2026 season
This event is an initiative of the students from TAFE Queensland Brisbane region as part of their assessment.
Front Cover image by Jade Ellis, Who’s Afraid of the Working Class by A. Bovell, P. Cornelius, M. Reeves & C. Tsiolkas. Directed by Lisa O’Neill. Inside Cover image by Jade Ferguson. Let Them Eat Chaos by Kae Tempest. Directed by Lisa O’Neill.
Welcome to the acting, drama and performance 2026 season
We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which TAFE Queensland operates. We recognise the continuing connection to land, waters, culture and kin that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples uphold. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, who give us strength, inspiration and guidance to deliver great training outcomes for all Queenslanders.
Norman Price Theatre
The Norman Price Theatre is located on our South Bank campus in the heart of Brisbane’s arts and cultural precinct. The campus is adjacent to art galleries, performing arts venues, the museum, the State Library and easy access to the city, the beautiful South Bank Parklands, as well as plenty of cafés and restaurants to enjoy a pre-show meal.
Parking
Onsite parking is available during the performance season. Enter via Glenelg and Merivale Streets for free parking.
Venue
Norman Price Theatre
TAFE Queensland
South Bank campus
C Block, 66 Ernest Street, South Brisbane
Bookings
Limited seats, booking is essential. Book online here or scan the QR code.
C Block
C Block
Brand New Ancients
By Kae Tempest
27- 30 May
FIRST YEAR STUDENTS
Bachelor of Creative Industries –Acting and Performance
“The Gods are all here. Because the Gods are in us.”
Kae Tempest
“Tempest’s everyday epic of small heroics and bad behaviour recasts the ancient gods as two London families – and in particular two half-brothers – whose lives are unknowingly entwined…Tempest’s story of small people struggling to be superheroes is gritty and gobby. False gods…are lambasted with searing anger, and humanity is celebrated in all its terrible imperfections. Tempest’s compassionate show is the antidote to the weary cynicism that says we can change nothing.”- Lyn Gardner, The Guardian, 2012
Kae Tempest (he/him) was born in London in 1985 and is one of Britain’s most exciting and vital poetic voices.
Directed by Lisa
O’Neill
Assisted by Anatoly Frusin
7pm
Admission Prices
Adults $25
Concession $15
BOOK NOW
Fear and Misery of the Third Reich
By Bertolt Brecht
Production by arrangement with ORiGiN Theatrical, on behalf of RIGHTS HOLDER
SECOND YEAR STUDENTS
Bachelor of Creative Industries –Acting and Performance
“In the dark times. Will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times.”
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht’s Fear and Misery of the Third Reich depicts life in Nazi Germany in the years between the appointment of Adolf Hitler as German Chancellor and the frenzied descent into World War II.
Written during the playwright’s self-imposed exile in Denmark, and first performed in Paris in 1938, it exposes how fear, propaganda, and repression infiltrated everyday existence. It meticulously portrays ordinary citizens trapped in a system where private choices become political acts and survival often demands complicity. Through 24 fragmented but thematically interlocked scenes, Brecht moves between horror, humour and mundanity to reveal a society corroded by suspicion, pretence and terror.
Fear and Misery of the Third Reich stands as a stark indictment of totalitarianism and its human cost, no matter when or where it rears its ugly head.
Directed by Brian Lucas
What of the Night?
By Maria Irene Fornés
18 - 21 Nov
THIRD YEAR STUDENTS
Bachelor of Creative Industries –Acting and Performance
“Watchman, what of the night?”
The watchman said, “The morning cometh and also the night.”
ISAIAH 21.11-12
Maria Irene Fornés is considered the most influential female American dramatist of the twentieth century.
Published in the late 1980s, What of The Night? is an extraordinary epic: four interlocking plays span 60 years from the Great Depression in 1938 to a terrifying dystopia at the turn of the 21st Century.
A dysfunctional family grapples with poverty, love, power and regret as they try to find their way in a world that seeks to crush them.
Fornés has crafted a fantastical and gritty parable about the world we live in, and the struggle for survival that we in the 21st Century are facing right now.
Permission granted by Paladin Artists, Inc.
Directed by Lisa O’Neill 7pm
Studio showings
A glimpse into the daily work of the students
ACTING AND DRAMA STUDENTS
Bachelor of Creative Industries –Acting, Drama and Performance
ACTING SHOWCASES
The acting students present a collection of scenes and monologues worked on during the semester.
1ST YEAR STUDENTS
7pm | 11 May and 2 November
2ND YEAR STUDENTS
7pm | 3 November
3RD YEAR STUDENTS
7pm | 14 May and 4 November
SHAKESPEARE STUDIO
2nd year students
7pm | 12 and 13 May
DRAMA PROJECTS
The drama students present the outcomes of their creative projects.
7pm | 15 and 16 May
7pm | 5 - 7 November
SOLO PERFORMANCE MAKING PRESENTATIONS
Under the guidance of performing artist Brian Lucas, the 2nd year drama and acting students create and present original solo work.
7pm | 20 - 23 May
Norman Price Theatre
Admission Free
IMAGE by Jade Ellis, Who’s Afraid of the Working Class by A. Bovell, P. Cornelius, M. Reeves & C. Tsiolkas. Directed by Lisa O’Neill
Brisbane courses
Our acting degrees are delivered in partnership with the University of Canberra, combining practical, industry-focused training with a nationally recognised university qualification. You’ll graduate with a University of Canberra degree, all from the convenience of studying in Brisbane.
If you’re ready for an intense, transformative experience that demands everything you’ve got, this is where it begins. This is rigorous, discipline-driven training that challenges you to explore the depths of acting and performance: physically, vocally, and intellectually. You’ll engage with demanding techniques, ensemble work, and performance-making practices that push boundaries and ignite creative risk-taking.
Our courses cultivate resilience, precision, and artistic courage, the qualities that define exceptional actors and theatre-makers. Regular live productions give you the chance to test your craft in front of audiences, building your presence and stamina. This training will prepare you for work in live performance and equip you with the discipline, adaptability, and creative insight to thrive in any artistic or professional context.
Courses at a glance
ARB401
Bachelor of Creative Industries (Acting and Performance)
In partnership with the University of Canberra
ARB404
Bachelor of Creative Industries (Drama and Performance)
In partnership with the University of Canberra
CUA30213
Certificate III in Community Dance,Theatre and Events (Acting) TAFE at SchoolApply through your school
IMAGE by Jade Ellis
Who’s Afraid of the Working Class by A. Bovell, P. Cornelius, M. Reeves & C. Tsiolkas
Directed by Lisa O’Neill
How to apply
ARB401
Bachelor of Creative Industries (Acting and Performance)
In partnership with the University of Canberra
HOW TO APPLY
Applications open all year
Audition required
Visit tafeqld.edu.au to apply Call (07) 3244 5521
Scan QR Code for more course information
ARB404
Bachelor of Creative Industries (Drama and Performance)
In partnership with the University of Canberra
HOW TO APPLY
Audition not required
Apply through QTAC or direct entry with the University of Canberra Call (07) 3244 5521
Scan QR Code for more course information
Robert the Cat
Robert The Cat (RTC) is a theatre collective headed by directors
Lisa O’Neill and Anatoly Frusin. For over two decades they have had the privilege of working with apprentice actors in their acting and performance course at TAFE Queensland, staging work marked by an emotional intensity, physicality and theatricality.
The RTC collective has been established to provide their graduate artists further opportunities to develop and stage new work as performers, writers and makers in challenging contemporary theatre.
Productions include Love & Information by Caryl Churchill (2019), Flat Out Like A Lizard by Norman Price (2020), Sunny Tribe District (2022) by Patrick Mu’a and Famished Future Feeders (2024) by Jules Broun.
Visit us at: roberthecattheatre.com
IMAGE by Jasmine Prasser
Famished Future Feeders by Jules Broun
Venue partner
NIDA
TAFE Queensland is proud to be in partnership with NIDA: The National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney.
Each year NIDA offers scholarships for two exceptional 3rd year TAFE Queensland acting students to visit NIDA in Sydney to audit and partake in activities at the central school over a two-week study secondment.
Scholarships are also offered to acting and drama students to enrol into the NIDA Open Program and master workshops held with guest teachers from Sydney.
Visit us at: nida.edu.au/home
IMAGE by Jade Ellis, Who’s Afraid of the Working Class by A. Bovell, P. Cornelius, M. Reeves & C. Tsiolkas. Directed by Lisa O’Neill
IMAGE by Jade Ellis Who’s Afraid of the Working Class by A. Bovell, P. Cornelius, M. Reeves & C. Tsiolkas
Directed by Lisa O’Neill