AussieTheatre.com’s top picks for the Sydney Festival

With the Sydney Festival now underway, we thought we’d offer our Top Picks of the festival. The team here at AussieTheatre have had a look at the 2012 program and have come up with our top shows we think should not be missed!

The Boys

This Australian classic has stood the test of time and opens TONIGHT at the SWB Stables theatre. 21 years since The Boys debuted 21 years ago in Sydney, starring David Whenam in one of his first stage roles, and this re-imagined production (directed by Griffin Artistic Director Sam Strong) is presented by Griffin and Sydney Festival until March 3.

Brett Sprague is just out of jail. Reunited with his mum Sandra and brothers Glenn and Stevie, he’s ready to reclaim his life. But things have changed while Brett’s been inside. Girlfriend Michelle may have moved on, Glenn’s moved out and Stevie’s about to be a dad. As Brett’s disruptive force takes hold, tensions flare and Brett embarks on a drink-fuelled rampage, sweeping his brothers along with him – with terrifying consequences.

A History Of Everything

Designed to present a history of everything from the big bang up until today, this world premiere is inspired by Darwin and Dawkins on the theory of evolution, by cosmology and by the realisation that we’re but a tiny dot on the timeline.

Presented by the STC and Belgian theatre collective Ontroerend Goed, A History of Everythingspins backwards to the first fiery bang before leaping to our possible hereafters.

A profound rollercoasting journey, this production will make you treasure your place in the history of everything.

The Little Match Girl

Unfortunately, this show is completely sold out. But if you can beg, borrow or steal a ticket to Meow Meow’s incredible cabaret, DO IT! The Little Match Girl has already been extended (and those shows have now sold out!) but AussieTheatre.com are not-so-secretly hoping that there will be more performances added (or that it be moved to another venue for a second season!)

Check out our review of the Melbourne Season here. 

I am Eora

The world premiere of this epic story has been created in collaboration by fFifty Aboriginal musicians, performers, creative artists and technicians from across the country.

Commissioned by the Sydney festival writer/director Wesley Enoch, co-writer Anita Heiss and their team create a dynamic fusion of storytelling, dance, performance and film featuring a cast of iconic and emerging performers including Jack Charles, Wilma Reading, Frank Yamma, Stiff Gins, Radical Son and a rockin’ live band.

At the centre of the work are three heroes of Aboriginal Sydney whose enduring spirits still inspire: the protest and resistance of the warrior Pemulwuy; the female embodiment of resilience, Barangaroo; and her controversial husband Bennelong, the gifted interpreter who sought reconciliation.

A powerful journey through Sydney’s past, present and future, I Am Eora (I am of this place) breaks new ground in contemporary Australian performance, telling the stories of Sydney’s Aboriginal continuity in a celebration of its heroes.