The 2010 Sydney Festival took place from January 9 to 30 with an offering of outstanding works and performances in theatre, music, dance and art, together with outdoor performances which are mostly free.
The 2010 Sydney Festival First Night took place in Sydney's streets and parks and included free music and dance concerts and performances at Hyde Park, the Domain and Martin Place.
Theatre offerings included the Schaubuhne Berlin production of Hamlet which was performed in German with English surtitles at Sydney Theatre until January 16, Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author in a new version by Rupert Goold and Ben Power at the Seymour Centre's York Theatre from January 20 to 31, and Urban Theatre Projects' The Fence which was performed in a suburban western Sydney backyard from January 14 to 30.
Dance performances included Bale de Rua at Sydney Opera House, Giselle at CarriageWorks in inner-west Sydney, Happy as Larry at Parramatta's Riverside Theatre and Tempest: Without a Body at the Seymour Centre.
In addition to Sydney Festival First Night, the year's free events included Domain concerts and performances — Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra in Sounds in the Domain, January 16; Wonderful Town in Symphony in the Domain, January 23; and Candide in Opera in The Domain, January 30 — A. R. Rahman in Parramatta Park, January 16, and the Ferrython in Sydney Harbour on Australia Day, January 26.
