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Sydney Festival

Asses.Masses. Photo: Justin Cueno.
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Asses.Masses review: donkeys lead epic group video game experience at Sydney Festival

The crowd-play game experience Asses.Masses delivered plenty of donkey puns plus some very difficult questions.

Lacrima. Photo: Jean Louis Fernandez. 2026 Sydney Festival. Perth Festival.
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Lacrima review: a Gallic triumph on the Sydney stage

A theatrical tour-de-force, Lacrima rounds out the 2026 Sydney Festival before it continues its run at the Perth Festival.

A Night of Rock and Roll with Bogan Villea. Photo: Stephen Wilson Barker. 2026 sydney festival.
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A Night of Rock and Roll with Bogan Villea review: bogan culture through a Blak, queer lens

Starring as Bogan Villea, Ben Graetz returns to the Sydney Festival with another compelling mix of drag, cabaret and social…

Shaun Gladwell, Planet & Stars Sequence: Barrier Highway, 2009. Production still, HD video, 16:9, colour, sound, 25 min 53 sec. Photo: Josh Raymond. Courtesy: the artist and PALAS, Sydney. Exhibited in SEARCHERS at National Art School Galleries, Sydney
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SEARCHERS review: graffiti, spray paint and bringing the outsider in

The National Art School exhibition SEARCHERS brings audiences into a world that has thrived in the shadows.

Opera for the Dead. Photo: Jacquie Manning.
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Opera for the Dead review: ghosts in the theatre

Opera for the Dead blends the ancestral and contemporary to consider rituals around death and remembrance.

WAKE at the 2026 Sydney Festival. Photo: Neil Bennett.
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WAKE review: queer cabaret from the Emerald Isle

WAKE brings a riot of colour and music to the Sydney Festival.

Hot Chip at Sydney Festival. Photo: Victor Frankowski.
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Hot Chip review: joy in repetition at the Sydney Opera House

Returning to Australia as part of Sydney Festival, Hot Chip showed why they are such beloved musical icons.

Mama Does Derby. Photo: Claudio Raschella.
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Mama Does Derby review: wheeling onto stage with brutal tenderness

Despite the roller derby chaos, the real heart of Mama Does Derby is in how it portrays a complex mother-daughter…

Julia Phillips' Observer, Observed at Sydney Festival 2026. A man ion a white Terry Towling hat peers through a pair of bespoke binoculars, which form part of the artwork.
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Observer, Observed review: public art about public surveillance for Sydney Festival

Julia Phillips’ art installation on Pyrmont Bridge encourages us to reflect on our willingness to participate in the surveillance state.

A dance sequence from Post-Orientalist Express, 2026. A shirtless male dancer poised on one foot with his arms extended; he wears a colourful headdress and costume.
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Post-Orientalist Express review: spectacle, parody, and the limits of post-orientalist dance in a festival economy

A fascinating but unresolved Sydney Festival production by avant-garde Korean choreographer Eun-Me Ahn.

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