Sydney theatre latest reviews

Is Hamilton, the smash-hit American history musical that won a whopping 11 Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize when it debuted on Broadway in 2015 and won the hearts of critics and audiences the world over, as good as everyone says? In a word, yes. If you want to stop reading here and just book your tickets, we’ll understand.  There is a reason it is the most hyped show on Earth, and its writer and first star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, is now a household name. Some 3 million people watched the musical when it appeared on Disney Plus in July 2020, and almost 8 million more have seen it live, in cities across the US and in London’s West End. Now it’s Sydney’s turn, with the only production of the show in the world right now playing at the Lyric Theatre.  With the soundtrack available on Spotify and the original Broadway cast version available to anyone with a Disney Plus account on demand, Hamilton is competing not so much with other musicals for your dollars and attention (there are no other shows of this type that can match the show’s tactical brilliance), but with itself. Most in the audience are at least familiar with the show by this point, and quite a few are able to mouth along to every word behind their masks. If you can see the original Broadway version any time you want and listen to the soundtrack 24 hours a day, what power does the staged version still hold?  In a word, magic. The entire cast is extraordinary, with every dance move sharp as a tack and the constantly shifting

UPDATE, June 28: As of June 26, the Greater Sydney region including the Central Coast, the Blue Mountains and Wollongong is under a compulsory two-week lockdown until 11.59pm on July 9. Many events in Sydney have therefore been cancelled or postponed until after this period. There is something perfect about Come From Away being the first theatre back on Melbourne's main stages. The musical is set on 9/11 in the tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland, to which 38 planes were diverted when United States airspace was closed in the wake of the terrorist attack. The almost 7,000 passengers on board, terrified, claustrophobic and desperate for news about what was happening, were taken in by the people of Gander and surrounding towns, nearly doubling the population for five days. The townsfolk gave them food, shelter and most importantly, kindness and comfort during the most horrific time in recent American history – until 2020, of course.  The underlying message of kindness and compassion in the face of unspeakable horror is one that's sorely needed right now. When the planes begin to land, the women of Gander start up a collection for donations, with a song that could have been penned last year: "Can I help? Is there something I need to do, something to keep me from thinking of all the scenes on the tube? I need something to do 'cause I can't watch the news, no I can't watch the news anymore..." The feeling of helplessness, of being unable to tear yourself away from the news and of de

The creeping chill of Darkfield Radio’s terrifying immersive show Double has warped reality to its own ends, reshaping history by becoming the first audio-only entry to be selected by the illustrious Venice International Film Festival.  Read our four-star review Reality as we know it has become unmoored. Separated from loved ones, our homes oscillate between sanctuary and prison cell. Now, with the icy hand of winter creeping in around the edges of creaking doors, these strange and trying times are ripe for spooky stories. Hearing our silent screams in the abys, immersive theatre company Darkfield are back to tear away our grasp of reality once more with Double. Masters at uncanny unnerving, their sensory-deprived shipping container-bound shows Flight and Séance combined the primal terror of pitch black with devilishly discombobulating audio trickery and disturbing suggestion. Flight’s mid-air disaster recreation threw out the lifeline that while death was imminent, the many-worlds theory allowed for a final destination somewhere disturbingly other. Séance similarly pulled back the veil between realms, connecting us to the shadows of lost souls trapped at the edges of perception. While cramming into a shipping container is unwise for the moment, this eerie new audio work, the debut of Darkfield Radio, instead transforms our darkening homes into the site of  psychological drama hung on a demonic visitation. The set-up is simple. All you have to do is head over to the website a