Black Swan State Theatre Company are gearing up for a jam-packed 2026 program that is filled with new works, regional tours, the return of a highly lauded work, and an investment in local talent.
Artistic Director Kate Champion caught up with OUTinPerth to talk us through the program for the year ahead which will begin with an exciting new show from cabaret favourite Meow Meow.
Champion is currently in Sydney ahead of Meow Meow’s Red Shoes opening in Sydney at Belvoir St Theatre. After a rehearsal period in Melbourne and some technical runs in Sydney, plus a preview, the show is gearing up for its opening night.
The co-production between Belvoir Street, Malthouse Theatre and Black Swan will be part of the Perth Festival in February and March.
Taking inspiration from the classic Hans Christian Andersen tale about a girl who is cursed to dance forever, Meow Meow wonders, what if she could never start dancing?
Champion says the cabaret star is “intoxicating” to be around. Asked that its like to be locked in a rehearsal room with the high energy performer for several weeks the director labels it “wild chaos”.
“As she says in one of the lines of the show, ‘My mind is magnificent, but it needs a lot of management.’ She’s wonderful, she’s the queen of improvisation and handling the audience, but it leaves all of who are making the work with her, we’ve got to be on our toes!”
Meow Meow’s Red Shoes is at His Majesty’s Theatre for a strictly limited season 26 February to 1 March, and is destined to be one of the highlights of the 2026 Perth Festival season.
A surprise, but very welcome inclusion, is a second season of the play RGB: of Many, One. Heather Mitchell drew standing ovations every night when she performed this one woman play for the company just last year. We were lucky enough to see the production and described Mitchell’s performance as “sensational” and “one of the best theatrical performances in a decade.”
The Suzie Miller play charts the career of trailblazing US jurist Ruth Bader Ginsberg as she joins the Supreme Court. Mitchell commands the stage portraying Ginsberg, her husband, her children, Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama, Donald Trump, as well as all the other judges on the US Supreme Court.
Its a play about an inspirational woman, but also about society, politics and government – and in our rapidly changing times, probably has even more resonance now that it did 18 months ago.
“You can wait five years to bring something back, I don’t want to risk that, because I’m pretty sure Heather won’t still be doing it. She’ll be on to other things. So it felt like just here and now we have to do this.” Champion said of the decision to bring the play back for another round.
Tickets for this one are sure to sell out in record time, not only will the thousands of people who were on a long waiting list for tickets last time be clamoring to go, everyone who was lucky enough to see it last time will want to go again.
Black Swan’s third production for 2026 will be a new play commissioned by the company. A reimagining of Tim Winton’s The Shepherd’s Hut.
Fifteen-year-old Jaxie Clackton, angry and alone, flees across WA’s salt lands. Instead of freedom, he finds Fintan MacGillis, a disgraced priest exiled to a crumbling hut at the edge of the world. As the unlikely pair form a fragile bond, buried secrets rise, forcing both to reckon with their pasts and confront life-changing choices.
Directed by Matt Edgerton and starring George Shevtsov, The Shepherd’s Hut is described as a raw and poetic exploration of masculinity, isolation and the violence of hope.
The production will see George Shevtsov working with the company for the first time in five years, having last appeared in Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard.
“Brilliant” is the word Champion uses to describe the much-loved local actor, and shares that the play is one that has been bubbling away in development for a few years.
Australian playwright Kendall Feaver has received wide acclaim for her play The Almighty Sometimes, and several productions have been staged both here in Australia and overseas in recent years. Black Swan will present their take on the powerful play with a season at the Subiaco Arts Centre in June and July.
The work explores a relationship between a mother and daughter, and has a strong focus on mental health and relationship dynamics.
“Such an impressive debut,” Champion says of Feaver’s play. “This play captures the heart-wrenching dilemma of any parent who has had to learn to let their offspring finally steer their own course alongside the experience of a young adult who needs to rebel in order to test their own boundaries – even at the expense of heartbreak and damage.”
The Artistic Director also assures us that it’s also incredibly funny at the same time.
“I am drawn to authors that can go into heavy, dark, challenging material, but always with a sense of humor, always balancing it, always making is so as the tears emerge, you get a belly laugh. It’s kind of that mixture, which I find appealing in an Australian character. Actually. I think we, I think our writers tend to do it quite well.” Champion said.
Local actor and playwright Will O’Mahony will also star in a new work that he has written. Day (After Day) In the Life of the Useless is a very timely tale. In the play we meet Pete whose life is not going so well, his weddings off, he’s been dumped and been branded a ‘robot’. So he turns to A.I for guidance on life and it all goes comically wrong.
Campion said O’Mahony is a talented actor, director and writer and she’s been wanting to commission something from him for quite some time.
“This feels like really a moment in the zeitgeist,” Champion said of the script, noting it touches not only on how technology is changing our lives, but the challenges faced by young men trying to find their place in society.
“It’s so witty, it’s so clever.” she adds, saying she’s excited that Mahony will also be performing the work under the direction of Adam Mitchell.
Next up Black Swan will team up with Yirra Yaakin for a production of Declan Furber Gillick’s play Jacky. Champion will co-direct the work alongside Maitland Schnaars, the Artistic Director of Yirra Yaakin.
The play which tackles multiple themes around race and society has been highly praised when its been performed in Melbourne and Sydney. Champion shares that she loves how Furber’s script brings together a regional and urban Indigenous perspective, while also tackling a wide array of other topics.
The company will also be taking two productions out into regional areas in 2026. Firstly Raised in Big Spirit Country will be heading to Broome for a season at the Goolari Amphitheatre in September. Then through October and November the play Pool will be travelling to Port Hedland, Karratha, Newman and Wagin.
Champion tells us the playwright Steve Rogers will return to adapt the play include a monologue specific to each town that will be be developed with a local resident.
The play made its debut at the 2024 Perth Festival and rather than being performed in a theatre it’s staged at the local pool, making it perfect for a regional tour where the town pool is often the centre of the community.
“It’s truly where we go to community.” Champion said sharing that she loves the concept of a show that brings the performance to people who might not normally head to the theatre.
The 2026 Black Swan season are on sale to Friends of Black Swan now and to the General Public on 14 October.
Black Swan announces Naomi Pigram-Mitchell as Associate Artistic Director
The company has also announced that Naomi Pigram-Mitchell will take up the role of Associate Artistic Director, following her tenure as Resident Artist. A proud Yawuru and Wadjarri woman, Pigram-Mitchell brings a wealth of creativity, leadership and culture to this important role.
In a statement the company said the appointment strengthens Pigram-Mitchell’s contribution to Black Swan’s artistic team, enabling her continued growth as a director under the mentorship of Artistic Director Kate Champion. They note her unique artistic skills and cultural perspective are an integral component in the ongoing development of works for Black Swan, including Raised in Big Spirit Country and Wiyawiya.
“Naomi’s significant history with Black Swan’s foundational roots makes this exciting appointment a continuation of the recognition of our proud past and a collaboration towards our vision for the future. I’m excited to be mentoring Naomi with her directorial ambitions and inspiring artistic developments.” Champion said.
Naomi Pigram-Mitchell’s artistic vision has been shaped by her deep connection to Black Swan’s history, beginning in 1990 when, as a 12-year-old, she saw the premiere of Bran Nue Dae by Jimmy Chi and Kuckles at the Octagon Theatre, where it was directed by Black Swan’s co-founder, Andrew Ross.
“It changed my life.” she said of her childhood experience. “To witness what is regarded as Australia’s first Indigenous musical on stage, so far from home, and to see an audience celebrate something that belonged to me, to my people, was priceless,”
“To now step into the role of Associate Artistic Director feels like a continuation of that journey, and I’m honoured to contribute to Black Swan’s future while carrying forward the legacy of our cultural stories,” she said.
Her new work Raised in Big Spirit Country draws on those foundations.
“Raised in Big Spirit Country is a musical celebration of the ‘Broome sound’ and the people who brought it to national prominence. It’s really a multicultural mix of music which combines the diverse cultural backgrounds that have shaped Broome; the local influences from Bran Nue Dae, the music festival Stompen Ground, and pioneering bands like Kuckles, Scrap Metal and the Pigram Brothers — who were instrumental in defining the sound of the region and sharing it across Australia.
“It also draws on the presence of those of Asian descent who settled in Broome during the pearling boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, along with the generational impacts of growing up in the 80s and 90s,” she said.
“I’m hoping that Raised in Big Spirit Country can rebuild the connection that started almost 30 years ago with Bran Nue Dae, and that we can continue to stage these kinds of works, so the voices and stories of the Kimberley can be heard far and wide.”
