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2026 Season: The Bard and Beyond
Lysistrata
Directed by Jenny Shen and Patrick Reed-Stephenson
Written by Aristophanes
Translated by James Hughes
Then I'll Be Brief 5
Artistic Directed by Tabby Silberman
Society History
Executive:
President: Erin Lesnie
Secretary: Archie Simpson
Treasurer: Jamie Grey
VP Events: Estella James
VP Membership Engagement: Lucy Gibson
Equity Officers: Mairead Hamilton and Avery Benbow
Stagecraft Officer: Jamie Campbell
First Year Representative: Leila Pepperell
History:
This year ShakeSoc is seeking to expand its horizons further, by engaging with plays outside of Shakespeare’s canon, including those by his contemporaries, and plays based on and inspired by the Bard.
2025 Season:
What's Past is Prologue
Romeo and Juliet
Directed by Charlotte Harris
Richard III
Directed by Marcelle Brosnan and Oscar Mikic
Much Ado About Nothing
Directed by Sophie Chiew
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Artistic Directed by Olivia Hobbs
Sloshed Shakespeare: The Merry Wives of Windsor
Directed by Steph Evans
Executive:
President: Julia Wedgewood-Oppenheim
Secretary: Eliza Grosser
Treasurer: James Philips
VP Events: Eliza Ward
VP Membership Engagement: Eliza Grosser
Equity Officers: Olivia Martin and Rosa Oppenheim
Stagecraft Officer: Darcy Wiseman
First Year Representative: Jamie Campbell
History:
2025 increased the previous year's ambition and the scale of its productions. Beginning the year was Charlotte Harris’ Romeo and Juliet, a bold, queer retelling of Shakespeare’s most popular play, set in a 2000s High School debating tournament. Richard III, directed by Oscar Mikic and Marcelle Brosnan, was ShakeSoc’s first foray into the Histories, placing the play's post-war drama within a 1940s noir aesthetic. Finishing the year was Sophie Chiew’s Much Ado About Nothing, mashing this classic comedy with the disco era of the late 1970s. The year also featured the fourth installment of TIBB, and the second edition of Sloshed Shakespeare, this time putting a reality TV spin on The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Society History
2024 Season: Youth, I Do Adore Thee
Macbeth
Directed by Natasha Ludlow
Sloshed Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet
Directed by Steph Evans
As You Like It
Directed by India Kazakoff and Kathryn Keane
Then I'll Be Brief 3
Artistic Directed by Charlotte Harris
The Comedy of Errors
Directed by Jessica Luff
Executive:
President: Steph Evans
Secretary: Kai Thomas Schegl
Treasurer: Liat-Eden Granot
VP Events: Noah Nathan Niazi
VP Membership Engagement: Lottie Harris
Equity Officers: Gab Purcell and Isobel Yeaman
Stagecraft Officer: Max Collingwood
History:
2024 saw a record three mainstage shows for ShakeSoc. Opening the year was the society’s second production of Macbeth, directed by Natasha Ludlow, with opulent sets and costumes inspired by the original productions. Jess Luff’s The Comedy of Errors threw Shakespeare’s most twin-filled comedy into the radical 1980s, while India Kazakoff and Kathryn Keane’s Camp Rock-inspired production of As You Like It rounded out the year. Elsewhere in the calendar were the third iteration of TIBB and the first of ShakeSoc’s now annual Sloshed Shakespeare productions, with a small cast performing a drunken version of the classic Romeo and Juliet.
Society History
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2023 Season: Method of Madness
Macbitches
Directed by Caitlin Baker
Written by Sophie McIntosh
Then I'll Be Brief 2
Artistic Directed by Steph Evans and Liat Granot
The Taming of the Shrew
Directed by Claire Noack
Executive:
President: Madeline Smith
Secretary: Jessica Luff
Treasurer: Liat Granot
VP Events: Sarah Larkin
VP Membership Engagement: Teagan Matthews
History:
2023 saw ShakeSoc dive into unexplored areas of the Shakespeare universe. Macbitches, directed by Caitlin Baker, became the society’s first production not written by the Bard, instead inspired by the classic Macbeth, in which five student actors fight over the cast list for a production of the Scottish Play. The year also saw Claire Noack’s take on The Taming of Shrew, which set the romantic comedy in a Wild West saloon, with riotous results. 2023 concluded with the return of TIBB, this time focusing on comedic restagings of Shakespearean action, designed as a gateway into watching and performing Shakespeare.
Society History
2022 Season: Kiss or Kill
Romeo and Juliet
Directed by Elodie de Rover and Justice-Noah Malfitano
Then I'll Be Brief 1
Directors:
Alex Williams
Caitlin Baker
Liat Granot
Paris Scharkie
Rucha Tathavadkar
Saar
Teagan Matthews
Coriolanus
Directed by Madeleine Smith and Pip Wager
Executive:
President: Caitlin Baker
Secretary: Susan Brown
Treasurer: Alana Grimley
VP Events: Sarah Larkin
VP Membership Engagement: Hebe Ren
History:
2022’s theme was Kiss or Kill, and romance and bloodshed were the themes of both of the year’s mainstage shows. First was Elodie de Rover and Justice-Noah Malfiatano’s Romeo and Juliet, mirroring the style and glamour of an Elizabethan production. Later in the year came Coriolanus, directed by Madeleine Smith and Pip Wager, putting the intrigue and mud-slinging of the Roman senate onto the Rugby field. Rounding out the year was the first of ShakeSoc’s Then I’ll Be Brief showcases, featuring a number of scenes from Shakespeare and beyond, demonstrating the depth and breadth of ShakeSoc’s talent.
Society History
2021 Season: Shipwrecked!
The Tempest
Directed by Caitlin Baker
Twelfth Night
Directed by Alex Williams and Matilda Hatcher
Society History
Executive:
President: Matilda Hatcher
Secretary: Alana Grimley
Treasurer: Erin Smart
VP Events: Tom Fitzgerald
VP Membership Engagement: Rohan Pillutla
History:
2021 saw ShakeSoc take on two plays for the first time, both related to the society’s first theme; Shipwrecked! Semester 1 featured The Tempest, directed by Caitlin Baker, an eerie production of the storm-laden classic. In Semester 2 came the much delayed Twelfth Night, directed by Alex Williams.
2020 Season
Macbeth
Directed by Katie Sproul
Executive:
President: Sophie Tallis
Secretary: Rebecca Long
Treasurer: Madeleine Gallo
VP Events: Emily Lyon
VP Membership Engagement: Alexandra Elgue
History:
2020 was a difficult year for ShakeSoc and the wider ANU community. The decision to rehearse over the summer break and perform at the beginning of semester one proved fateful, as Katie Sproul’s Macbeth was put on mere weeks before ANU was plunged into lockdown. However, the lockdown did sink the year’s planned production of Twelfth Night, which was put on hold until 2021.
Society History
2019 Season
Much Ado About Nothing
Directed by Kate Garrow
Executive:
President: Marni Mount
Vice-President: Matilda Wall
Secretary: Sophie Tallis
Treasurer: Alessa Kron