In partnership with 
Overview
Today, the Sydney Festival team announces the first shows of the 2018 program, spilling the beans on three major performances. And they're all not only Australian premieres, but Australian exclusives, too.
To start, there's AquaSonic, which will see the festival return to underwater realms (remember 2014 when we saw Dido and Aeneas submerged?). This time, we'll be diving into the depths with Between Music, an experimental collective from Denmark. Five musicians will appear within dark, glittering aquariums, playing weird and wonderful instruments specifically designed for subaquatic jamming. Look out for the hydraulophone, the electromagnetic harp and a modified version of the violin. They'll also be drawing on a special vocal technique developed to make underwater singing possible, which sounds not unlike Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins. Have a sneaky AquaSonic preview over here, then see the show in real life at Carriageworks from January 6 to 9, with tickets at $59–69.
Meanwhile, a cornucopia of Irish acting, dancing, circus-ing, joke-making, cabaret and singing talent will appear in RIOT between January 5 and 28. Winner of Best Production at the 2016 Dublin Fringe Festival, this is a mad, genre-obliterating variety show that's half-party, half-social and political commentary (without any boring bits). Among the cast, you'll spot Panti Bliss, lauded Irish drag queen and world-famous champion of marriage equality; former principals of Riverdance Up & Over It; and masters of comedic acrobatics Lords of Strut. RIOT is presented by THISISPOPBABY, a Dublin-based company that's been taking productions around the wold since 2007. Have a sticky beak at the show here, and catch the performance at the Meriton Festival Village with general admission tickets between $70–80.
Last, but by no means least, is The Town Hall Affair — a theatrical recreation of Town Bloody Hall, a 1971 doco of a passionate debate about Women's Liberation between writer Norman Mailer and four prominent feminists: journalist Jill Johnston, literary critic Diana Trilling, American activist Jacqueline Ceballos and writer Germaine Greer. The adaptation is the work of The Wooster Group, a famed experimental theatre collective based in New York, and is directed by its co-founder Elizabeth LeCompte. Bringing the debate into the 21st century, doco footage interweaves with performances by live actors, including Maura Tierney (ER, The Affair) as Greer, asking audiences to reflect on feminism's evolution over the past 46 years. The Town Hall Affair is on at Sydney Opera House's Drama Theatre from January 6–12, with A Reserve tickets at $86–96.
"These three international shows are just a taste of what we have in store for you," said Wesley Enoch, director of the Sydney Festival. "From underwater music to the true Irish sense of a 'political party' and one of the most renowned experimental theatre companies in the world ... Sydney Festival is Sydney's cultural New Year resolution. We set the cultural agenda for the year ahead and bring you some of the wildest cultural adventures you're ever likely to see."
Top image: Charlotta de Miranda.