The 2026 Adelaide Festival has announced two major international exclusives ahead of its full program reveal – the first under Festival Artistic Director Matthew Lutton, who was appointed to the position in March.

French film and stage star Isabelle Huppert takes the stage in Robert Wilson’s Mary Said What She Said for Théâtre de la Ville-Paris, while French choir and orchestra Ensemble Pygmalion makes its Australian debut under founding director Raphaël Pichon.

Isabelle Huppert in Mary Said What She Said. Photo © Lucie Jansch

Last seen in Australia more than a decade ago in Sydney Theatre Company’s The Maids with Cate Blanchett and Elizabeth Debicki, Huppert plays Mary Queen of Scots, a sovereign whose passions cost her the crown.

Announcing the production Lutton said, “Director Robert Wilson inspired generations with his genius, and I was deeply saddened to learn of his recent death. We have lost a visionary, and Mary Said What She Said was to be his Adelaide theatre debut.”

“This production, created with the force of nature that is actor...