For Canberrans, 2026 is going to be a very good year for those interested in William Shakespeare and his work, writes NOEL BEDDOE.  

The Mockingbird Theatre Company starts off our opportunities to enjoy plays about and by Shakespeare with its coming production of Shakespeare in Love. 

Based on Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard’s Oscar-winning screenplay, Lee Hall’s stage adaptation of is an involving and very funny play most recently seen in Canberra when the Melbourne Theatre Company production toured in 2019. 

Mockingbird is the resident company and the Belconnen Arts Centre. The relationship was created in 2025, and provides a series of interesting approaches to modern theatre through productions and a popular and successful drama school. Casting opportunities are advertised on the company web page.

Director/producer Chris Baldock believes that, probably, this production of Shakespeare in Love will be the most popular money spinner for the group for this year: 

“We like to go early with what we think will be our most popular; start the year with a bang.” 

Baldock has a simple philosophy as to what the company should attempt: “We want to present theatre that people will want to attend and enjoy, and theatre that deserves to be seen.” 

This is a major effort – between 40 and 50 characters, shared among a cast of 21. 

Baldock is undaunted by the scope – he is with us after a storied career in the Melbourne theatre scene for nearly 25 years. 

In 2017 he settled on Canberra as did many of us, after some years of visiting, because of dedication to family. 

“Melbourne got so big; Canberra, by comparison, is a very peaceful place, so easy to move around. I’ve loved the falling away of pressure.” 

Mockingbird is a fascinating concept; the theatre space used for Shakespeare in Love will be the Mockingbird Studio, one of two theatre spaces at the centre. 

By coincidence, the production to follow the Mockingbird offering in Belconnen will be Lakespeare’s outdoor production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, which will wind up in Belconnen having done a series of performances around the ACT including free shows outdoors at Tuggeranong, the Patrick White Lawns outside the National Library, Glebe Park and Haigh Park, as well as performance/meal matinees at Pialligo Estate. 

Then, in April, Bell Shakespeare will be here with Julius Caesar and theatre legend Peter Carroll cast as Casca; we’ll have the opportunity to hear that mellow voice, that perfect diction again caress the words of Shakespeare. 

We all have our favourite memories of Carroll’s Shakespearian interpretations, which in fact go back to his work with Sydney’s Genesians group in the 1960s. My own was his performance as Fool to John Bell’s Lear of 2010, when Carroll created a depth of character and humanity through his powerful non-verbal reactions to the observation of his friend and mentor’s arrogant self-destruction. 

Of course, there’s no rush to see Carroll’s work, he’s only 82; Gielgud still was appearing on stage in his mid-nineties. 

For those not fortunate enough to live in university town Belconnen, with its bookshops and array of exotic restaurants, the Belconnen Arts Centre certainly is worth a visit if you’ve never been; there are four spaces for the showings of individual art exhibitions, two theatrical performance spaces, a small gift shop selling the creations of local craftspeople and a charming café with seating indoor and outside on the shore of Lake Ginninderra. 

Maybe a visit to the north west, lunch at somewhere interesting on Emu Bank and an enjoyment of Shakespeare in Love would provide the opportunity for the beginning of a valued relationship. 

Shakespeare in Love, February 11-28, The Taming of the Shrew, February 26-27 both at Belco Arts. Bell Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, The Playhouse, April 10-18.