Quintessential Sydney
Sydney sparkles in January with sun-kissed beaches and al fresco dining, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find some worldclass shows in both iconic and unexpected venues.
From sunny weather to world-famous scenery, beaches, galleries and food, Sydney has plenty on offer for a summer holiday. And, in January, the city also plays host to some of the world’s top theatre, music, circus and dance performances for Sydney Festival. The 2019 festival is your only chance in the Southern Hemisphere to see theatre provocateurs Schaubühne Berlin’s timely new work Beware of Pity, directed by Complicité’s Simon McBurney. It’s also your first chance to see huge new cabaret work Shànghăi MiMi, set in a recreated 1930s Shanghai nightclub. Other big international theatre imports include HOME, a magical meditation on safety and shelter by award-winning absurdist Geoff Sobelle, and darkly funny klezmer-folk cabaret Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, both major hits at the Edinburgh International Festival and Edinburgh Fringe. For those in the mood to tackle big ideas and diverse perspectives, Sydney Festival 2019 also features cutting-edge First Nations theatre from Australia and Canada, including the visually stunning Man with the Iron Neck at the Sydney Opera House. A quintessential summer experience in Sydney is catching a performance in the bohemian glamour of the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, housed at the Festival Garden in Hyde Park in the city’s centre. Highlights of the 2019 Spiegeltent programme include the world premiere of Pigalle –a raunchy burlesque, circus and 70s disco romp starring Marcia Hines – drag queen diva Le Gateau Chocolat and Edinburgh Fringe favourite Camille O’Sullivan. The Seidler Salon Series celebrates the intersection of modernist architecture and music with an intimate series of classical and experimental concerts in buildings designed by the famous architect Harry Seidler (including a first-ever underwater concert by harpist Mary Lattimore). Plus, there’s free outdoor music with Sydney Symphony Under the Stars on January 19, when the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performs iconic classical compositions on a balmy evening at Parramatta Park. Summer in Sydney means sunshine, so your best bet is to get outdoors and explore. Sydney Festival features four free outdoor art installations dotted around the city, all within walking or cycling distance of each other. ALWAYS, a large-scale sculpture on the harbour’s edge, recognises Aboriginal sovereignty over the land. Three more interactive artworks (including Moon Drops at Darling Harbour by New Zealand designers Jasmax) celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. Plus, to challenge and inspire, there’s American artist Nick Cave’s jaw-droppingly beautiful (and free) art installation about police violence, UNTIL; the pioneering Sydney Chamber Opera recounting the life story of philosopher Simone Weil in La Passion de Simone; experimental late-night soundscapes paired with art treasures from Russia’s State Hermitage Museum, Masters of Modern Sound at the Art Gallery of NSW; and more than 60 other international art exhibitions, gigs, musicals, operas, and contemporary dance, circus and theatre shows.