The best shows to see on Sydney stages this week

Every now and then, a play comes along that reminds you of what good theatre is capable of: telling a story that exposes the truths of our society (the good, the bad and the ugly), that helps us to see ourselves and others with greater clarity and compassion and – better yet – keep us on the edge of our seats until the very end. Arriving at Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre following its debut with Melbourne Theatre Company, Declan Furber Gillick’s Jacky is one of those plays. Rumbling with an undercurrent of honesty and authenticity, this unassumingly clever and comedically raw drama will stay with you long after you drift out of the theatre. Guy Simon (Holding the Man) reprises his role as Jacky, a smart young bloke who seems to be really finding his feet amongst the hustle and bustle of city life in Melbourne. As he juggles an internship with the uncertainty of the gig economy, his side-hustle as a sex worker is a pretty unbeatable way to pay the bills, and even get a leg up on the property ladder (and after all, he’s good at it). But when his unemployable younger brother Keith (Danny Howard, who makes an impressive Belvoir debut) arrives in town, Jacky’s worlds collide. Negotiating the boundaries of work life, personal life, politics and culture can be tricky enough – let alone if you’re a (closeted) Queer, Aboriginal man with a loud, nosy sibling crashing on your couch.  The cast is rounded out by Greg Stone (August: Osage County) and Mandy McElhinney (Tiny Beautiful...

UPDATE, DECEMBER 9: Clearly, we can't get enough of this ridicoulously funny show! Titanique has just announced that this Sydney-exclusive season has been extended all the way through summer, until March 30. Prepare to board! Read on for our critic's five-star review:  Ah, the Titanic. An unsinkable cultural icon, the “Ship of Dreams” has appeared in almost as many movies and stage productions as the songs of Canada’s queen of the power ballad, Céline Dion. It’s even got a two-and-a-half-hour (surprisingly serious) movie musical adaptation based on Maury Yeston’s Titanic: the Musical. Although, none can hold a candle to the cultural impact of James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster – you know, the one with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. So, with nostalgia being such hot property right now, it was only a matter of time before we got the camp-as-hell musical fantasia-made-for-and-by-the-gays that is Titanique. Created by Marla Mindelle (who originated the role of Céline Dion – well, as imagined in this show), Constantine Rousouli (who originated the role of Jack) and director Tye Blue (whose countless industry credits include working on the casting team of RuPaul’s Drag Race), Titanique is revisionist history at its best. Loaded with Céline Dion’s greatest bangers, it casts Queen Dion herself (played so wonderfully by cabaret legend Marney McQueen here in Aus) as the narrator of the tragic tale, who continuously places herself at the center of the action – quite literally –...

Let’s just start by saying I’m not a D&D player. I’ve played a couple of times with my family, led by my teenage son as Dungeon Master, but that was just to show interest in something he loves. So I do understand the basics – that said, you don’t need any prior knowledge of D&D to get swept up in the magic that is Dungeons and Dragons The Twenty-Sided Tavern. If anything, this show is probably the best way I’ve found so far to get a better grasp on the complex game that is D&D. This is an interactive show that began in New York as an Off-Broadway production – the same director, Michael Fell, also rehearsed with the Australian cast. In what ways is it interactive? The story lies in the audience’s hands, as well as with the roll of the 20-sided dice.  As you enter The Studio at the Sydney Opera House, you pick a coloured sticker from a basket. Depending on what colour you choose, you get aligned with one of the three classes: Warrior, Mage (Wizard) or Assassin/Entertainer. Throughout the show, you make decisions for the character in your assigned class, mostly by choosing options via your mobile phone (after scanning a QR code) – and sometimes just by yelling out. (Top tip:Make sure you turn up with a fully-charged phone.) You answer polls and take part in little games to choose what character the actors play, then make decisions or see the outcomes of characters’ actions. Dice rolls are directed by the Dungeon Master, played by the charismatic Cody Simpson-lookalike William...

If you've ever dreamed of running off with the circus, this one’s for you. After a record-setting season in Brisbane that saw more than 120,000 tickets sold, Cirque du Soleil’s spectacular new show has landed in Sydney for its final Aussie encore. It's already got a big thumbs up from none other than Robert Irwin, who described it as “just next level”, and now the wildly impressive Luzia is pitching up under the Big Top at the Entertainment Quarter until February 9, before it ships off to New York City.Originated some 40 years ago in Canada, Cirque du Soleil is the world-leader of live circus – and as with every Big Top show they roll out, Luzia features ridiculously impressive acrobatics and stunning visual effects, with this particular show transporting spectators to a vibrant and surreal Mexico-inspired setting. Morphing from a vintage movie set to the aquatic depths of the ocean, and from a hazy dance hall into an arid desert, the stage brings Mexican landscapes (and seascapes, and atmospheric indoor settings) to life through an immersive, spellbinding show. The poetic narrative of Luzia was crafted by playwright Julie Hamelin Finzi, and the transporting story is brought to life under the direction of author, director, choreographer, lighting designer and actor Daniele Finzi Pasca. On the acrobatics front, you can expect trapeze artists, hoop divers, football freestylers and contortionists to defy the laws of gravity – all set within a magical dreamlike setting...

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...