1. Southbank Theatre 2014 exterior at night
    Photograph: Benjamin Healley/Melbourne Theatre Company
  2. Southbank Theatre Sumner auditorium supplied
    Photograph: Supplied
  3. Southbank Theatre Lawler auditorium supplied image
    Photograph: Supplied

Southbank Theatre (Melbourne Theatre Company)

  • Theatre
  • Southbank
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Time Out says

The award-winning Southbank Theatre (formerly The MTC Theatre) is the principal home of Melbourne Theatre Company, and hosts productions in the Sumner (a 500-seat theatre) and the Lawler (a 150-seat studio space). For drinks and dining, try the onsite Script Bar & Bistro.

Details

Address
140 Southbank Blvd
Southbank
Melbourne
3006
Transport:
Nearby stations: Flinders Street

What’s on

The Removalists

4 out of 5 stars
Fifty years ago, David Williamson’s The Removalists barrelled onto the stage at Melbourne’s La Mama. Though loosely based on a true story, one can only imagine the reaction back then – gasps? Walkouts? Even now, in 2025, the play’s brashness hasn’t dulled. Police brutality, domestic violence, unchecked misogyny – it’s all still here. Director Anne-Louise Sarks (My Brilliant Career, A Streetcar Named Desire) stages this revival with a sharp eye for Williamson’s absurdist cynicism. The audience is seated in traverse – on both sides of the stage – as implicit witnesses. Sarks doesn’t try to modernise the text; instead, she leans into its 1970s setting (Matilda Woodroofe’s period-perfect costume design includes mustard dresses and flared jeans). The opening scene, set in a sterile police station cluttered with bureaucratic paperwork and buzzing under fluorescent lighting (a little too bright, perhaps), introduces Steve Mouzakis’ Sergeant Simmonds breaking in new recruit Ross (William McKenna). Ross rolls on his heels like a kid who’s wandered into the wrong classroom, while Simmonds mocks and steamrolls him – it’s classic schoolyard bullying. Just when the berating gets old, Eloise Mignon’s Fiona arrives, bruised and hesitant, with her sister Kate (Jessica Clarke), to report her husband’s latest assault. Now, suddenly, Simmonds is all charm. Of course, he’ll help. Of course, he’ll retrieve Fiona’s furniture. But, naturally, there’s a cost.  The set transitions cleverly – a...
  • Drama
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