The best shows to see in Sydney this month

The question of meaning has long shaped the human condition, at once a source of existential anxiety and a catalyst for some of the world’s most powerful artistic expression. For some, purpose is not pursued but inherited – something life quietly unfolds in its own time, revealing itself only in hindsight. For others, it is a relentless obsession, a restlessness that has driven monks, scholars and countless others towards faith, philosophy and protest in the hope of naming and securing it. Whatever the path, one thing remains certain: purpose is a question that sits within all of us. 

Sydney Theatre Company has built a reputation for championing African American voices, staging landmark works by writers such as August Wilson (Fences, 2023) and Lorraine Hansberry (A Raisin in the Sun, 2022). While those productions connected Australian audiences with enduring American classics, Purpose offers a voice unmistakably of the present, one grappling with the complexity of living in a world that is hyper-aware of itself.

"You paid a hundred and sixty thousand euros for this shit?" Marc asks his old friend Serge at the start of Lee Lewis’s restaging of the 1994 satire by French writer Yasmina Reza, Art. It feels sort of meta to be reviewing and speaking to a show whose literal tagline is “Everyone’s a critic. Especially your friends.” But, here we are.  

Art has been having its own sort of renaissance on world stages, with the most recent revivals featuring three well-known male celebrities to draw in crowds. In London, it was Rufus Sewell, Paul Ritter and Tim Key, while on Broadway it was Neil Patrick Harris, James Corden and Bobby Cannavale. Australian audiences have been gifted with three long-time friends and collaborators Richard Roxburgh (Rake, The Correspondent), Damon Herriman (Justified, Together), and Toby Schmitz (Boy Swallows Universe, Gaslight). It’s a massive drawcard for audiences to have three actors of this calibre together on stage in a play about the worth of art and what holds together a friendship. And it’s one that has been proving to be working, if the “House Full” sign that’s been sitting outside Sydney Theatre Company’s Roslyn Packer Theatre during previews is anything to go by.

Landing just in time for Mardi Gras and fresh from sold-out seasons in Melbourne and Brisbane, is Late Night Vice – it’s very, very naughty and just a little bit nice. Brought to you by Strut & Fret, the glorious minds behind Blanc de Blanc Encore, this is cabaret with a sharper bite – you’ve been warned. 

Showing at The Grand Electric (on Cleveland Street), it’s where glamour flirts with chaos and all the rules are gleefully broken. It’s strictly for an 18+ audience (yes, they will check ID), so dress to impress in black and step into a world of decadence and dance.

Jay Gatsby invites you into the decadent world of The Green Light, nestled inside The Studio theatre of the Sydney Opera House, where the roaring '20s is reborn for an evening of decadence, debauchery and delight. Gatsby at the Green Light is back by popular demand and, with an extended run until March 2026, there’s clearly a demand for cabaret with a touch of elegance and plenty of grandeur.