About this consultation

Consultation extended to Monday 4 December 2023.

An exciting transformation is planned for the Canberra Theatre Centre, aligning with the ACT Government’s ambition for Canberra to be recognised as Australia’s arts capital.

We are asking the community their ideas for an iconic and vibrant future Canberra Theatre Centre.

Have your say on what you want from your future live performance experience in a variety of ways outlined below.

The project is currently in the planning and design phase.

Design is currently underway for a transformed Canberra Theatre Centre, including:

• a new 2,000 seat lyric theatre (type of theatre suitable for circus, musicals, ballet), comparable in scale to the largest theatres in Australia
• a refurbishment of the Playhouse
• adapting the existing Canberra Theatre to become a contemporary flexible venue able to host a broad range of performances, concerts and events
• expanding the Courtyard Studio to accommodate a diverse range of activity with flexible seating and open plan theatrical space able to host performances, workshops and open plan creativity.

Engagement so far

In this planning and early design phase, consultation started with people in the performing arts sector.

We established a Performing Arts Reference Group (PARG) through an EOI process, appointing 20 individuals representing a diverse cross-section of Canberra's performing arts communities.

Consultation has also started with stakeholders in the form of workshops, briefings and meetings.

There will be more opportunities to have your say as the project progresses.

We will use your views to

The purpose of the consultation is to help the project design team understand what people want from their live performance experience. Outcomes will help inform design development and support the Business Case (for construction funding) and planning approvals. A consultation report outlining what we heard will be published here early 2024.