Melbourne Theatre Company unveils cast for major new staging of UNCLE VANYA

Melbourne Theatre Company has announced an all-star cast of stage and screen performers for the centrepiece production of its 2026 season, Uncle Vanya, directed by Anne-Louise Sarks.

Previously announced cast members Daniel Henshall (Snowtown, The Babadook, How to Make Gravy) and Catherine Văn-Davies (Hungry Ghosts, The Twelve) will be joined by Fayssal Bazzi (Stateless, Mr Inbetween, Much Ado About Nothing), Carolyn Bock (POTUS, Dalliance), Don Bridges (Nautilus, The Twelve, Judy & Punch), Evelyn Krape (Bloom, Yentl), Philippa Northeast (The Newsreader, Home and Away, My Brilliant Career) and Shaun Micallef (Mad as Hell, Talkin’ ’Bout Your Generation). Daniel Henshall is returning to the stage for the first time since 2013, with Shaun Micallef also making a theatrical return after his last stage appearance in 2016.

Joanna Murray-Smith’s adaptation of Chekhov’s timeless masterpiece will take over Arts Centre Melbourne’s Playhouse from 21 July – 22 August. Realised on an ambitious scale for its Melbourne premiere, the production features a lush, richly detailed set and costume design by Dann Barber (Bloom, Yentl, RENT).

“Bringing together a cast of this calibre is special,” says Melbourne Theatre Company Artistic Director & CEO Anne- Louise Sarks. “This extraordinary ensemble will bring the wit, the wrestle and the heartbreak that makes Anton Chekhov’s world so enduring. I’m drawn to classic works that can speak to the present moment, and Uncle Vanya does exactly that. Beneath its humour, it asks urgent questions about our relationship with the environment, the tensions within families and across generations, and what happens when we wake up one day and realise we’re completely stuck. More than a century after it was written, those questions remain as resonant as ever, and I’m so ready to bring this major new production to Melbourne audiences.”

Fresh from her 2025 adaptation of The Talented Mr Ripley, Joanna Murray-Smith (Julia, Switzerland) brings sharp psychological insight to Chekhov’s 1897 classic. Her adaptation keeps “the spirit of Chekhov gloriously intact” (Sydney Morning Herald) while unlocking the play’s darkly comic meditation on wasted lives and the courage it takes to keep going.“Chekhov is the saddest and the funniest of writers – each in perfect balance and together the most realistic response to life itself. I’m thrilled to be bringing my adaptation of Uncle Vanya to the company that has steered my career and the audiences who have supported me play after play. I hope it is as volatile, exhilarating and forensic about the human experience as it was in Chekhov’s day,” says playwright Joanna Murray-Smith.

The creative team of Uncle Vanya includes Anne-Louise Sarks (Director), Dann Barber (Set & Costume Designer), Paul Jackson (Lighting Designer), Grace Ferguson and Joe Paradise Lui (Co-Composers & Sound Designers), Amy Hume (Voice & Text Coach), Liv Satchell (Associate Director), Silvia Shao (Associate Set & Costume Designer) and John Augustine Sharp (Associate Composer & Sound Designer). The cast will take on the following roles: Fayssal Bazzi (Astrov), Carolyn Bock (Maryia), Don Bridges (Telyeghin), Daniel Henshall (Uncle Vanya), Evelyn Krape (Nanny), Philippa Northeast (Sonya), Shaun Micallef (Serebryakov) and Catherine Văn-Davies (Yelena).

Uncle Vanya

By Anton Chekhov

Adapted by Joanna Murray-Smith

Directed by Anne-Louise Sarks

Cast: Fayssal Bazzi, Carolyn Bock, Don Bridges, Daniel Henshall, Evelyn Krape, Philippa Northeast, Shaun Micallef, and Catherine Văn-Davies

Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse

21 July-22 August 2026

Tickets from $75 plus booking fee