The Welsh playwright Gary Owen writes authentic portrayals of working people living tough lives with wit, passion and dignity. Right now, three of his plays are being staged in Australia. Romeo and Julie and Iphigenia in Splott are both at Red Stitch and his reworking of The Cherry Orchard is at the Old Fitz Theatre in Sydney.

Also, rising Australian playwright Benjamin Nichol delivers two blistering new one-person plays in a double bill at fortyfivedownstairs, Milk and Blood, and we meet John 'Divine G' Whitfield, the man whose story inspired Sing Sing, a new film about prisoners participating in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts theatre program at New York's Sing Sing Correctional Facility.

The Australian playwright Ray Lawler has died at the age of 103. Lawler wrote Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, which spurred a growing movement of artists telling Australian stories in Australian voices on the mainstage. To pay tribute to Ray Lawler, we're joined by theatre legends Robyn Nevin and Neil Armfield and we hear interviews with Ray from the ABC archives.

Also, the musical Wicked will soon celebrate one year on stage in Australia. Ahead of their transfer to Brisbane, Sheridan Adams (Elphaba) and Courtney Monsma (Glinda) perform for us. And we meet two British actors who staged Hamlet in the ultra-violent and unpredictable video game world of Grand Theft Auto. A documentary about their efforts, Grand Theft Hamlet, is screening at this year's MIFF.

Since Hamilton debuted in Australia in 2021, the American founding father has been played by the South African-born, Perth-raised performer Jason Arrow. He's now been in the role for longer than the show's writer and original star, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

After being selected to lead the international tour to New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates, Jason is back where his journey began at Sydney's Lyric Theatre.

Australian writer James Elazzi has garnered acclaim for his frank and funny plays that dramatise the lives of Lebanese Australians. He has been nominated for a slew of awards in his young career, including this year's Martin-Lysicrates Prize. His sixth play, Karim, is coming to Riverside's National Theatre of Parramatta.

Also, a city-wide lockdown indefinitely confines two people on a blind date from hell to the same apartment in Van Badham's razor-sharp musical comedy, The Questions, which is coming to the State Theatre Company of South Australia, and how does one go about adapting one of the most famous plays of all time, Hamlet, into an opera?

It's been 100 years since the death of the Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini. From La bohème to Turandot, Puccini's operas remain some of the most popular around the world. To explore Puccini's life and legacy, we're joined by musicologist Dr Linda Fairtile and hear performances from two upcoming Opera Australia productions.

Also, over their 20-year history, Brisbane's contemporary circus company Circa have grown enormously in scale, reputation and ambition. Right now, the entire ensemble are at home in Brisbane rehearsing seven different shows that are bound for stages right across the world, including a major new production of Dido and Aeneas with Opera Queensland.

It's been 100 years since the death of the Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini. From La bohème to Turandot, Puccini's operas remain some of the most popular around the world. To explore Puccini's life and legacy, we're joined by musicologist Dr Linda Fairtile and hear performances from two upcoming Opera Australia productions.

Also, over their 20-year history, Brisbane's contemporary circus company Circa have grown enormously in scale, reputation and ambition. Right now, the entire ensemble are at home in Brisbane rehearsing seven different shows that are bound for stages right across the world, including a major new production of Dido and Aeneas with Opera Queensland.

For NAIDOC Week, guest host Wesley Enoch is joined by First Nations performers, playwrights and programmers who "Keep the Fire Burning" on stages right across the country.

Ian Michael and Rachael Maza discuss the First Nations theatrical canon and whether classic texts like Jane Harrison's Stolen should be staged more often, we find out what it's like for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to work within established Australian arts institutions, and we meet two rising stars of the stage who are about to make their debut as writers at this year's Brisbane Festival.

Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare's most popular plays, so why would anyone write a new version? Zinnie Harris is the writer of Macbeth (An Undoing), which is coming to the Malthouse Theatre. It fleshes out the story of one of the theatre's most notorious villains: Lady Macbeth.

Also, The Woman in Black is a chilling ghost story that takes us to a lonely house beyond the marshes, where, as night falls, tormented spirits rise to their eternal purpose: to take revenge on the living. It's the second-longest-running play on London's West End and is now touring Australia with John Waters and Daniel MacPherson in the cast.

Dan Daw rose to prominence as a dancer who makes his distinctive body the centre of his work. Now, he takes to the stage as an actor, in a bold and witty play that was a Broadway hit.

Cost of Living is about the complex relationships between those living with disability and their carers. But it also wrestles with other, sometimes overlooked, factors that impact one's quality of life.

Dan is co-directing and performing in the play's Australian premiere for Queensland Theatre and the Sydney Theatre Company. He joins us with co-director Priscilla Jackman.

Pull up a chair to your lamp-lit table and enjoy cabaret performances from some of Australia's finest musical talent.

Gathered around the piano at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, we're joined by artistic director Virginia Gay, musical theatre luminaries Swing on This (Luke Kennedy, Matt Lee, Ben Mingay and Bert LaBonté), performer and late-night salon host Victoria Falconer, musical improv troupe Musical Bang Bang and piano man Dr Trevor Jones.

We also delve into the history of cabaret with musician and academic Dr Peter Tregear to find out why cabaret performers so often upset the established order.