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Ballarat National Theatre

Making theatre for our community since 1938

Our Upcoming Events

  • A Date with Death

    July 5 - 14

    Swipe right on a night of variety with Ballarat National Theatre for the best first date of your life - and one that just might be your last!

    Get tix & chill with us this winter, with a smorgasbord of short plays and monologues that explore a theme that touches every single one of us. 

  • Persuasion

    Coming April 2024

    Anne Elliot, daughter of the snobbish Sir Walter Elliot, is a woman of deep feelings who is always forced to put everyone before herself.

    When she was nineteen, she fell in love with, and was engaged to, naval officer, the fearless and headstrong Captain Wentworth. The young man had no fortune, and Anne allowed herself to be persuaded to give him up.

  • Dancing at Lughnasa

    Sep 27 - Oct 5

    Brian Friel’s Olivier Award-winning play is an astonishing evocation of a family’s world on the brink of change.

    It's harvest time in County Donegal, Ireland, 1936. Outside the village of Ballybeg, the five Mundy sisters battle poverty to raise seven-year-old Michael and care for their brother, ‘Uncle’ Jack.

    During the Festival of Lughnasa, Pagan and Christian meet and collide. The sisters fight each other, love each other, dance, yearn and survive.

    More ways to get involved

    Theatre Club

    Join us the second Saturday every month, 5pm at BNT's room at Barkly Square for a members-only screening of an international theatre performance.

    Monologue Karaoke

    It's like karaoke, but for theatre!
    Join us the third Wednesday of every month at Volta from 7pm.
    Got an audition piece you want to keep fresh? Want to perform but don't have time for a full season of rehearsals? Want to meet other members of your theatre community?

    BNT Merchandise is Here

    Have a look at the new BNT merchandise on Threadless.

    Purchases support Ballarat National Theatre with a percentage of the purchase price going to the organisation.

    Acknowledgement of Country

    We are located in Ballarat, where the Traditional Custodians of the land are the Wadawurrung people. The Wadawurrung are part of the Kulin Nation, the longest living and continuous culture on our planet. In the spirit of reconciliation, we give our deepest respect to Australia’s First Nations Peoples, their histories, their stories, their resilience, their connection to culture and land.

    We gladly pay our respects to the wisdom of their Elders, past, present and emerging. We acknowledge that sovereignty of this land was never ceded.

    Visit https://www.wadawurrung.org.au for more information.

    Background artwork by local artist Tarni Jarvis – Kurrong Kalat https://kurrongkalat.myshopify.com The artwork combines traditional symbolism, modern colour and influences. It was inspired by the local mountain ranges that surround the Central Highlands region. The curve symbol is similar to traditional symbols and is used in this work to symbolise mountain ranges. The colours and dots are modern influences on the artwork.