It’s the home of the Sydney Opera House, possibly the most famous arts venue on the planet, or at least in league with The Met in New York City, the Royal Albert Hall in London and Teatro alla Scala in Milan. But there’s so much more to the Harbour City than the Opera House, and the New South Wales capital bristles with theatre productions and venues.
Here are three of ArtHub‘s favourite Sydney theatre productions from 2025.
Sydney’s year in theatre – quick links
Tina – A Tropical Love Story
On paper, this looked like a tribute show but in person, it was so much more. The brainchild of queer Indigenous star Ben Graetz, who is well-known for their drag alter ago Miss Ellaneous, the production Tina – A Tropical Love Story was certainly a love letter to the late singer, songwriter and actor Tina Turner.
But this performance – presented at Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf 1 Theatre in January as part of the 2025 Sydney Festival – was also an autobiographical show about Graetz, tracing the life of the Darwin-born descendent of the Iwaidja and Malak Malak clans of the Northern Territory and Badu Island in the Torres Strait Islands.
Awarded five stars by ArtsHub, the show was built around Turner’s outdoor concert at the Darwin Botanic Gardens Amphitheatre on 5 November 1993. Presenting as Miss Ellaneous (who was, in turn, dressed as Tina Turner), Graetz channelled the late US superstar and performed several of her most famous numbers.
He also acted as MC, introducing other talented Indigenous performers, among them Ursula Yovich, Dana Dizon and Ryan Pearson, who performed their own numbers from Turner’s oeuvre.
Interspersed throughout were anecdotes and stories told by Graetz, which transported the audience back to the Top End of the 80s and 90s, illuminating a very particular time and place, with a special emphasis on Indigenous culture.
It felt like a modern-day Dreamtime story, one where Graetz – who has worked in the arts and entertainment sector for a quarter of a century – distilled everything he’s learned about his craft.
Read: 2026 season announcements: our rolling guide to the performing art
It’s no surprise the Sydney Festival has invited Graetz back for its 2026 program. From 22 to 24 January 2026, he’ll conjure up another one of his alter egos, Bogan Villea, in A Night of Rock and Roll with Bogan Villea. Described by Graetz as ‘the lovechild of Barnesy, Farnesy and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,’ the show promises to be another highlight of Sydney’s largest annual arts and cultural festival.
Rusalka
At its best, opera is the perfect art form. It uniquely combines multiple artistic disciplines, including music, singing, acting, poetry, visual arts (through scenery and costumes) and dance. When they all align, the effect can be transcendent – as it was when Opera Australia staged Rusalka in the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House in July and August.
In our 4.5 star review, ArtsHub hailed the ‘once-in-a-generation voice’ of Nicole Car (Rusalka) and the ‘powerful bass-baritone’ of Warwick Fyfe (the Water King). Additionally, Ashlyn Tymms’ (Ježibaba) was praised as a ‘velvet mezzo-soprano ideal for portraying this creature of wonder and wisdom’ and Gerard Schneider (the Prince) for his superb acting and singing – although he did experience some issues with projection on opening night.
The Opera Australia Orchestra, conducted by Johannes Fritzsch, was sublime, bringing Antonín Dvořák’s sumptuous score to shimmering life.
But several months later, what stands out most – apart from the sheer beauty of Car’s voice – are the costumes. They’re among the most sumptuous and evocative seen on a Sydney Opera House stage. The beautifully textured and wonderfully weird costumes by Renée Mulder were nothing less than wearable works of art.
Projection designer David Bergman, set designer Charles Davis and lighting designer Paul Jackson, in tandem with Mulder, created a memorable underwater netherworld for Rusalka, the tale of a water sprite who wants to become human.
Rusalka is an unusual tale with a message to be careful what you wish for. This production, directed by Sarah Giles, successfully blended the classic themes of an opera based on old Slavic fairy tales with the demands and sensibilities of the 21st century.
It’s only the second time Opera Australia has presented this classic of the Czech opera canon, the first being in 2007. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait as long until the next time.
Fly Girl
Sometimes, when you see the words ‘world premiere’ used to spruik a new play, you can’t help but wonder if the promoters are over-egging the pudding. Any theatre reviewer can tell you many ‘world premiere’ shows are never staged again. But I’m confident that this isn’t the last we’ve heard of Fly Girl, which had its official world premiere at Sydney’s Ensemble Theatre on 22 October.
The brainchild of playwrights Genevieve Hegney and Catherine Moore (who also played multiple characters in the show) the Janine Watson-directed Fly Girl earned ArtsHub’s very highest accolade, a five-star review.
The drama-comedy revolves around the real-life story of Deborah Lawrie (Cleo Meinck), Australia’s first female commercial aviation pilot, who took the now-defunct Ansett Airlines to court over 1978 to 1980 when it refused to employ her, despite her impeccable skills and training, which outshined many of the company’s male pilots.
A veritable crowd-pleaser, Fly Girl blends compelling courtroom drama with comedy and nostalgia. (The golden age of air travel and the 70s and 80s timeframe practically begs to be mined for nostalgia.) The overall package is brilliant. It’s fun, frothy and highly entertaining.
But there’s much more to Fly Girl than that. It’s the story of one woman’s refusal to be grounded by a boy’s club of troglodytes; a tale of the fight for equality, with strong underdog, Aussie battler and David vs Goliath themes.
Fly Girl has all the elements required to become a classic Australian play – and to make the transition from stage to film in a movie that could rival The Castle, Muriel’s Wedding or The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in terms of popularity and status. The strength of the story and the possibilities it affords in terms of costumes and sets are just so idiosyncratic and so Australian.
Fly Girl was met with a roaring standing ovation and multiple curtain calls on opening night. In a special touch, Deborah Lawrie herself was in the audience and was brought onto the stage. The heart-warming scene of love, tears and unbridled joy perfectly mirrored the play itself.
