TO SEE

Don’t miss these plays, musicals, operas and dance productions

JUNE Priscilla, Queen of the Desert the Musical

The world’s most fabulous bus has rolled back into its hometown. This Australian jukebox musical about Sydney drag queens in the outback has played every major theatre market in the world – including Broadway and the West End – and returns to Australia with original cast member Tony Sheldon. The soundtrack is made up of disco hits including ‘It’s Raining Men’, ‘MacArthur Park’ and ‘Finally’.

Capitol Theatre, 13 Campbell St, Haymarket 2000. 02 9320 5000. priscillathemusical.com.au. $49.90-$200.90. Until Jul 21.

The Book of Mormon

One of the world’s most successful musicals is having its Sydney premiere season at the newly renovated Sydney Lyric theatre. It follows two Mormon missionaries from America as they try to bring the good word to the people of Uganda. Written by the creators of South Park, the musical is both blasphemous and side-splittingly funny, and it has set box office records in almost every city it’s played. The Star, 55 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont 2009. 02 9509 3600. bookofmormonmusical.com.au. $50.80-$278. Until Sep 2.

Bliss

Peter Carey’s Miles Franklin award-winning novel about a fallen ad man has been adapted into a successful film and opera and will now become a play, penned by Tom Wright and starring Toby Truslove, Marco Chiappi, Amber McMahon, Anna Samson and Mark Coles Smith. Malthouse Theatre’s artistic director Matthew Lutton will reunite with Wright for this surreal masterpiece after the pair adapted

Picnic at Hanging Rock for the

stage in 2016. Belvoir St Theatre, 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills 2010. 02 9699 3444. belvoir.com.au. $37-$72. Jun 9-Jul 15.

JULY A Taste of Honey

Shelagh Delaney’s debut play, written when she was just 19, made a massive splash when it premiered in London in 1958. It tackled a wide range of taboos – sex, class, race, sexuality – and was turned into a film. But this Belvoir production, helmed by artistic director Eamon Flack, will be the first time it’s been seen in Australia in two decades. Genevieve Lemon

stars as the alcoholic, workingclass single mother at the centre of

the tumultuous action. Belvoir St Theatre, 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills 2010. 02 9699 3444. belvoir.com.au. $37-$72. Jul 21-Aug 19.

The Long Forgotten Dream

Ngarrindjeri writer H Lawrence Sumner is making his Sydney Theatre Company debut with this family drama about what we leave behind. A killer team is bringing it to the stage: director Neil Armfield and actors Wayne Blair, Jada Alberts and Melissa Jaffer. Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point 2000. 02 9250 7111. www.sydneyoperahouse.com. $83-$120. Jul 23-Aug 25.

Dark Emu

Choreographer Stephen Page has been artistic director at Bangarra since 1991. Dark Emu is his 25th work for the company and explores the Indigenous relationship with flora and fauna, challenging the ‘hunter-gatherer’ myth of pre-colonisation Aboriginal Australians. Choreography from Bangarra dancers Yolande Brown and Daniel Riley also features.

Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point 2000. 02 9250 7111. sydneyoperahouse.com. $51-$99. Jun 14-Jul 14.

The Almighty Sometimes

What happens when a young woman who has been medicated for most of her life decides to go off her meds? That’s the subject of this new play by Australian writer Kendall Feaver, which premiered to strong reviews in London earlier this year. The local version stars Hannah Waterman and is directed by Lee Lewis for Griffin Theatre Company. SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod St, Darlinghurst 2010. 02 9361 3817. griffintheatre.com.au. $38-$60. Jul 27-Sep 8.

AUGUST The Harp in the South

This epic two-parter is Sydney Theatre Company’s biggest ticket this year. Adapted by Kate Mulvany from Ruth Park’s trilogy of novels set in Surry Hills in the early and mid -20th century, this production is directed by STC’s artistic director, Kip Williams, and has a big, all-star cast, including Tara Morice, Helen Thomson, Tony Cogin and Guy Simon.

Roslyn Packer Theatre, 22 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay 2000. 02 9250 1777. sydneytheatre.com.au. $64-$108. Aug 16-Oct 6.

Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist

When you post an ad looking for a new roommate, just about the last person you’d expect to show up is the endlessly eccentric actor Tilda Swinton embarking on an unusual character study. This hit American comedy is having its Australian premiere directed by Shaun Rennie ( Rent, The View Up Stairs), starring Ben Gerrard. Kings X Theatre, 2/244–248 William St, Potts Point 2011. 02 9331 9900. kingsxtheatre.com. $25-$35. Aug 10-25.

King of Pigs

Steve Rodgers and Blazey Best are both among Sydney’s most popular actors, but the pair are stepping into creative roles at the Old Fitz. Penned by Rodgers and directed by Best, the play tackles male aggression. Old Fitz Theatre, 129 Dowling St, Woolloomooloo 2011. 0416 014 413. www.redlineproductions.com.au. $33-$45. Aug 1-Sep 1.

The Misanthrope

Molière’s 1666 comedy of manners has been a mainstay of the stage for most of the last four centuries and will be freshened up by Justin Fleming, who has previously adapted several of Molière’s comedies for Bell Shakespeare. He’s teaming up again with the artistic director of Griffin Theatre Company, Lee Lewis, and Wentworth star Danielle Cormack.

Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point 2000. 02 9250 7111. sydneyoperahouse.com. $30-$85. Aug 28-Sep 28.