Table Top Shakespeare

For the first time in Sydney, internationally renowned theatre company Forced Entertainment bring their take on Shakespeare’s greatest hits to the Sydney Opera House. Over one week only, join us for a thrilling series of double-bill performances of Shakespeare’s comedies, tragedies and histories, creating worlds as vivid as they are strange.

Even the classics can be told in surprising new ways. In Table Top Shakespeare: Select Works, six performers condense a selection of Shakespeare’s plays, retelling a different one each night around a kitchen table using everyday household objects. A vase for the prince. A jar for Juliet. A bottle of Dettol for the nurse. Salt and pepper for the king and queen. It’s the immortal storytelling of The Bard, stripped back and seasoned to perfection.

Light on Elizabethan poetry but bursting with playfulness, the performers feel like a friend who actually knows Shakespeare, sitting you down and revealing all the clever, hidden twists and turns using only a few household props. Each performer brings their own spin, but every version twists the bottle and captures the spirit of Shakespeare’s storytelling.

This special season is presented as a double-bill per performance time. Audiences can have an immersive deep dive into Shakespeare over two performances per evening, or on the final weekend.

Date Time Notes
Tuesday, 22 September 2026 7:00pm
Antony and Cleopatra / All’s Well That Ends Well

Wednesday, 23 September 2026 7:00pm
Measure for Measure / The Taming of the Shrew

Thursday, 24 September 2026 7:00pm
The Merchant of Venice / A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Friday, 25 September 2026 7:00pm
The Comedy of Errors / Othello

Saturday, 26 September 2026 12:30pm
Timon of Athens / Romeo and Juliet

Saturday, 26 September 2026 4:00pm
Richard III / Much Ado About Nothing

Saturday, 26 September 2026 7:00pm
Pericles / King Lear

Sunday, 27 September 2026 12:30pm
Macbeth / The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Sunday, 27 September 2026 4:00pm
The Winter’s Tale / As You Like It

Sunday, 27 September 2026 7:00pm
Hamlet / The Tempest

For more information, visit https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/theatre/table-top-shakespeare