Brisbane theatre guide: 5 best shows to see in June 2026

Days may be getting shorter here, but Brisbane’s stages are anything but dark this time of year. Between the tail-end of comedy festival season and the countdown to Brisbane Festival, June delivers everything from Broadway smash hits to bold new works. 

Here are five of the best shows to catch this month, with a few bonus picks thrown in.

Beetlejuice The Musical 

After a hugely successful Australian premiere in Melbourne, Eddie Perfect’s wacky adaptation of Beetlejuice lands at QPAC this June, bringing Tim Burton’s cult film to the stage in all its chaotic glory.

Described as ‘quite a ride’ by Thuy On in her four-star review for ArtsHub, the story follows recently deceased couple Barbara and Adam Maitland as they attempt to scare away the new owners of their home with the help of bio-exorcist Betelgeuse.

While the musical takes plenty of liberties with the original film, it leans fully into absurd comedy, spectacular visuals and sharp wordplay. Olivier Award winner and three time Tony nominated actor Andy Karl will star in the title role. If you want a taste of Broadway but don’t want to leave Brisbane, this is your ticket.

Beetlejuice is at the Lyric Theatre at Brisbane’s QPAC from 7 June. The national tour then continues to Perth, Adelaide and Sydney.

Assembly 2026

When it comes to fresh voices and emerging talent, few programs do it better than La Boite Theatre’s Assembly. Returning in 2026, the artist development initiative showcases seven brand-new short works created by seven writers, seven directors and 14 actors.

Each piece runs just 10 minutes long, but the program offers a snapshot of where Brisbane theatre is heading next. Developed over six months through mentorships, workshops and collaboration with industry professionals, Assembly is one of the best ways to experience the city’s newest theatrical voices before they break onto bigger stages.

Assembly 2026 is at La Boite’s Roundhouse Theatre from 19 to 20 June. 

Dax Savage: Last Man on Earth

Pip Theatre continues its strong run as one of Brisbane’s most exciting independent theatre spaces with Fake Blood’s Dax Savage: Last Man on Earth. This post-apocalyptic queer work throws a man from present-day society 100 years into the future, asking whether civilisation has collapsed or whether he has simply failed to evolve with it.

It features a stellar local cast, including Mailka Savory, the winner of the 2025 Matilda Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role – Independent Production for their work in The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek, a standout production at Pip Theatre last year.

Dax Savage: Last Man on Earth is at Pip Theatre from 11 to 13 June.

Mikelangelo: In the Belly of the Whale

Keeping things lighthearted over at Brisbane Powerhouse, the Croatian-Australian performer Michael Simic brings his delightfully strange solo work In the Belly of the Whale to the stage. Directed by Tracy Bourne, the production sees Simic wrestling with his larger-than-life alter ego, Mikelangelo, through maritime ballads, seafaring stories and absurdist theatre.

Things turn belly up when both performer and persona become trapped inside a sperm whale. Equal parts cabaret, comedy and existential crisis, this is theatre at its most eccentric.

See Mikelangelo: In the Belly of the Whale for yourself at Powerhouse Theatre on 19 June.

Six Characters in Search of an Author

Illusion and reality collide at Ad Astra with Luigi Pirandello’s classic meta-theatrical work Six Characters in Search of an Author. The production follows six unfinished characters who interrupt a theatre rehearsal demanding their story be told, blurring the line between performance and real life.

Written over a century ago, you might ask why this play, and why now? As director Heidi Gledhill stated: ‘We live in a world saturated with competing versions of truth, shaped by technology, performance, and perception. The line between what is real and what is constructed has never been more blurred.’

Twenty performers are in this small work, which makes this one of the largest companies on an independent theatre stage this year. It will be a feat to see this many actors onstage.

Six Characters in Search of an Author is at Ad Astra Theatre until 6 June.

More Brisbane highlights for the calendar

Beetlejuice may be the biggest drawcard at QPAC this June, but there’s plenty more to see across the arts centre’s other stages. Shake & Stir Theatre Co put their signature contemporary spin on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which stars Jeremiah Wray (The Great Gatsby, A Few Good Men, Frankenstein) as Macbeth and the company’s own Co-Artistic Director Nelle Lee as Lady Macbeth, while Belvoir St Theatre brings Lose To Win to the Cremorne Theatre, the final stop on its 2026 tour. Lose to Win is a remarkable true story where actor Mandela Mathia recounts his refugee journey from South Sudan to Egypt to performing on Australian stages.

At QPAC, Opera Queensland also dives under the sea with Dvořák’s Rusalka, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. Reuniting much of the creative team behind Opera Australia’s acclaimed 2025 production, including director Sarah Giles, set designer Charles Davis, costume designer Renée Mulder and lighting designer Paul Jackson, you can expect a lush fairytale spectacle with the formidable Eleanor Lyons as Rusalka.

At the Powerhouse, June brings another solo production, Hamlet performed by Eddie Izzard. No, this isn’t Izzard’s usual comedy, and perhaps that’s why there have been mixed reviews across the globe, including a one-star review in The Guardian. Dame Judi Dench, on the other hand, has been quoted saying ‘Eddie Izzard’s Hamlet is spectacular’.

Elsewhere in Brisbane, Pip Theatre delivers a stacked June line-up that includes A Steady Rain by Aparo Production from House of Cards and Mad Men writer Keith Huff. Inspired by true events, it follows two Chicago policemen who must come to terms with a deadly error in judgment. The 2009 Broadway production starred Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, while here in Brisbane we have our very own local superstars, Matthew Filkins and Zac Boulton.

Also at Pip Theatre in June, the Velvet Collective presents Marius von Mayenburg’s psychological drama Fireface. The story follows teenage siblings Kurt and Olga, played by Logan So and Ava Ryan, whose dangerously obsessive relationship spirals into violence, arson and destruction. Told through a rapid series of short vignettes, the work balances disturbing subject matter with biting black humour and sharp social commentary. 

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