Diversity in representation isn’t only socially desirable, it can be a mainstream selling point. The post-Hamilton musical theatre landscape handed a decisive victory to & Juliet – a pop Shakespeare parody that rewrote the tragedy of star-crossed lovers to be more socially inclusive (with lashings of Britney and a feelgood feminist ending for good measure). It seemed to meet a more upbeat reception than the revival of Miss Saigon, impeccably performed though that production was.

Racial equity and the problem of structural racism continue to inspire works of dramatic brilliance and ferocity, from the rebellious young black women causing a twitterstorm in Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner to the brash mash-up of Spaghetti Western and Greek tragedy in Is God Is, the first entirely black production for the Melbourne Theatre Company.

And what to say about Zahra Newman’s star turn as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill? Newman possesses an uncanny ability to channel the jazz legend, voice (remarkable in itself) and soul. She undergoes a breathtaking stage transformation, note perfect, alive to the severe racial injustice Holiday suffered, and attuned to the undimmed brilliance of her music.

It was a highlight for the MTC – other notable shows included a Caryl Churchill double bill and the irreverent A Very Jewish Christmas Carol – in a year that established a confident approach to programming from artistic director Anne-Louise Sarks.

The Malthouse seems less sure of itself, or perhaps more particular in its projects. You can find niches of formidable theatre – Made in China 2.0, a powerful collaboration between Emma Valente and avant-garde Chinese director Wang Chong, or the adrenaline-charged stage premiere of Christos Tsiolkas’s Loaded – although immersive theatre seems to have become a hobbyhorse for the company.

This year’s Hour of the Wolf doubled down on the success of 2021’s Because the Night, trading a Hamlet labyrinth for a gothic small-town mystery. Will immersive performance mazes turn out to be a theatrical fad? Probably. Is the engagement with younger and more adventurous audiences worthwhile? Absolutely.

Meanwhile, Melbourne’s indie scene is in transition. It’s always in transition, of course. Poverty is the only constant. Still, 2023 marks the end of a significant chapter at both La Mama Theatre, with legendary artistic director Liz Jones stepping down, and at fortyfivedownstairs, with the departure of Mary Lou Jelbart. Both venues are crucial to independent theatre in Melbourne, and we can only hope they are steered with the energy and commitment to community-building that Dianne Toulson has brought lately to Theatre Works in St Kilda.

Our theatre ecosystem relies on these companies and venues creating a pipeline of new work, even if Melbourne’s directionless Rising Festival has you asking where the pipeline’s supposed to go. Clearly, Rising must do more to platform our most talented theatre makers alongside international contemporaries, if it’s to be a festival worth celebrating.

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Big-ticket commercial fare is back in action – if Melbourne audiences can see Anthony LaPaglia starring in Death of a Salesman, it’s a good year. And yet, theatre is at heart the most local of art forms. It is the indefatigable spirit, the curiosity and imagination of Melbourne’s theatre artists that sustains the whole shebang, and we might have to risk another barbecue-stopper – the politics of arts funding, anyone? – to ensure the show goes on.

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