Well, 2024 was certainly a full year of theatre, dance, opera, and more. I saw 149 shows in total, an increase of over 50% from 2023, which is a frankly frightening amount. The vast majority of the shows I saw were very good, a number were exceptional and a handful were quite poor. There was only one show I disliked so much I thought it best not to review it. And only one show complained about the (actually quite positive) review I wrote. So that’s a win.
Before I put out my personal Top Ten shows of the year, let’s have a look at how the individual companies fared — all from my one-man perspective, of course; individual mileage may vary.
Sydney Theatre Co (12 shows reviewed of 15) was a mixed bag this year, book ending the year with the two shows I enjoyed the least, A Fool in Love and Sweat. But the rest of the year had some real favourites. They dined out on returning hits (No Pay? No Way!, Julia and RBG: Of Many, One) and terrific transfers (Sunday and Golden Blood), but the newer works felt a little cold to me – technically beautiful but nothing connected on a personal level. We bid farewell to Kip Williams, whose remarkable stewardship of the company has been outstanding, and who spent part of the year getting The Picture of Dorian Gray up & running in London to Olivier-winning (next stop Tony Awards?) success.
Belvoir (7 shows reviewed out of 10) cast its net as wide as usual and served up some bangers in Holding The Man, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, August: Osage County, as well as the returning Counting & Cracking. Nothing quite hit the ecstatic heights of 2023’s The Master & Margarita, but that was utter perfection! Downstairs, 25a (4 shows reviewed out of 7) was really cooking. All the shows I saw were excellent and had that creative spark you crave in the theatre.
Frustratingly, I didn’t get to Ensemble Theatre (4 shows reviewed out of 10) as much as I wanted to, and missed a few shows I very keen for (like Laura Wade’s Colder Than Here and Sam O’Sullivan’s McGuffin Park). What I did get to see, I really enjoyed. My personal highlight was Melanie Tait’s The Queen’s Nanny. As one of the companies whose output I consistently enjoy, I need to make more of an effort in 2025 — trust me, it’s pretty easy to get to the theatre from south of the harbour!
Hayes Theatre (4 main shows reviewed out of 7) was busy, busy this year, packed with shows, cabarets, concerts and talks. It was an impressive schedule juggling their own productions with independents using the space. The two total standouts were Ride The Cyclone and Zombie! The Musical by a mile.
KXT on Broadway (10 shows reviewed out of 15) is, actually, my local theatre and it housed a group of theatre-makers all over delivering with ambition and vision. Even the shows I wasn’t that enamoured with showed a real passion for the text. Good stories abounded
As for the other independent venues and companies we had the excellent Yentl come to the Opera House, and if you skipped the UnWrapped season at the Opera House you really did miss out – AUTO-TUNE was one of the best shows of the year. Seymour Centre (my other local) was solid but nothing really stood out till the double-decker hit of The Inheritance.
I didn’t get to the Old Fitz enough at all this year, although Snowflake came incredibly close to making my Top Ten. Similarly I need to pay more attention to work at Qtopia and New Theatre. Yes, despite seeing almost 150 shows this year, there is plenty of stuff I didn’t get a chance to see (I didn’t get to Bell Shakespeare at all). God only knows how Suzy Wrong manages to get around as much as she does, the woman is superhuman in her dedication to Sydney theatre.
Cultural Binge’s Top Ten Favourite Shows of 2024
Out of all the Sydney shows I saw, I’ve put together my personal Top Ten. These are shows that I really enjoyed and which have stayed with me through the year.
10) The Inheritance Part 1 & Part 2 (Shane Anthony, Daniel Cottier Productions, Sugary Rum Productions and Seymour Centre)
Sydney’s production of The Inheritance, one of two different productions I saw this year, was a tough one for me to review. The original production is one of my favourite shows of all time, and that full professional staging and its cast are burned into my brain, so it’s hard for me not to hold every subsequent production up against its standard.
But our smaller, independent Sydney production held its own with a fraction of the original’s time and resources. Well thought through design and good performances in the lead roles never let this long, wordy play feel stale or dull.
9) The Lewis Trilogy (Griffin)
I guess it was the year for durational works, as Griffin kicked things off with a triple bill (all in one day if you were brave) of The Lewis Trilogy. A fond farewell to the SBW Stables Theatre as we knew it, and a brilliant overview of Louis Nowra’s career. Completely fascinating to see this loosely autobiographical trilogy together and a real triumph for the ensemble. Definitely one of those theatrical events for the ages.
8) Titanique (Michael Cassel Productions, The Grand Electric)
Titanique is so insanely stupid it shouldn’t exist, but the daft blend of pop cultural gags and Celine Dion has been a total crowd-pleaser since it opened and it shows no signs of fading away. Could this become a Sydney staple? I’ve overheard total randoms talking about it from the office to airport terminals – it’s definitely made its way into Sydney’s mainstream consciousness. And look, with my critical eye I can see so many flaws with the show, but the reality is the exuberant joy it releases makes any qualms over the book meaningless.
7. The Past is a Wild Party (Siren Theatre Co, Qtopia)
A one-woman walk through sexual politics and queer history could have been a dry, didactic mess, but The Past is a Wild Party was an exercise in elegant presentation. Beautiful lighting by Brockman, a welcoming and warm performance by Jules Billington, and an excellent script by Noëlle Janaczewska combined with Kate Gaul’s understated direction, to make something simply special to watch.
6. Sunday (Sydney Theatre Co / Melbourne Theatre Company)
Bringing Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Sunday north to Sydney was a smart move. Anthony Weigh’s script is lively, opening up a chapter of Australian art history, and gives Nikki Shiels a platform to shine. I loved Anna Cordingley’s simple yet imposing design. This show just sang for me.
5. August: Osage County (Belvoir)
I did pause to ask myself if Belvoir’s August: Osage County was actually this good, or if I was suffering from a bit of recency bias, but I’m pretty sure I’m not. This show is just a feast of great work. The script was already a classic, famous for its juicy roles and antagonistic characters. And I think I was totally prepared for Pamela Rabe to excel (which she did), but it was Tamsin Carroll that had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I’ve always loved her work and thought she was an excellent actress, but this took things up a notch.
4. & Juliet (Michael Cassel Productions, Lyric Theatre)
This show, like Titanique, & Juliet is just pure joy to me. Far smarter and more earnest than it needed to be, the book to this musical isn’t the usual lazy jukebox affair but a whip-smart comedy full of wordplay, slapstick and unexpected delights. Plus, the tunes are bangers that actually work as proper musical theatre songs – moving the plot and characters along on their journeys.
3. Yentl (Kadimah Yiddish Theatre, Monstrous Theatre and Neil Gooding Productions in association with Shalom, Sydney Opera House)
A slight cheat here as I didn’t actually see the show in Sydney, but at its run in Melbourne earlier in 2024, but I don’t care. Yentl was one of those great delights you have when you walk into a theatre expecting nothing and are completely transported to another world and get to explore a life completely different to your own. As an exercise in adaptation it is flawless, holding your hand and taking you into some deeply esoteric religious dogma without feeling heavy or confusing. And it never treated the audience as fools, Yentl had faith in its own ability to grip you till the end.
2. Zombie! The Musical (Hayes Theatre Co.)
The best shows are the ones that take you by surprise and leave you feeling moved by the end, and Zombie! The Musical did just that. For all its stupid B-movie moments and loving musical theatre jokes, it managed to have real heart. Of course, it’s a musical so it lives or dies on the tunes, and Laura Murphy proved why she’s the best musical theatre writer in Australia at the moment (yup, I said it).
1. AUTO-TUNE (re:group Performance Collective, Sydney Opera House)
And the theme of “shows that took me by surprise” reached its apex with re:group’s AUTO-TUNE part of the Sydney Opera House’s UnWrapped season. This multimedia, indie sci-fi rock theatre/music hybrid amazed on every level. The storytelling was just transformative, breaking form time and again to tell a heartbreaking story in ever-inventive ways. Where their other shows, like POV and UFO, were admirable and interesting deconstructions of how theatre works with technology, AUTO-TUNE gave us their most impactful story to date. I can’t wait to see what re:group Performance Collective comes up with next.
Bring on 2025!
Cultural Binge 
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