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[title]Sydney Fringe Festival is the largest independent arts event in New South Wales. In 2022 it’s rising from the ashes with its biggest program to date, a schedule of comedy, cabaret and music to quench your thirst for arts.
So, what’s worth seeing? If you want to start at the beginning, opening party Fringe Ignite packs more than 20 live acts into the meandering lanes and byways of The Rocks. On Friday September 2 from 6pm to late, you’ll get to roam around historic cobbled streets while enjoying Sydney’s latest local talent – all for the low price of nothing at all. Fringe Ignite launches the festival's fantastic Sideshow program.
For those craving variety, the Touring Hub returns with a wild mix of predominantly solo and duo shows from Australia and abroad. Snuggled into the Hub’s new home at the Seymour Centre, you’ll see sci-fi drama, deep explorations of identity and gender, plus the aptly-named live artwork Six Women Standing in Front of a White Wall (it delivers on the premise). The program’s mostly theatre with a little music sprinkled in.
More keen on the local stuff? You won’t even have to leave your seat at the Seymour for Made in Sydney, a set of three one-woman shows by independent Sydney artists that run the gamut of human experience: there’s live cello, shoulder dancing (I think you have to see it), a musical based around dildos and one inspired by climate change… listen, we’re still working our head around it too, but it’s bound to be a fun night out.
In case this all sounds too racy for the tots, Fringe Kids Week offers age-appropriate relief. For the first week of spring school holidays, the ARA Theatre at Darling Harbour will be bustling with family-friendly acts. Each one is colourful and high energy, guaranteed to keep your kids entertained with songs and juggling as well as an appearance from the Beanies of ABC Kids TV fame.
Now, it wouldn’t be the Fringe Festival without a big, loud, fabulous cabaret, and Yummy’s got that covered. If you’re picturing outrageous outfits and a surplus of skin, you’re right on track for this award-winning combination of circus and burlesque with a drag-filled dose of comedy at the Eternity Playhouse. Think money-guns shooting cash into the crowd as dancers writhe and strut on-stage. Now imagine it with fewer clothes. Good, isn’t it?
It’s a tough act to follow, but Titanic: The Movie, the Play is hard to resist. Sink into the icy depths of nostalgia with a crew of mad merry folk as they dance, joke, and sing (yes, that Celine Dion song) their way to a briny demise. What they lack in Hollywood budget they make up for with creative staging and unsinkable enthusiasm.
Wrapping it all up is the Mi Casa Tu Casa: Box of Birds closing party, a multimedia extravaganza taking place at the Australian National Maritime Museum’s lighthouse. While it does feature top underground electronic musicians from Sydney and Mexico, that’s not all it is – there are also interactive installations and aerial artists soaring along to the beat.
Oh, and a quick shout-out to comedian Robyn Reynolds and her show Cake (pictured above) – Reynolds (UK) is the descendant of survivors of the Nazis, and she tells that incredible story – and shares an incredible recipe for coffee walnut cake – in her delicious standup show.
All in all, there’s a huge program to explore, so be quick and book tickets now. Sydney Fringe presents the wierdest, wildest and most diverse range of emerging artists in Sydney and happens throughout the city from August 15-September 30.