Festival Director: Lieven Bertels

From a giant rubber duck in Darling Harbour to a Handel-Westwood opera feast, the 2013 Sydney Festival, the first from new Festival Director Lieven Bertels, had something for everyone.

Festival highlights included the fashion-meets-baroque project Semele Walk (pictured above); the world premiere of compelling local story The Secret River and hot Latin circus troupe Circolumbia with URBAN at the Parramatta Riverside Theatre.

Heiner Goebbels returned to Sydney with the magical Eraritjaritjaka, and the Festival staged performances such as Cantina’s quirky physical theatre at The Famous Spiegeltent, the riveting Irish dance concert Rian, the residency of Malian singer Rokia Traoré and uplifting concerts from Archie Roach. The Festival also launched the new Paradiso bar and live music venue at Sydney Town Hall.

MUSIC/THEATRE

Semele Walk
A show by Ludger Engels
Couture by Vivienne Westwood
Music by George Friedric Handel
Kunstfestspiele Herrenhausen

The Jade Hairpin
The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre

The Peony Pavilion
The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre

A Masked Ball
Opera Australia and La Fura Dels Baus

The Rape of Lucrece
Royal Shakespeare Company, Camille O'Sullivan

THEATRE

Eraritjaritjaka
Theatre Vidy-Lausanne
Director and composer: Heinrich Goebbels

The Secret River
Sydney Theatre Company
By Kate Grenville
An adaptation for the stage by Andrew Bovell

Urban
Circolombia

In The Eruptive Mode
Sabab Theatre
Writer and director: Sulayman Al-Bassam

Masi
The Conch Theatre
Director: Nina Nawalowalo

Murder
Erth

School Dance
By Matthew Whittet
Windmill Theatre

The Blind Date Project
Ride on Theatre

Inside
Frank Woodley + Simon Yates

DANCE

Rian
Fabulous Beast
Featuring Liam Ó Maonlaí
Director and choreographer: Michael Keegan-Dolan
Musical Director: Liam Ó Maonlaí

Concrete and Bone Sessions
Branch Nebula

Sacre - The Rite of Spring
Raimund Hoghe

ABOUT AN HOUR

As The Flames Rose We Danced To The Sirens, The Sirens
Sleepwalk Collective

It's Dark Outside
Perth Theatre Company

Kunst Rock
Die Roten Punkte

Ligeti Morphed
Ensemble Offspring with Oren Ambarchi and Martin Ng

Micro Parks
Artists including Martin del Amo, Kate Mitchell, Sarah Goffman

Othello C'est Qui
Gintersdorfer/Klaßen

Symphony
Legs on the Wall

The Moment I Saw You I Knew I Could Love You
Curious

Wreck
Jon Rose

CABARET/CIRCUS

Briefs

Cantina
Strut & Fret

MUSIC

An Appointment with Mr Yeats
The Waterboys

Around Robert Wyatt
Orchestra National de Jazz

DARKSIDE

David Byrne & St. Vincent

Dawn Calling
Arkady Shilkloper

Day One - Daptone Super Soul Revue
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Charles Bradley, The Budos Band, Menahan Street Band and Sugarman 3

Dirty Projectors

Future Classic: Lindstrom

Hot Dub Time Machine

Hunx and His Punx

Into The Bloodstream
Archie Roach

Kashmere Stage Band (with Thunder Soul documentary at Town Hall)

Kraftwerk's Computer World

Nite Jewel + Peanut Butter Wolf

Lianne La Havas

Los Coronas

Midnight Muses
Leah Flanagan

Navicula

Nicolas Jaar

Nuggets: Antipodean Interpolations
The Laurels, Straight Arrows, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Murlocs, The Gooch Palms, Step-Panther + Bloods

Osaka Monaurail

Perfume Genius

Picnic: Darshan Jesrani & Daniel Wang

POP
The Megaphone Project, Car-Cophony, Tablatronics, Pyrophone, Kashmere Stage Band, Rokia Traoré + Salon Perdu

Richard Hawley

Sandglasses
Juste Janulyte

Saskwatch

Satie Vexations
Guy Vandromme + Alain Franco

Sharon Van Ettern

Sing - Dance - Dream
Rokia Traoré

Sing The Truth
Angelique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves, Lizz Wright

So Frenchy, So Chic
Melanie Pain, Nadeah, Revolver

Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop

Symphony in The Domain - The Sound of Kubrick
Sydney Symphony
Conductor: Andre de Ridder

The Future is Baroque
Dappled Cities

The New Mendicants
Norman Blake + Joe Pernice

yMusic

INSTALLATIONS & EXHIBITIONS

Rubber Duck
Florentijn Hofman

Waste Not
Song Dong

Francis Bacon

FILM

2001: A Space Odyssey
The Sydney Symphony and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Conductor: Andre de Ridder

MULTIMEDIA

Chronometer
Sir Harrison Birtwistle

Notes for Walking
Megan Heyward

The Quiet Volume
Ant Hamtpon and Tim Etchells

TALK

Yellamundie
National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Playwriting Festival

FAMILY

Day One - An Opening in Three Acts: Fun Run
Insite Arts

The Listies
Earworms

AUSTRALIA DAY

Ferrython