The success of Peter Pan: After Dark proves Sydney's long history with burlesque has not expired. Sundae Blaze's world premiere — a mix of burlesque, circus and fire performers reimagining a childhood story as an R18+ palooza — plays Fool's Paradise at the Entertainment Quarter as part of Sydney Fringe 2026. Reviewed by Sascha Zenari.

Kady Robinson's *Stage Soldiers*, at PYT Fairfield for Sydney Fringe 2026, sits somewhere between confessional theatre, stand-up and song cycle — a solo show about growing up trans with the military as a familial backdrop. Nathaniel Crossinggum asks who confessional transgender theatre is really for, and what happens when the wound is made by the enforcing end of Australia's empire.