Associate artistic director Daniel Evans said the novel was having another resurgence thanks to Netflix series Bridgerton, while the production, which he is directing, marked the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth.

“It’s a way to honour the mother of romantic comedy, because in Elizabeth Bennet you have the prototype for characters like Bridget Jones and Fleabag, and Mr Darcy is almost this iconic character,” he said.

In the absence of an artistic director, Evans, his co-artistic associate director Fiona MacDonald and Head of First Nations Theatre Isaac Drandic have collectively curated a 2025 season packed with audience favourites, popular stars and proven hits.

Finishing the year will be the Queensland premiere of Aaron Sorkin’s military courtroom drama A Few Good Men, which was made into a movie starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson.

Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica, a 2010 comedy by legendary Australian playwright David Williamson, plays mid-year, with stars Georgie Parker and Glenn Hazeldine reprising the roles they played in the original Sydney production.

“David’s thrilled to be back, and it will be the first time [Parker] is back with the company in 30 years,” Evans said.

Justine Clarke will give her landmark portrayal of Julia Gillard in Sydney Theatre Company’s Julia, and Richard Carroll is directing his take on the western musical comedy Calamity Jane, which he originally staged for Sydney’s Hayes Theatre.

There are two world premieres in the season: Dear Son, about First Nations men’s letters to their sons, and Malacang Made Us, Jordan Shea’s Queensland Premier’s Drama Award-winning play about a Filipino-Australian family.

Perhaps the most emotive production will be Back to Bilo, a new work about the Sri Lankan family living in Biloela that spent four years in immigration detention fighting deportation.

Onlookers might assume the season’s strong commercial focus was related to the POTUS cancellation. Gehrke said this wasn’t the case.

“The plan for 2025 was well under way, we were pretty much locked and loaded as we went into POTUS as a season,” she said.

Evans added: “We just wanted to give audiences a real wild ride, get a bit ambitious, get blockbustery, and create some event theatre.”

Gehrke said she was hopeful the Queensland Theatre board would appoint a new artistic director by the end of October.

Queensland Theatre season ticket packages are now on sale. Tickets to individual performances go on sale on Friday, October 11.

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