Sydney

The tour starts at 3.00pm on Friday 2 August, at The Fullerton Hotel, Sydney.

The tour ends at c.11.00am on Monday 5 August, at The Fullerton Hotel, Sydney.

After individual check-in to our hotel, we meet tour leader Kate Foy mid-afternoon for welcome drinks in the elegant surrounds of the lobby bar before transferring to Walsh Bay for dinner at the stylish Walsh Bay Kitchen. From here it’s a short walk to the Wharf Theatre for tonight’s performance of Martyna Majok’s award-winning play, Cost of Living. Co-directed by Priscilla Jackman, who wowed audiences with her production of ‘RBG: Of Many, One,’ the play explores the challenges of human connection in a modern world with pathos and humour. Overnight Sydney (D)

Performance I
Venue: Wharf 1 Theatre - Dawes Point
Play: Cost of Living, by Martyna Majok
Directors: Priscilla Jackman and Dan Daw

The Archibald Prize exhibition at the AGNSW is our destination this morning and, as the gallery is a short distance from our hotel, we’ll stroll up Martin Place and across the leafy Domain to the original gallery building, now known as Naala Nura. Here we have a private before-hours curator-led tour of this celebrated, and often controversial, portrait prize followed by free time to explore the exhibition further, view the associated Wynne and Sulman Prize exhibitions, or perhaps visit the gallery’s stunning modern wing, Naala Badu. We meet again for lunch in the gallery’s restaurant, Crafted by Matt Moran, which combines an innovative menu with views across Sydney Harbour and Woolloomooloo. Returning to the hotel, there is time to relax before our late afternoon transfer to the Seymour Performing Arts Centre, in the heart of the Sydney University campus. Here we enjoy a pre-show talk before tonight’s performance of Arlington. After premiering at the Galway International Arts Festival and transferring to New York for a smash-hit run at St Ann’s Warehouse, this dystopian drama by Irish playwright Enda Walsh makes its Australian premiere. Overnight Sydney (B, L)

Performance II
Venue: Empress Theatre, Seymour Centre - Chippendale
Play: Arlington, by Enda Walsh
Director: Anna Houston

After a relaxed start to the day, we meet mid-morning for a lecture by Kate Foy, followed by lunch at nearby Ragazzi, an excellent Italian restaurant. There is then time for some shopping or sightseeing before our mid-afternoon transfer back to the Wharf theatres where we have a behind-the-scenes tour of this premier performance venue. Our tour is followed by afternoon tea at the wharf’s Theatre Bar with expansive views across the harbour, as we prepare ourselves for this evening’s performance of Kip William’s much anticipated reimagining of Dracula at the adjacent Roslyn Packer Theatre. Starring award-winning Zahra Newman performing every single role, this sweeping, legendary adventure will combine live video, pre-recorded film and a superhuman live performance in the latest iteration of the hybrid-genre ‘cine-theatre’. Overnight Sydney (B, L)

Performance III
Venue: Roslyn Packer Theatre - Walsh Bay
Play: Dracula, by Bram Stoker
Adapted and directed by Kip Williams

On our final morning in Sydney, we catch the tram down to Circular Quay and walk the short distance out to historic Bennelong Point where we have a private guided tour of the iconic Opera House, “re-tuned” and shining again after a decade of sensitive renovations. Making our way back to the hotel our tour concludes at c.11.00am. (B)