Featuring over 460 events spanning theatre, music, comedy, dance, visual art, circus and cabaret, this September, the 2025 Sydney Fringe Festival will showcase over 2,900 performers across four precincts and 12 festival hubs. With so much on offer, the Australian Pride Network takes a look at 9 events worth checking out.
B-Cup: the Bressed Story
Qtopia Sydney – The Loading Dock: continues to 13 September
What happens when the spotlight fades, the heels come off, and the makeup is wiped away? B-Cup: The Bressed Story is an intimate solo show that peels back the glitter to reveal the person behind the performer. Brenda Bressed invites you into their world, sharing the dreams and struggles that have shaped their journey in the entertainment industry, from childhood aspirations to life after reality TV. With humour, heart, and powerhouse vocals, Brenda takes audiences through the songs that have been the soundtrack to their most pivotal moments. From stepping into the spotlight for the first time to the challenges of staying true to themself in a world that often demands more, this is a story of resilience, passion, and the pursuit of authenticity. And for the first time, audiences will also meet the person behind the makeup and sequins – Bryce. B-Cup: The Bressed Story is a celebration of embracing both the glitter and the gritty reality of life, showcasing the strength found in vulnerability and what it means to live, perform, and love as both Brenda and Bryce.
Camp Culture
Entertainment Quarter- The Bunker: 29 September – 5 October
Camp Culture is a fun, fabulous circus adventure led by Faboriginal superstar Dale Woodbridge Brown. With laughs, flips, and big camp energy, it’s all about being bold, proud, and you! Can the Kumbayas, throw on Queen B and spark more than just the fire. This is your roll call for Camp Culture – An interactive circus show for campers of any age. But this is no gammin summer camp – it’s serving up equal parts skill and sass.
Confessions of a Drama Queen
Qtopia Sydney – The Loading Dock: continues to 13 September
Take a ride with Sydney’s singing bombshell on a journey to the spotlight. Songbird Siren invites you on her sexy, silly, soulful & shocking rollercoaster of a lifetime. The stage is a world of dazzling lights and roaring applause where dreams are made and tested. But what happens in the shadows? Join Songbird Siren as she takes you on a wild ride through the highs, lows, and outright absurdities of life as a performer. From musical theatre to burlesque, side gigs to side hustles, she’s done it all in the relentless pursuit of a career on the stage. But in Sydney, where the industry is as ruthless as it is exhilarating, the road to stardom is anything but straight. Between rejection, reinvention, and a few too many red flags, she’s learned that making it in this town takes more than just talent – it takes sheer audacity. Through burlesque, live music, comedy, guest appearances, and a whole lot of sparkle, witness the unforgettable tales from your MX Burlesque Sydney Queen, Songbird Siren. Featuring the talents of Carla Field, Alexis Hutchinson & Jared Jekyll. Directed by Joanna Weinberg.
Dorothy In Oz
Marrickville Town Hall: continues to 20 September
Leave the city behind and step into the magical world of Dorothy in Oz: The Immersive Cocktail Adventure, where you become part of the action! This unforgettable experience combines the whimsy and wonder of L. Frank Baum’s beloved classic book series with the excitement of interactive storytelling, live performance, cocktails, and delightfully surprising stage magic. From the brilliant mind of A.K. Wregg – creator of the international smash hit The Alice: An Immersive Cocktail Adventure, The Wizard’s Den, and The Art of Murder, comes an adventure where you’re not just a spectator, but a key player in an entirely new Oz story!
Elixir Revived
Entertainment Quarter – The Vault: continues to 12 October
From the creators of GODS and RAILED bring you a wild, post-apocalyptic circus comedy packed with jaw-dropping stunts, irreverent humour, and world-class acrobatics. Sexy, bold and unmissable. Four eccentric scientists attempt to create the Elixir of life, and a forced to test the concoctions on themselves. Chaos and Mayhem breaks loose in the Laboratory, and what follows is a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud spectacle packed with gravity-defying acrobatics, physical comedy, and more than a touch of cheek.
Mass Effect
New Theatre: 17 – 20 September
Mass Effect is an award-winning, high-intensity performance by HIMHERANDIT Productions. Together, the cast push their physical limits, deal with exhaustion, motivation, and group dynamics. Spatial patterns carve out complex running formations and team collaboration becomes key, as they push to the limits of their physical thresholds, moving beyond exhaustion. Members of the local community join the stage in the end of the performance. Pumping up the energy to offer that last push to keep going, filling the theatre with an energetic pulse and a total Mass Effect. A tremendous spectacle that fills the room with vitality and joy.
PLAY.
Qtopia Sydney – The Substation: 23 – 27 September
Part theatre, part game, Play. is a show about play… for grown-ups. Somewhere along the way, the thing that once breathed life into your childhood was packed away in a dusty box. through a unique combination of performance and play, Play. reaches back into that box to reignite the magic we let die out. Drawing from real stories of how we once played and why we stopped, award-winning ‘perhaps, theatre.’ creates a playground for its audience to run, jump, explore, and ask: why did we pack play away? What might we find when we open it up again?
The Worst of Us.
Qtopia Sydney – The Substation: 23 – 27 September
Real stories of hurt and wrong-doing are laid bare in a one-of-a-kind storytelling experience woven from anonymous confessions of the worst things people have ever done. In a spellbinding storytelling experience woven from anonymous confessions of the worst things people have ever done, one performer lays bare real stories of hurt and wrong-doing through the lens of community, accountability, and transformation. The worst of us. explores the messiness of being a human, what we owe one another, and how we can begin to forgive ourselves. with their trademark infusion of spoken word, music, and hope, award-winning ‘perhaps, theatre.’ lights up the dark side of humanity… and dares you to finally turn and face the worst of us.
Type A Marketing Man
Qtopia Sydney – The Loading Dock: 16 – 20 September
Secrecy, manipulation, lies. Don’t get in the way of Type-A Marketing Man on his way to the top. A big time ride through marketing, masculinity, and mental breakdowns (in business casual). Murdock Matterson is an oily, oozing and egotistical brand whisperer. Slick-talking and tight-suited, secrecy and manipulation have fuelled his race to the top. But is his mask slipping and WTF thought a ukelele was a good idea? Don’t miss this firecracker of a show. Type-A Marketing Man is premium monologue theatre. It might make you laugh, it’s guaranteed to make you cringe. You’ve been warned!
The 2025 Sydney Fringe Festival continues to 30 September. For more information and full program, visit: www.sydneyfringe.com for details.
Image: Head First Acrobats presents Elixir Revived – photo by Jason Matz Photography