The best shows to see in Sydney this month

Sydney Fringe Festival is your time to venture to the (sometimes literal) fringes of the Sydney theatre scene and explore the weird, the quirky and the best of the Australian arts industry. You may have already noticed the streets turning pink with banners signalling the start of New South Wales’ largest independent arts festival as artists prepare to take over venues across Sydney this September. This year’s program boasts more than 350 events and more than 2,000 artists across 64 venues. The cracking line-up itself ranges from theatre, comedy, dance, cabaret, family events and new initiatives, with the festival officially kicking off on Saturday, August 29 with Fringe Ignite! on Darlinghurst’s Stanley Street.

With so many events to choose from, it’s worth checking out the full program to cater to your own Fringe tastes. Sure, you could go to the flashy mainstage productions, they’re always a hit. But have you ever ventured to the true fringes of the festival? To get you started, we’ve curated a list of 10 top picks for Sydney Fringe 2026.

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London has become a home for staggering visuals and reimaginings of classic musicals. The most recent touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar arrived with rave reviews and award-winning performances from its electrifying revival of the rock musical. Now, Fiddler on the Roof gets its turn for a facelift at Theatre Royal Sydney, with a backing from a stellar team whose work covers Olivier and Tony Award-winning productions.

"To be, or not to be" is the question that has haunted generations, but Goodnight Sweet Prince, now playing at Sydney's The Old Fitz Theatre, asks a more contemporary one: how do you keep living when the world you have inherited feels irreparably out of joint? 

Liesel Badorrek’s intimate 70-minute reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet transforms the prince’s famous existential crisis into a meditation on generational grief, the mourning of not only what has been lost, but what was promised and never arrived. It begins with a deceptively simple theatrical question: who will be Hamlet tonight? 

With Raj Labade and Jack Twelvetree swapping the roles for each performance, Badorrek makes the casting itself part of the drama. Hamlet becomes less a fixed character than a vessel for uncertainty, contradiction and the overwhelming weight of inheriting a broken world.

Dust off your sequins – a glittery-as-heck night of disco, circus and cabaret is taking over the Sydney Opera House this winter. Showing in the Studio from July 24 to September 13, Velvet Inferno is the very sparkly new evolution of the hit Australian production Velvet, promising wildly impressive acrobatics, powerhouse vocals and a solid soundtrack of disco anthems.

The brilliant Marcia Hines will own the role of The Diva, with beloved multidisciplinary star Brendan Maclean taking on the fan-favourite role of Country Mike. Joining the Velvet family for the first time is singer-songwriter KYE as Gloria, whose coming-of-age story unfolds beneath a sparkling Studio 54-inspired mirrorball. The circus line-up is just as impressive. Expect next-level hula-hooping from Craig "Hula Boy" Reid, the Australian debut of Ukrainian roller-skating duo Duo Stardust, plus terrifyingly impressive aerial performances from Oleg Tatarynov and Zoe Marshall. Hyper-talented vocalists Emma Feliciano and Mateja Sardelis round out the cast.

Isobel McArthur’s Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) strips away the intellectual exclusivity of Jane Austen’s classic, not only making it accessible to a wide variety of audiences, but also making clear the sort of tools that Austen herself was using in her original novel: gender, satire, romance, and – most of all – comedy. There’s no Colin Firth here – but there are plenty of karaoke songs to hum along to.

A new work by revered Australian playwright Jane Harrison (The Visitors, Stolen) is always one to be celebrated. Her works tackle and investigate both the past and present existence of First Nations communities, weaving a contemporary lens through which she aims to reconcile, teach and honour.

The newest Sydney Theatre Company-commissioned work, Bennelong in London, is no different. Here, Harrison dissects the historical narrative of Woollarawarre Bennelong, a man who found himself in an unprecedented moment in history.

At the centre of the work is a complex individual whose historical narrative has been documented by the colonisers and whose history can only truly be known by his actions. This is a play that is ultimately a conversation between generations, focusing on identity, representation and the responsibility that comes with one’s story.

The opening note of ‘The Circle of Life’ may just be one of the most recognisable in a Disney musical. If you don’t agree, then you may have to convince the entire theatre-going audience who were at Disney’s The Lion King on opening night. The full house’s roars could be heard all the way out of the Capitol Theatre’s front doors as the king of musicals triumphantly returns to Sydney – the first time in more than a decade.

There’s always a lot going on at Sydney’s favourite house. So much so that it can be hard to keep track – with new headliners dropping every other week, and huge events taking over the various venues seemingly out of nowhere. Keen to go to a show under the sails over the next few months? We’ve rounded up a few top picks in the Sydney Opera House winter to spring season.