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Sydney theatre latest reviews

Our critics offer their opinions on the city's newest musicals, plays, operas and dance shows

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There's always a lot happening on Sydney's stages – but how do you know where to start? Thankfully our critics are out road-testing musicals, plays, operas, dance and more all year-round. Here are their recommendations.

Want more culture? Check out the best art exhibitions in Sydney.

5 stars: top notch, unmissable

  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Theatre
  • Drama
  • Millers Point

After the opening to critical acclaim, the season of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has been extended until September 10. Get your tickets here (before they sell out again!).  Having already reinterpreted Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray for the modern stage, Sydney Theatre Company artistic director Kip Williams returns to the well of Gothic literature with this bold take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.  Telling the story of a respectable London physician, Henry Jekyll –who concocts a potion to purge the evil part of his nature only to find himself increasingly under the control of his brutish alter ego, Edward Hyde – Stevenson’s tale has been much adapted, parodied, and lifted from over the years, but never in so bold a manner as this.  Whereas Williams’ Dorian Gray saw one performer take on a multitude of roles, here we have two: Ewen Leslie, who last collaborated with Williams on the STC’s Julius Caesar, and Matthew Backer, a veteran of Williams’ Cloud Nine and Chimerica. Each is credited as simply “performer” in the production materials. But there’s nothing simple about Williams’ Jekyll and Hyde. This production takes the well-worn terror tale and drills deep into its themes of identity and duality. While the script itself is a relatively straightforward take on the source text – with the actors giving voice to reams of prose so frequently that at times it feels more like a recital than a dramatisation – in e

  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Theatre
  • Circuses
  • The Rocks

Ever since the irrefutably inimitable Bernie Dieter and her infamous troupe of bombastic Bohemians sashayed out of her sold-out Spiegeltent shows in March, Sydney has been begging – nay, gagging – for Club Kabarett to return and make our dark and debauched wishes come true.Pitching a tent down at Circular Quay yet again for a limited six-week run (Aug 16-Sep 25), night after hazy night will be filled with dangerously funny kabarett, breathtaking circus, gender-bending aerial and fire-breathing sideshow – and it's all set to the soundtrack of a live Weimar-punk jazz haus band.  The shows will once again be hosted at Runaway Gardens, a pop-up Spiegeltent village nestled between Circular Quay and the Rocks with food trucks and bars to boot. This August Runaway Gardens is back for the Sydney Fringe with a far larger program of live music, comedians and general weirdness, in addition to exciting local food and booze offerings.  Make sure you arrive early to soak up the atmosphere and fuel up for the show, before settling in for a deliciously debaucherous display of top shelf sideshow acts in a dark and dreamy setting under the big top. Bernie Dieter's Club Kabarett packs a provocative mix of dangerously funny original songs and moody covers, gender-bending circus and fire-breathing sideshow. An evening spent here is the perfect antidote to your troubles. As we said in our five-star review from Dieter's last visit: "Any burlesque producer in town would be fighting tooth and tassel

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  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Theatre
  • Musicals
  • Sydney

If teen-fangirl spirit had a smell, it would be the effervescent sparkle of theatrical fog machines and neon pink glitter, mixed with a sprinkle of high school toilets and a heady rush of youthfully charged chemical love. Walking into the Sydney Opera House’s fresh production of the hit pop-musical Fangirls, this smell hits you with the concrete weight of an unrequited internet crush. Hard, fast, and painfully, perfectly overwhelming.  On paper, Fangirls is easy to overlook. A poptastic original Aussie musical about three teenage girls who are maniacally obsessed with a boyband’s adolescent British lead with perfect hair and a dazzling cosmetic smile (a thinly veiled nod to Harry Styles) doesn’t sound like something that everyone might want to rush out and see. But when I say (to be fair, as a former fangirl) that this musical made me feel reborn, I am not being dramatic. This production made me feel, as the main gals squeal repeatedly – like, literally dead. In the most incredible and sparkly way possible.  Written and created by award-winning Australian songwriter, screenwriter and playwright Yve Blake and directed by Paige Rattray (Death of a Salesman, Triple X), this insane extravaganza of pop-stars and the teen girls (and boys, and others) who love them has been a hit everywhere since its release in 2019. A Belvoir and Queensland Theatre co-production in association with Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP), Fangirls returned in 2021 for a national tour. Now, in 20

  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Theatre
  • Musicals

When gloal hit musical Come From Away touched down in Sydney last year, this big hearted show was an unexpected salve in the wake of lingering hard times. Now the show is set to recommence a national tour in 2022, landing at Theatre Royal Sydney from November 5. Tickets for the Sydney season are on sale from Tuesday, June 14, and you can sign up for the waitlist here. Read on for our review from the 2021 season: There is something perfect about Come From Away finally landing in Sydney. The musical is set on 9/11 in the tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland, to which 38 planes were diverted when United States airspace was closed in the wake of the terrorist attack. The almost 7,000 passengers on board, terrified, claustrophobic and desperate for news about what was happening, were taken in by the people of Gander and surrounding towns, nearly doubling the population for five days. The townsfolk gave them food, shelter and most importantly, kindness and comfort during the most horrific time in recent American history – until 2020, of course.  The underlying message of kindness and compassion in the face of unspeakable horror is one that's sorely needed right now. When the planes begin to land, the women of Gander start up a collection for donations, with a song that could have been penned last year: "Can I help? Is there something I need to do, something to keep me from thinking of all the scenes on the tube? I need something to do 'cause I can't watch the news, no I can't watch th

4 stars: excellent and recommended

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Theatre
  • Barangaroo

In one unassuming corner of Sydney’s corporate high-end Barangaroo, a temporary portal to a strange and fantastical realm has materialised. It holds its curious tear in the everyday order through the Department of Legend and Myth; a new bar filled with cocktails, magic and quirky decor, now serving as the threshold extension to the mystery world that lies within. Take a tipple from the bar under neon pink clouds, become pleasantly unmoored from your day with a resident DJ’s serene poppy beats, and then, your journey begins. And oh, how it unfolds is up to you. Eternityland is Sydney’s newest large-scale immersive theatre adventure, brought to us from Danielle Harvey, the director of the acclaimed A Midnight Visit (another production to score an elusive four-stars from us). Where A Midnight Visit was concocted from the life and legacy of Edgar Allan Poe, spuming gothic madness and morbid hysteria, Eternityland is a delirium populated by the idea of the hero: a figure variously mad, noble, tragic, triumphant, misunderstood, overlooked and absurd. It is a vast delirium of many vaults and chambers, with a dizzying two storeys and twenty rooms drenched with Eternityland’s electric, acid-popping dream. Each is more bizarre and captivating than the last, and each invites the curious to explore its secrets and activate its pleasures. Within these rooms, strangely clad warriors, kings, and feminist badasses enchant us with their skills (from circus and cabaret, to music and storytelli

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Theatre
  • Musicals
  • Haymarket

Moulin Rouge! The Musical has finally made its dazzling debut in Sydney, and everyone's invited. The costumes are glittering masterpieces, the staging is the most sumptuous and marvellous you’re ever likely to see, the dance numbers are dynamic and technically flawless, and each and every performer is worth their weight in diamonds. From the moment you enter the theatre, the scene is set. The neoclassical interior of the Capitol Theatre has been transformed into Paris’ most exciting burlesque club, the Moulin Rouge, with red velvet drapes and chandeliers leaping out from the stage, which is flanked by a customary red windmill and a humongous blue elephant. It is well worth taking your seat early for this show, as the ensemble seductively linger around the theatre and wind around go-go dancer cages to set the sultry mood. The show opens with a bang, as a troupe of “Lady M’s” – aka Nini, Chocolat, Babydoll and Arabia (Samantha Dodemaide, Ruva Ngwenya, Christopher Scalzo and Olivia Vásquez) – performs ‘Welcome to the Moulin Rouge’, the famous medley featuring the movie’s biggest hit song, ‘Lady Marmalade’. It’s not hard to see why this production took out no less than ten Tony Awards in 2021. The first Australian-produced musical to open on Broadway, Moulin Rouge! also became the first Australian-produced show to win a Tony for best musical, beating Jagged Little Pill and Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. The show’s arrival in Sydney is also a homecoming of sorts; it is of course

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  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Theatre
  • Musicals
  • Elizabeth Bay

Risky experimentation is central to Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous 1886 gothic thriller, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – it is also the creative impetus behind Hayes Theatre Co’s Australian premiere production of Jekyll and Hyde the Musical. Genre switches, dynamic casting choices, multiple roles, minimalism – it requires some surrender from the audience. But if you’re prepared to lay aside preconceptions, you’ll be rewarded in spades.  The very notion of staging Jekyll and Hyde inside the diminutive dimensions of the Hayes Theatre seems bonkers. The show is usually mounted with a grand late 19th century setting and costumes on par with The Phantom of the Opera or Sweeney Todd. The Hayes’ version uses a single setting – the bland, two-tone ward of the post-WWII St Jude’s Military Asylum. Yet it works – as long as you’re prepared to use some imagination.  Premiering in 1990, Jekyll and Hyde the Musical was written by Leslie Bricusse, probably best known for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Frank Wildhorn (whose credits include the hit song ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ by Whitney Houston). Jekyll and Hyde is operatic in style, similar to the aforementioned Phantom and Sweeney Todd. Its breakout hit is ‘This is the Moment’, an anthemic ballad often sung by reality show contestants whose moment dies soon after. Acclaimed cabaret artist/pop singer/songwriter/actor and local queer icon Brendan Maclean makes his musical theatre debut playing the lead role of Je

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Theatre
  • Musicals
  • Sydney

Update, Jul 25 2022: the return Sydney season of Alanis Morisette’s rip roaring rockin' musical will end early. The producers said in a statement: "Despite glowing reviews, rapturous audiences and the tenacity, talent and commitment of our company, due to the combination of the new covid wave and uncertain operating conditions, we have made the difficult decision to close the Sydney run on 14 August and suspend the planned tour." "We will continue to tell the Jagged Little Pill story – with the North American tour commencing in August, and productions planned in the UK and Asia — and remain committed to finding a way to bring this vibrant and vitalizing musical back to the Australian stage. We want to thank our company for their courage, talent and brilliance, and the audiences who have experienced Jagged over the past six months.” All ticket holders for performances after August 14 will be contacted by their point of purchase. Read on for our four-star review:  While it is, on paper, a jukebox musical in the same vein as Mamma Mia! or We Will Rock You, the red-raw, heart-on-her-sleeve lyrics from Alanis Morisette’s generation-defining album allow for a far richer narrative to emerge in Jagged Little Pill. It tells the story of an American family coming apart at the seams, and weaves in a tapestry of urgent social issues. But it's also a show about the hope that springs from facing such challenges, and that’s surely something to cling onto. All the hits of the Canadian singer

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  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Theatre
  • Musicals
  • Sydney

August 3, 2022: Six the Musical is returning to Sydney for an encore season form August 26-September 25. Read our review of the first run below:  What if the Spice Girls did a concept album about King Henry VIII’s wives and Baz Luhrmann directed the concert video? That, in a nutshell, is Six’s vibe: an up-tempo, empowering, all-singing, all-dancing account of the lives of the six key ladies in the Tudor monarch’s orbit. Much like Hamilton before it, the pop musical is making history buffs out of legions of musical theatre tragics, and making musical theatre tragics out of pop and hip hop lovers.  The conceptual space is a rock concert with the wives reimagined as a girl group bickering over who will get to be lead singer. It’s decided that whoever suffered enough at the hands of their mutual ex should take the crown, as it were, and so the six compete with their tales of woe, told as irresistibly catchy dance floor bangers. Conceived by Brits Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss in 2017, the pair having penned the show while they were studying at Cambridge, and here directed by Moss and Jamie Armitage, Six is almost the platonic ideal of a modern high end musical: a clever concept packed to the brim with instantly familiar tunes, wrapped in colourful but clean production design and costuming, and clocking in at an audience-friendly 75 minutes.  It’s not a jukebox musical, but it kind of feels like one – songs such as ‘Ex Wives’ and the triumphant, show-topping ‘Megasix’ are finely calib

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