The best shows to see in Sydney this month

Following the runaway success of theatrical epics Counting and Cracking and The Jungle and the Sea, Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre presents the world premiere of S. Shakthidharan’s brand new play, The Wrong Gods. Taking an interesting detour from the huge scale of the critically-acclaimed playwright’s previous hits, this gripping tale of local justice and global power unfolds over a short, sharp 90 minutes with an all-star cast of four. 

Samuel Beckett’s Winnie, the hapless, half-buried heroine of his 1961 play, Happy Days, is one of those pinnacle roles in theatre. Comparisons to Hamlet are common, but apt. It’s such an actor’s role that it makes sense, arguably with certain caveats, that the actor in question takes up at least one directorial rein. It certainly makes sense to Sydney Theatre Company, who are giving us the legendary Pamela Rabe directed by Pamela Rabe (and Nick Schlieper) in this production.

Two one-act Harold Pinter plays starring three actors across five roles for a total of two hours entertainment plus intermission – if we judged theatre by weight, that’d sound like a pretty good deal. And it is, because you tend to get more than you expect from Ensemble Theatre, and certainly from Pinter, if you’re not ready for him. 

Hold on to your alibis, because the producers of the recent huge national tour of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap are bringing a brand-new production of her most popular murdery mystery of all time to Sydney’s Theatre Royal, following its premiere season in Melbourne. Stage and screen luminary Robyn Nevin is back in the director’s chair.