By Nick Galvin
Director Wesley Enoch's first Sydney Festival program has something for everyone. Just like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get as you thumb through the thick festival guide.
Which makes it far from easy to choose where to invest your time and hard-earned.
So here is an unapologetically subjective and appropriately diverse round-up of what caught my eye over the next three weeks.
Theatre
Prize Fighter
Congolese-Australian playwright Future D. Fidel's hard-hitting – literally – dissection of the refugee experience. Featuring meticulously choreographed boxing scenes it promises to be an at times harrowing but ultimately uplifting theatrical experience.
Belvoir St Theatre January 6 – 22
Home Country
Possibly the first piece of theatre to be staged in a multi-storey carpark, Home Country examines the slippery concept of what it means to be "home" and how cultural values both persist and change with geography.
Colo Lane Car Park, Blacktown, January 11 – 22
Hakawati
Delicious Lebanese food accompanied by full-flavoured Arabic story-telling at a restaurant – what's not to like? Hakawati references the story-telling tradition that used to be central to life in many Arab countries.
El-Phoenician Restaurant, Parramatta, January 11-21
Visual art
Myuran Sukumaran – Another Day in Paradise
The tragedy of Myuran Sukumaran's life looms large in this moving exhibition of his work that continued right up to the time of his execution. The show considers issues of redemption, passion and how art can change everything.
Campbelltown Arts Centre, January 13 to March 26
The Beach
Sure to be the popular hit of the festival, 1.1 million plastic balls form a ball pit for grown-ups. Organisers call it "an ocean without sharks" although quite what objects will end up at the bottom of the pit after three weeks is anybody's guess.
Barangaroo Reserve, January 7 – 29
Music
Long String Instrument
Ellen Fullman will spend days setting up and tuning her 25m strings ready for these performances with cellist Theresa Wong. Temporarily transforming the Town Hall into a giant resonating instrument, the concert promises to be hypnotically strange.
Sydney Town Hall January 13, 14
Symphony Under the Stars
This will be the last year the cannons will fire for the 1812 Overture before the traditional concert quits the Domain for its new home in Western Sydney. Grab a picnic rug (and a raincoat) and farewell this grand Sydney tradition.
The Domain, January 14
Dance
Champions
Dance meets football in an intriguing "match" featuring 11 female dancers. The performers have trained with Western Sydney Wanderers for a show that follows the structure of a game with "a pre-game event; two halves of action, and a 'post-game moment'."
Carriageworks, January 17 – 22
Festival Village
Orszaczky Budget Orchestra
Jackie Orszaczky's influence continues to be felt some eight years after his death. Featuring Tina Harrod and Darren Percival and a big band these free gigs will be one of the highlights of the village sessions.
January 17, 24
The Hair Salon
Hosted by your "salon manager" the ever fabulous prince of polyester, Bob Downe, there will be hair-related shenanigans a-plenty that will include some of the best soul and funk bands going around.
Various dates