Justin Clarke

There is a lot happening on Sydney's stages each and every month. But how do you even know where to start? Thankfully, our critics are out road-testing musicals, plays, operas, dance, cabaret and more all year round. Here are their recommendations. Want more culture? Check out the best art exhibitions in Sydney.

In the final moments of writer/director Izabella Louk’s These Youths Be Protesting, a comedy about the chaos of youth and of climate change premiering at KXT on Broadway, Mây Trần’s Mandi explodes into a rage-filled monologue. All of the anger and fear that’s been bubbling inside of her comes pouring out. Her rage towards those in power who continue to deny that climate change is a direct result of their actions. Rage towards complicity and apathy. Rage towards a future that is uncertain, as climate disasters grow more catastrophic by the year. It’s here we feel the urgency of Louk’s message, echoing the voices of a generation who will inherit a world that is hurtling towards catastrophe. A finalist for the 2024 Martin Lysicrates Prize, These Youths describes itself as part Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, part Don’t Look Up. Blinking Light Theatre, an indie company whose ethos revolves around creating environmentally sustainable theatre, hands the megaphone to the youth for an exploration of climate activism and the importance of finding your voice. After a visit at a school fundraiser from local (fictional) politician Greg Moresby, the students of Sunlake Downs High School’s Recycling Club are presented with a giant novelty cheque, with the event being posted directly to Instagram (#campaigntrail). It’s not until they discover that Moresby has just approved a new mine to be built in “the only nice place in town” and a favourite local hang-out spot – The Dunes – that they realise t

Soviet-era playwright Lyudmila Razumovskaya’s Dear Elena Sergeevna is very rarely performed. Dating back to early 1980s Russia, the play was commissioned by Russia’s Ministry of Culture, but it was soon banned, deemed “too provocative” for the Soviet stage. The USSR took issue with its exploration of the disenfranchisement of youth against a system of government that favours nepotism and, above all, wealth. (Sound familiar?) This new staging from Last Waltz Productions enters the Late Night slot at the Old Fitz, signalling a swift change of pace from the bubbly, rom-com-adjacent theatricality of the Mainstage production, Amber. The clause for all Late Night shows at this beloved pub theatre, is that they must work around the mainstage show’s set. To this end, Dear Elena Sergeevna feels cluttered, with most of the action taking space downstage right, and only small scenes occurring on the other side of a thin wooden divider suggesting a kitchen.  As the titular Miss Elena Sergeevna, a world weary and proper teacher, Teodora Matović flits about the space, shielding off the audience as they enter, slowly crafting an invisible fourth wall before the piece begins. This continues throughout, as director Clara Voda shifts the audience well and truly into the world of the omniscient. We are here to bear witness to Razumovskaya’s unforgiving exploration of humanity, in a production that is unflinching in its portrayal of dramatic tension. This is theatre that is confronting and cruel

What I would give to have been a fly on the wall when Mel Brooks was pitching his next satirical hit to Broadway producers. The thought of him describing his idea for a flashy, razzle dazzle number featuring a flamboyantly prancing Führer complete with Germanic paraphernalia and Swastikas would be enough to make anyone’s jaw drop. But in true Brooks fashion, his Tony Award-Winning musical The Producers boasts such a high calibre satirical penmanship, that against all odds, everything goes right! Based on Brooks’ own 1967 comedy film, The Producers opened on Broadway in 2001 with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in the starring roles and ran for over 2,500 performances. Sydney’s newest production lands at the small but mighty Hayes Theatre, care of Joshua Robson Productions. Such is the fervour for Brooks’ hit show – with audiences anticipating much-loved numbers such as ‘I Wanna Be a Producer’, ‘Keep it Gay’ and ‘Springtime for Hitler’ – that the season completely sold out before it had even opened, and a transfer to Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres was added on to meet demand.  Anton Berezin (The Phantom of the Opera, Evita) and Des Flanagan (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), who are doing their best Lane and Broderick impressions here, lead the cast as the down-and-out Max Bialystoch and the chaotically shy Leo Bloom. The piece sort of pitter-patters through the first few numbers, before the larger-than-life supporting characters swoop in to give it the electric shock required. B

As the band Twisted Sister once said, “We’re not gonna take it. No, we ain’t gonna take it!” And Welsh playwright Gary Owen’s critically acclaimed monodrama Iphigenia in Splott echoes this sentiment in a brutal piece of class warfare. New Ghosts Theatre Company restages their 2020 production in a gut-punch of a show at the Old Fitz Theatre, led by a captivating Meg Clarke (Measure for Measure, Porpoise Pool). The enduring Greek myth of Iphigenia is reimagined for the modern world, the action unfolding in the Splott district, south of Wales’ capital.  A pre-show lighting state is cast onto the back wall, illuminating a ghostly tiered block stage painted in varying shades of grey, tufts of grass attempting to break their way through in Angela Doherty’s set. Luna Ng’s eclectic lighting design flickers and strobes about the space, casting shadows and blackness before sitting on an open white. We expect a dramatic start, but instead, there’s an uncomfortable emptiness – Lucy Clements’ direction purposefully subverts expectations as our underdog protagonist, Effie (Clarke, who returns from the UK to reprise her solo performance), lazily strolls towards the stage.  Clarke’s performance is electric – she dons a glare that could shatter through glass It’s the first sign that we are certainly not in for a heightened melodrama – as Effie turns to the audience and questions why we’re here, and what we’re expecting her to do for us. In the original myth, Iphigenia was the daughter of Kin

Aria is a tasteful black comedy for Kirribilli’s Ensemble Theatre, doing the job its audience wants it to do – it offers plenty of laughs, a few political jabs here and there, but never pushes the envelope too far, with veteran playwright David Williamson playing it safe in this brand new offering. The play has the airs of Don’s Party for the upper echelons of society, but without the depth of Williamson’s more well-known works. This tale of blind prejudice focuses around the matriarchal Monique (Tracy Mann, Belvoir’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime), whose adult sons are the jewel of her eye as she refuses to let go of the past. A true narcissist to her bones, Monique seemingly gave up her career as an opera singer for love and family, despite her incessant insistence that she could have been the next big thing. The need for perfection now overrules everything in the path of Monique’s lifestyle, with her son’s wives needing to be perfect “acquisitions for the family” rather than loving partners for her boys that can do no wrong. But now, the wives have had enough, and Monique is in for a rude awakening. Tracy Mann is the perfect step-monster-in-law; whose vanity blinds her to the broken shards of a family in front of her Australia’s most prolific playwright, Williamson’s earlier works explored the depths of the working classes’ struggles against the classist turmoil of white Australia. Now, we’re on the other side of the class divide, and while the politici