Power-hungry politicians, scheming masterminds and pursuers of greatness – Shakespeare’s characters are no strangers to ambition. But what happens once they achieve their goal? Shakespeare seems just as interested in the aftermath as the pursuit, giving his characters plenty of space to reflect on the ultimate question: was it all worth it?
Does ambition always lead to ruin, or can it be a force for good? Join host Head of Education Joanna Erskine and a panel of experts for this riveting conversation series about ambition in Shakespeare’s plays and in our contemporary world.
SYDNEY Thursday 14 May, 2026, 6:30pm The Seed, Pier 2/3 Tickets $40
MELBOURNE Thursday 2 July, 2026, 6:30pm The University of Melbourne Tickets $40
Bell Shakespeare’s popular annual evening of performance paired with curated tastings of selected Tyrrell’s Wines. A delicious selection of wines hand-picked by fifth-generation winemaker and CEO of Tyrrell’s Wines, Chris Tyrrell, will be paired with some of our favourite excerpts and sonnets, performed by Bell Shakespeare artists.
This event is strictly for those over the age of 18
Presented in proud partnership with Tyrrell’s Wines.
Bell Shakespeare’s lively script reading series celebrating rarely read classics continues in 2026.
Actors and director have one day together as an ensemble before standing script-in-hand in front of an audience, the bare-bones reading allowing the words to take the stage.
HENRY VI PART 2 BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
The war with France is over, and to secure the peace, the naïve young King Henry VI marries the French noblewoman Margaret. But the infighting starts almost immediately. Accusations of witchcraft, treason and fake miracles fly around the court, and it doesn’t take long before the faction of Richard, Duke of York, is in open revolt.
Shakespeare made his name with this actionpacked history play. It features the earliest skirmishes of the Wars of the Roses, the thuggish uprising of Jack Cade (who gets rid of anyone who can read and write), and the emergence of a young Richard Plantagenet, who will one day become the infamous Richard III.
SYDNEY Tuesday 15 September, 2026, 6:30pm The Neilson Nutshell Tickets $50
First performed at the Globe Theatre in early 1606, perhaps just weeks before the premiere of Macbeth, Ben Jonson’s timeless satire Volpone explores the insatiable desire for advancement and power through riches. Volpone is a beast fable, in which every character is named for an animal whose traits they embody. It tells the story of a cunning ‘fox’ who accumulates ever more wealth by pretending to be on his deathbed and starting a bidding war amongst visitors hoping to be named in his will. To what lengths will gullible Venetians go for the chance to be named Volpone’s heir? Will the greedy Volpone’s vaulting ambition pay off in the end? And who will get what they deserve in the corrupt city-state of Venice?
MELBOURNE Wednesday 18 November, 6:30pm The University of Melbourne Tickets $50
