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The high-stakes High Court battle to uncover Buckingham Palace’s role in the 1975 dismissal of Gough Whitlam takes centre stage in the Sydney Theatre Company’s (STC) newly announced 2027 season.
Next year’s diverse line-up features the STC stage debut of comedian Celeste Barber as a runaway Amish baker, Tim Minchin as Charles Dickens’ iconic curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge and former Home and Away star Lynne McGranger as an activist nanna.
Mystery fans can look forward to Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries television series creators Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger bringing Kerry Greenwood’s famous lady detective to the stage in a South Seas cruise murder mystery, described as “Knives Out with cloche hats and fox stoles”.
Titled The Palace Letters, the new Australian play by Melanie Tait (The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race) dramatises historian Professor Jenny Hocking’s relentless legal campaign to access 211 secret letters exchanged between the Queen’s private secretary and Australian governor-general Sir John Kerr.
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Logie winner Georgie Parker will portray Hocking, while satirist and impersonator Jonathan Biggins steps into the shoes of Whitlam.
“I always hoped the story would find an expression in another form,” Hocking said of her legal journey, which overturned long-standing archival laws to prove that the monarch had been briefed on the potential dismissal without warning the prime minister.
“The journey to access the letters, the denial of access, the fact that it was the Queen’s embargo that meant we couldn’t look at them – all these things, together with the wonderful trajectory of eventual victory, make it such a dramatic story.
“It took nearly 50 years for the letters to come to light, and there are still new revelations surfacing today, some of which will feature in the play.”
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The production darts between the court case and the events of the dismissal itself, exploring the early friendship between Kerr and Whitlam, as well as Whitlam’s undying belief that Queen Elizabeth II would never play a role in his government’s removal – all leavened by humour and Whitlam’s signature caustic wit.
Parker was 11 when the official secretary to the governor-general read the proclamation and Whitlam famously declared on the steps of Parliament House: “Well may we say ‘God save the Queen’ – because nothing will save the Governor-General.” This is her “dream” role, and Whitlam a particular political hero of hers.
“I remember my mum having long, animated conversations on the phone,” Parker recalled. “She was a true fan of Gough and everything his government achieved. She realised it was a dangerous time for Australian politics – a tragedy, a travesty and a deeply traumatic moment for the country. We didn’t know the full scale of the betrayal and misuse of power back then. It’s a multi-tiered trauma.”
The Palace Letters is one of 13 productions – including four world premieres and six Australian debuts – that comprise STC’s 2027 season. Artistic director Mitchell Butel hopes it will follow STC hits this year with David Wenham’s An Iliad, Doubt: A Parable and the almost sold-out coming John Farnham bio-musical, Whispering Jack.
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But the commercial perils of live theatre remain stark, underscored by shortened runs for commercial musicals such as Beetlejuice The Musical and Waitress. STC posted an $8.7 million operating deficit at the end of 2025 or an overall loss of $565,759, after accounting for investment returns, philanthropic donations and government funding.
“It’s tough, very tough all over,” Butel said. “With four months left on the year to run and with four shows still to open in Sydney, our box office is doing well overall, but margins are tight. Subscriptions remain a vital part of our box office revenue mix, and we work hard to make them a valuable proposition for our loyal audiences.”
As for artificial intelligence posing a threat to live performance, Butel said: “Sorry, AI, but you can’t do what these artists can do. They defy algorithms and expectations.”
Family lies at the heart of the 2027 season. Reunited on the Wharf stages for the first time since 1989, Richard Roxburgh and Heather Mitchell return to star in Robert Icke’s adaptation of Oedipus. “It feels like the most perfect union of two theatrical titans,” Butel said.
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For Butel, Celeste Barber was an obvious choice for the titular role in David and Amy Sedaris’ kooky comedy The Book of Liz. Barber plays an Amish cheese-ball maker ousted from her community by an economic rationalist priest. “What follows is Candide meets The Wizard of Oz – a journey of very eccentric characters exploring what it means to be your authentic self,” Butel said.
Meanwhile, the Old Vic production of A Christmas Carol, adapted by Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Adolescence), promises an immersive, non-panto feast of redemption starring Tim Minchin.
The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday.
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Linda Morris is an arts writer at The Sydney Morning HeraldConnect via X, Facebook or email.AdvertisementAdvertisement