Ten shows to see at Sydney Festival 2016

From theatre and visual art to installation and conversation, here are our tips for the festival’s 40th year.
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Image via cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

The first Sydney Festival in 1977 was established as a way of attracting crowds into the CBD during the summer, but​ the event has long since outgrown such commercial imperatives to become a rich celebration of all that Sydney’s cultural sector has to offer. This year ​is the last hurrah for Festival Director Lieven Bertels, before he hands over the reins to Wesley Enoch and returns to the northern hemisphere, where he will take up the position of Artistic Director of Leeuwarden Fryslân 2018 – Cultural Capital of Europe.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts