In 2019 we did the Sydney Festival with Renaissance Tours and were tourists in town, staying at a hotel and letting Renaissance select what we saw. That was a good experience and we thought to repeat it 2020, and signed up for the Renaissance Sydney Art and Culture Long Weekend again, but for reasons unknown it was cancelled. Sacré bleu! Tabarnak! We had to decide for ourselves.
Studying the program we picked five things and I proceeded to book them. Too slow I was for our number one pick, which was William Barton playing the didgeridoo. We had seen him perform with the Song Company nearly ten years ago in Darwin and found it enchanting. But by the time I hit the keyboard, it was sold-out and I accepted waiting listing. (Later I got an email about a few last minute tickets but when I tried to purchase the web site was down – collapsed under the demand I supposed.)
My timing was better for the other four and we got tickets on the days and at the times that suited us.
First up was Life – The Show at Spiegeltent in Hyde Park, produced by one of the fabulous Davey sisters from Melbourne. It was marvellous. Wet, dry, hot, cold, sad, deliriously happy with anti-gravity aerialists, cabaret music, and a flying saxophonist shown in the centre bottom of the image above.
Next up was the Albury-Wodonga’s Flyings Fruit Fly Circus show Time Flies at the Seymour Centre, University of Sydney. It was presented as a School Captain’s report with droll humour, and with exuberant energy.
Adding to cabaret and circus was drama in Black Ties at Town Hall. It was great fun though the antics of one of the characters was disproportionate, we thought.
But seldom have so many had so much fun in the Town Hall theatre, which is frequently the site for some acrimonious back-stabbing when political parties use it for annual meetings.
We capped off our Festival with the songs of the a cappella Tenebrae Choir from Old Blighty at the City Recital Hall where we saw several others from Kate’s choir, from Newtown, and from days gone by. Such precision, such clarity, such blending of voices, such emotion made it a riveting performance.