Sydney theatre latest reviews

Think Jay Gatsby hosted the best roaring '20s parties? Not anymore. It’s time to crack open some Champagne, because this scintillating smash-hit show is back for a third encore run! The sparkling toast of the Sydney summer, Blanc de Blanc Encore has been wowing audiences since it opened in January in the totally refurbished cabaret venue the Grand Electric (on the Redfern end of Surry Hills). Clearly, Sydney can't get enough – this much-loved cabaret, circus and burlesque show is back for another season from June 9 to July 30.  The Blanc experience serves up the top shelf of cabaret-burlesque-circus entertainment with a smile and a knowing wink. This show is bubbling over with hilarious hosts, talented perfomers dressed up (and down) in dazzling couture-fashion-level costuming, interactive stunts and so-rude-it's-right jokes. It's quite an accomplishment to stage a variety production that can so seamlessly gear-change from crotches in faces to superb aerial artistry, and from phallic percussion to a soulful pop crooner – all whist maintaining a fun, playfully risqué vibe.  Our tip is to not cut your arrival too close to the curtain, and make sure you have a little time to luxuriate in the French-inspired courtyard peppered with original mural artwork by Max Elbourne. The seating is also quite snug, so you may want to fork out for a ring-side cabaret table if you'd like more room to spread-eagle. (And if you have any aversion to flying feathers or bubbles, good luck to you!)

If you have a penchant for astrology, ancient myths, titillating burlesque antics and death-defying circus tricks – this is the show for you.  Following sell-out seasons in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide as well as a debut Sydney season at the Sydney Opera House in August 2022, Oracle brings its intoxicating magic back to the Emerald City with a run at the Roslyn Packer Theatre (June 29 to July 8, 2023).  If your sexual awakening involved the cast of The Mummy movies, this will definitely be up your street... An intoxicating spectacle, Oracle guides you through the 12 zodiac myths, explored thematically through live vocals, world class circus acts, mesmerising aerials and steamy burlesque numbers, interlaced with ballet and contemporary dance. The world-class cast of 18 diverse and talented performers are dressed in elaborately embellished handmade costumes that pay homage to some of the biggest names of the fashion world, all designed to celebrate the gorgeous variety of the human form. They perform stunts on specially made apparatuses – including a giant oscillating hourglass and an untethered pole dancing routine.  Your guide through these prophecies and myths is a maiden – a warrior, a saviour and an empath. A beauty robbed of sight but blessed with vision, she is Oracle, played with a hauntingly beautiful presence and a powerful vocal range to match by Jazmin Varlet (The Voice, The X Factor). Show creator Bass Fam (Matador and Mansion) draws on his own Egyptian heritag

Frances Rings’ words reverberate within the vividly lit Sydney Opera House on opening night: “There are two sides to the story of our nation. These are the stories that need to be in the social consciousness of our nation.” For Rings, this work is personal. The Anangu of the Great Victorian Desert and the Nunga of the far west region of South Australia are her people, she learned their stories from her father. Yuldea marks Rings’ inaugural work as artistic director and choreographer of Bangarra Dance Theatre, showcasing all the grandeur, masterful lines, cross-cultural choreography, impactful storytelling, and vividly breathtaking production elements of a classic Bangarra production. However, there are also choices that hint at the dawning of a new era. The production visualises Yooldil Kapi, a significant clay pan waterhole on the traditional lands of the Kokatha people, also known as ‘the famous soak’. It was widely regarded as the epicentre of trade, ceremony, lore and kinship, as well as being a source of sustenance and survival. Set designer Elizabeth Gadsby's conceptualisation frames the site with a curtain of long, vertically hanging ropes running from each corner to the deep back of the Drama Theatre stage. The curtain of ropes rustles like trees, is waded through like a swamp, and is strikingly lit to mark the beginning of its destruction by lighting designer Karen Norris.  In the second act, Kapi (Water), the Kokatha people's way of life, is delicately depicted thro

You’d never, surely, describe Romeo and Juliet as one of William Shakespeare’s funnier plays. However, Bell Shakespeare’s latest production highlights the humour in the famous tragedy, before bringing the hammer down in the back half. It’s an interesting approach that could, in other hands, undermine the play’s central thematic concerns – but here, the contrast works wonders. Of course, this is not director Peter Evan’s first at-bat with R&J – he mounted a lavish production in 2016 when he first took up the reins as artistic director of Bell Shakespeare. This production, however, is a more streamlined, minimalist affair. Set and costume designer Anna Tregloan dresses Bell’s new HQ, The Neilson Nutshell, with a couple of raised platforms and a scattering of carpets and wooden stools. The cast is dressed in stylish but functional black, the addition of brighter accessories marking the crucial Capulet ball scene when our star-cross’d lovers first meet. ...hearing this old song sung in a new register is nothing less than exhilarating Jacob Warner’s Romeo here is capricious, charming, and more than a little blind to the consequences of his actions. More than a little ink has been spilled on the notion that Romeo is the OG fuckboi (most prominently in the pop musical & Juliet, currently playing in Melbourne to great fanfare), his dalliance with Juliet more of a passing obsession than true love, and Warner leans into that ambiguity. Warner drops lines such as “Shall I hear more, or