Skip to main content

Picnic at Hanging Rock A play by Tom Wright
Adapted from the novel by Joan Lindsay
Directed by Ian Michael

17 February – 5 April 2025

In the Drama Theatre

Sydney Theatre Company

Theatre

Crack open one of the most famous fables of contemporary Australia in this heartstopping and thoroughly contemporary investigation of innocence, cultural clash, and the enduring power of the wilderness.    

Contemporary horror meets a timeless tale

Tom Wright’s acclaimed adaptation of Picnic at Hanging Rock is an eerie, beautiful and visionary take on the gothic tale that changed Australian storytelling forever.  

Five modern teenage girls recount a story burnt into the Australian psyche. St Valentine’s Day, 1900. In the summertime heat of the Victorian Highlands, four schoolgirls sneak away from their excursion to climb the imposing monolith of Hanging Rock, pulled higher and higher by a mysterious force. All but one disappears without a trace.    

Seen through the eyes of director Ian Michael, with a cast featuring some of this country’s finest young performers; Olivia De Jonge, Kirsty Marillier, Lorinda May Merrypor, Masego Pitso and Contessa Treffone this production infuses the archetypal mystery with the chilling energy of twenty first-century horror while preserving the haunting enigma at its heart.  

Presented by Sydney Theatre Company

Watch the teaser

Cast and Creatives

Director Ian Michael 
Designer Elizabeth Gadsby 
Lighting Designer Trent Suidgeest 
Composer & Sound Designer James Brown  
Movement Director & Intimacy Coordinator Danielle Micich
Fight Director Tim Dashwood

With  
Olivia De Jonge 
Kirsty Marillier 
Lorinda Merrypor 
Masego Pitso 
Contessa Treffone 

Plan your visit

You may also like

The Play That Goes Wrong

19 Jun – 3 Aug 2025

Enjoy a side-splitting night out with this Olivier and Tony Award-winning play. On at the Sydney Opera House from 19 June - 3 August 2025.

  • Theatre
  • Comedy

Coriolanus

20 Jun – 19 Jul 2025

For the first time in 30 years, Bell Shakespeare presents one of Shakespeare’s most exhilarating political works, in the intimate surrounds of The Neilson Nutshell.

  • Theatre

Bunna Lawrie (Coloured Stone) and Family

14 May 2025

Join Bunna Lawrie & his extraordinary family - Jason Lee Scott, Jhindu-Pedro Lawrie, Yirgjhilya and Catherine Satour as they share the stage for an evening of music, culture, conversation and storytelling.

  • Contemporary Music
  • Talks and Ideas

Checking availability