Playhouse
Arts Centre Melbourne

A housing crisis, income inequality and the pitfalls of progress — who would have thought that a Russian operetta from 1958 would ring so true today?
“In Melbourne, Cheremushki, even dream homes have rent hikes.” — FYODOR DREBEDNYOV, THE LANDLORD

This witty production transports visionary composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s score and Vladimir Mass and Mikhail Chervinsky’s sarcastically funny libretto of Moscow, Cheremushki from a Soviet-era Khrushchev-style apartment complex to contemporary Melbourne.

This operetta makes light work of heavy issues through its darkly comedic use of magic realism with a truth-telling park bench, a phone booth for the pure of heart and a garden where flowers bloom for good people and wither for bad.

Featuring our ‘VO Emerges’ cast, this will be your chance to see the next generation showcase their talents and innovative perspectives on the challenges we still face in Melbourne today. So step into a world where social issues are examined through a lens of comedy, satire and magic.

“In Melbourne, Cheremushki, the cost of living is so high, even the bribes have gone up.” — ALEXANDER PETROVICH BUBENTSOV (SASHA), RESIDENT

Available Sessions