Breaking Classics.
Making Chaos.
SINCE 2016
SEASON 2026
JULIUS CAESAR
William Shakespeare
15 - 24 October 2026
ST MARTINS - IRENE MITCHELL STUDIO
Rome is watching. So should you. Who do you follow when everyone claims to be serving Rome?
Artefact Theatre Company brings Shakespeare’s political thriller to the intimate St Martins Irene Mitchell Studio this October.
As Caesar’s power grows, the people closest to him begin to question what loyalty is worth and how far they’ll go to protect the Republic. Omens fill the streets, alliances form in the dark, and every voice in the room is trying to win the crowd.
Written more than 400 years ago, Julius Caesar has never felt more current. It’s a play about ambition, persuasion and conviction, where friendships become alliances and whoever controls the story controls the city.
This production marks a first for Artefact. Julius Caesar is performed by a company of graduate actors as part of an intensive pilot course culminating in a full performance season. Fifteen emerging Melbourne performers take on one of Shakespeare’s most demanding texts, with many playing multiple roles.
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
Freely adapted by Martin Crimp after Edmond Rostand
12 - 28 February 2026
fortyfivedownstairs
★★★★ - THE AGE
“An epic dismantling of traditional masculine ideals”
★★★★ - LIMELIGHT
“This update thrillingly elevates the poetry of the original”
AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW
“There are few absolutes, but the fact is Artefact Theatre has produced magnificent theatre since 2016 and Cyrano De Bergerac is their best work yet.”
A genius with language but convinced of his own ugliness, Cyrano secretly loves the radiant Roxane—who's fallen for the beautiful but inarticulate Christian. When Cyrano offers to ghost-write his rival's seduction, he sets in motion a poignant, hilarious, and ultimately devastating love triangle where performance and authenticity become fatally entangled.
Martin Crimp's radical adaptation of Edmond Rostand's masterwork strips the romance down to its brutal core: a linguistic tour-de-force that examines the cost of forsaking who we are for who we feel we should be. This is Cyrano for the modern age—an unflinching examination of identity, masculinity, and desire.
Founded in 2016, Artefact Theatre Co. is a fully independent, self funded theatre company dedicated to producing high calibre, memorable theatre.
Past Shows
MAY 2022
Constellations
Romeo & Juliet
OCTOBER 2023
OCTOBER 2023
The Real Inspector Hound
Our Team
Mark Yeates
Founder & Co-Artistic Director
Matthew Cox
Co-Artistic Director
Praise for
Artefact Theatre Co.
-
“The power and punch of Martin Crimp’s adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, as superbly realised by Artefact Theatre Company, will stay with me for a long time.”
— The Blurb
for Cyrano De Bergerac, 2026 -
“There are few absolutes, but the fact is Artefact Theatre has produced magnificent theatre since 2016 and Cyrano De Bergerac is their best work yet.”
— Australian Arts Review
for Cyrano De Bergerac, 2026 -
"After the dumpster fire that has been the last few years, Artefact Theatre’s production of The Real Inspector Hound offers Melbourne audiences the chance to go to the theatre again and have a much needed full-bellied laugh."
— ArtsHub
for The Real Inspector Hound, May 2022 -
“Every Possible bit of humour is drawn out and presented, like a pie to the face”
— TheatrePeople
for Much Ado About Nothing, 2019
Follow Us
