Author archives: Damien Barrett

There’s something undeniably intoxicating about the musical Anastasia  which opened at the Sydney Lyric Theatre on Friday night — a sweeping, old-school musical that leans hard into romance, spectacle and nostalgia. It’s the kind of show that knows exactly how to seduce an audience: soaring melodies, lavish design, and just enough fairy-tale…

Directed by Alice Livingstone for New Theatre New Theatre continues its strong 2026 season with Stage Kiss, a sharp, self-aware comedy by Sarah Ruhl that leans into the messy, complicated and often absurd nature of love, performance and everything in between. Stage Kiss premiered in 2011 at the Goodman Theatre,…

Written and directed by S. Asher Gelman for Midnight TheatricalsEternity Playhouse, Darlinghurst Following a successful Australian premiere season in Melbourne, Afterglow has arrived in Sydney, opening at the Eternity Playhouse in Darlinghurst soon after a hectic Sydney Mardi Gras weekend. Many in Tuesday night’s audience appeared to have just come…

Songs by The Go-Go’s / Book adapted by James Magruder based upon The Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney at Hayes Theatre Head Over Heels at Hayes Theatre Co is the kind of joyous, glitter-soaked theatrical experience that reminds you why small theatres can produce some of the most electric nights…

Directed by Patrick Kennedy for New Theatre Playwright Topher Payne believes that the best way to engage with an audience is through comedy. “If you can make someone laugh, they listen. And they lean in, and they want to hear more. And once you have that level of engagement, then…

Words and Music by Stephen Sondheim The Foundry Theatre  33 years after its world premiere, the Stephen Sondheim review – Putting It Together made its Aussie premiere at Sydney’s Foundry Theatre. What the enthusiastic opening night audience saw on Thursday was a masterclass in interpreting the songbook of the undisputed…

I said it when I reviewed the first instalment Wicked and I’m saying it again – this world does not deserve Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Jon M. Chu.  Last Wednesday night I attended the Sydney premiere of the second instalment of the global phenomenon Wicked For Good. The geeky 14 year old…

If Six and & Juliet had a baby, it would be The Lovers. This energetic and highly entertaining reimagining of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream opened on Wednesday night at Sydney’s Theatre Royal to thunderous applause and standing ovations. Giving us “love, pop and Shakespeare” The Lovers is the brainchild…

Hello shoppers. Full disclosure – I absolutely hate Rent as a show. I find it depressing, annoying and irritating. The majority of the characters in it are unlikeable and toxic. The cultish fandom (known collectively as “rent heads”) are alternative, wear a lot of black and are generally combination obsessive…

Here You Come Again  Book by Bruce Vilanch in collaboration with Gabriel Barre and Tricia Paoluccio Adapted for the Australian stage by Fiona Harris and Mike McLeish Songs by Dolly Parton Following its Australian premiere in Melbourne and a stint in Perth, the Sydney season Of Here You Come Again…