela Mathia’s powerful true story, direct from Belvoir St Theatre, May 2;
• The Good Boy Game (Q The Locals) – world premiere exploring masculinity and radicalisation, June 18-20;
• Splash Test Dummies Circus – family-friendly circus chaos from Dummies Corp, July 2-5;
• The Strangeways Cabaret – Antics-fuelled cabaret with bite, July 4;
• This Show is a Joke! – The Listies return with slapstick kids’ comedy, July 18-19;
• Diamond (Q The Locals) – Liz Lea’s  one-woman celebration of ageing, resilience and womanhood, August 6-8;
• The Bugalugs Bum Thief – Tim Winton’s  children’s story brought to the stage, August 17-18;
• Saplings – ATYP production confronting youth justice and consequence, August 22;
• Bombshells – Echo Theatre’s return season of fierce monologues, August 27-29;
• Mario the Maker Magician –   kids’ magician brings laughter and heart, October 3-4;
• The Quizzical Mr Jeff – Circus, magic and illusion for kids and families, October 7;
• Crims (Q The Locals) – Dark  world premiere inspired by Sydney’s 1920s underworld, November 19-22;
• Open-air Shakespeare – Echo Theatre’s classic under the stars, December, TBA.