The best theatres in Brisbane

Sydney has the Opera House. Melbourne has the Arts Centre. And in Brisbane, the home to the best shows in town since 1985 has been the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. Perfectly situated on the river next to the Queen Victoria Bridge opposite its sister venue, the Queensland Art Gallery, QPAC is an elegantly brutalist design of towering concrete and airy open spaces. A year-round program of major concerts, opera, theatre, comedy and special events takes place here across four venues: the Lyric Theatre, Concert Hall, Playhouse Theatre and the intimate Cremorne Theatre. The Tony Gould Gallery on the ground floor is a museum dedicated to the performing arts that is named after QPAC's founding director. Dining-wise the complex offers a bistro, café and upmarket Lyrebird Restaurant.  

A former power station built in the 1920s by the river next to beautiful New Farm Park, Brisbane Powerhouse reopened in 2000 as a vibrant centre for all things creative. Pandemics aside, the Powerhouse hosts some 1,250 performances every year in its 11 separate venues: theatre, dance, comedy, panel talks, movies, cabaret, burlesque, concerts, markets and visual arts. Fascinating one-hour tours of the building are available that take in the venue's industrial past and its heritage-listed graffiti. Two bars and restaurants offer refreshments and river views.

Brisbane Arts Theatre has sat up on Petrie Terrace as a monument to community theatre in the Sunshine State since 1961. An intimate 151-seat venue, it stages a year-round season of shows for adults and children and also hosts workshops in performance and musical theatre. Open auditions are held for many of its productions, offering pathways for newcomers to break into the performing arts. The company itself has been in existence since 1936 and remains proudly independent – in 2016 it became the first community theatre in Australia to take in $1 million in box office in a single year. 

La Boite is Australia's oldest continuously running theatre company, having its origins in the 1920s when Barbara Sisley had the idea of forming a repertory theatre in Brisbane. Then called the Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society, its first production was in 1925. It wasn't until 1967 that the company opened its own theatre, converting a small house on Hale Street in Milton into a theatre in the round and christening it 'La Boite' (French for 'the box'). Bille Brown starred in its first production – the famous 'angry young man' play Look Back in Anger, directed by Babette Stephens. The 70-seater was replaced with an architect-designed 200-seat theatre in 1972, which remained its famous home until the end of 2003 when the company moved into the purpose-built Roundhouse Theatre on the Kelvin Grove campus of QUT. Here, the company plays a vital role as a producer of new Australian works, and its stated vision is to be Australia's most diverse theatre company. 

Actor Bille Brown died tragically at just 61 after an impressive career in both the UK and Australia, and Queensland Theatre subsequently named their 351-seat venue after him. Formerly the Bille Brown Studio, it underwent a $5.5 million renovation in 2018. It's the home base stage for Australia's third largest theatre company, hosting an exciting annual season of classics, contemporary Australian and international works, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander theatre.

Queensland Theatre – formerly the Queensland Theatre Company – has a long and distinguished history as the state's flagship theatre company. Turning 50 in 2020, its former artistic directors include such arts luminaries as Wesley Enoch, Robyn Nevin, Michael Gow and Sam Strong. Each year it presents a mainstage program of new Australian plays, classics and international hits. For years based at the old SGIO (aka Suncorp) Theatre in Turbot Street, and later occupying the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Queensland Theatre now has its own premises on (the aptly Shakespearean) Montague Road, South Brisbane. The building includes two performance spaces: Bille Brown Theatre and the Diane Cilento Studio, both named after late Queensland-born actors who had distinguished international careers. Performances also take place at QPAC's venues.

Oddly enough, the Gardens Theatre on the campus at the Queensland University of Technology is the only performing arts complex within the Brisbane CBD. It's a 495-seat proscenium arch theatre with a pleasant foyer looking directly onto the Gardens. An annual season of professional theatre and musical productions is presented here as well as kids' shows, concerts and dance. In addition, QUT Gardens Theatre supports the work of the Acting and Dance Performance students from the Creative Industries Faculty by hosting their public showcase productions. 

Diane Cilento (1932-2011) was an Australian actress born in Mooloolaba, Queensland, who is most famous for her Oscar-nominated performance in 1963's Tom Jones and for a troubled nine-year marriage to Sean Connery. She was a true patron to the arts in Queensland, and Queensland Theatre have named their 100-person venue after her. It's a black box-style studio where smaller, cabaret-style performances take place, and it can be hired for rehearsals, auditions, functions and corporate events. 

After 40 years in a heritage listed six-storey building in Edward Street, Brisbane's independent performance and visual arts venue began a new chapter in new West Village premises in September 2020. The new Metro Arts precinct features an underground theatre, two galleries, two rehearsal rooms and the Factory Lane outdoor precinct, encompassing the foyer, box office, café and bar. At Metro Arts you can expect to see cutting-edge local and touring theatre productions and exhibitions of contemporary art spanning installation, painting, sculpture, video and performance art. Metro Arts has always occupied an important place in the vibrancy of culture in Brisbane. Proceeds from the sale of 109 Edward Street enabled them to establish the Metro Arts Future Fund (MAFF), designed to ensure artists and arts projects will be funded well into the future.

The Tivoli (or the Tiv as it is affectionately known) has quite the résumé. The building started life in the early 20th century as a bakery before being used as a book storage facility by the State Library. Eventually it was bought by Ann Gams who – inspired by the famous Paradis Latin cabaret club in Paris – turned the building into the Tivoli Restaurant and Theatre. Most recently, the Tiv was bought by Steve and Dave Sleswick, and continues to be one of Brisbane's best live music venues. The Art Deco-accented theatre and concert venue has hosted music royalty over the years, including Nick Cave, Missy Higgins, Paul Kelly, Taylor Swift, PJ Harvey and even Bob Dylan. A sizeable crowd of 1,500 can scootch into the main auditorium and the Tiv's golden bar has a decent drinks list plus food from City Winery. If you're heading to the Tiv for a gig, dress lightly – there's no cloakroom.