Opening a global lens on America’s Wild West, Dark Noon is an immersive, sometimes explosive theatrical experience that demands to know: “Who has the power to write our history?”
Featuring a team of multi-talented South African actors who build their own frontier town as the show unfolds (with a little help from some members of the audience), this wryly vivid recreation of the Wild West makes its Australian debut at Sydney Festival after wowing critics during recent seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, St. Ann's Warehouse in New York City and Manchester’s Aviva Studios.
Saddle up and hear why the critics have been raving about Dark Noon:
★★★★★ “What makes it fresh, arresting and not a little troubling is who is telling the story.” – The Guardian
★★★★★ “Cinematic and epic in both scope and style… Dark Noon is as far-reaching as it is personal, chaotic, expansive and intimate… a truly staggering, relentless theatrical experience.” – British Theatre Guide
★★★★★ “It’s jaw-droppingly audacious, and breathtakingly fearless, daring you to either look away or challenge what you’re seeing.” – The Arts Desk
“ … immersive, sensational, extreme…” – The New York Times
★★★★ “Dripping with energy, irony and anger… a savage and gripping live documentary that tells the 300-year history of the American west in 100 uproarious minutes.” – The Observer
★★★★ “… outrageously entertaining, even if you cringe while you’re laughing; the stagecraft is spectacular and the slapstick is delightfully silly. But it is also an unsettling… there is no fourth wall to protect you when the themes get deadly serious.” – Time Out (US)
“Dark Noon’s defining feature is the way the narrative can swing from over-the-top hilarity to darkly sobering in a matter of seconds… an arresting story that packs a punch.” – New York Theatre Guide
“… an incredibly exciting theatrical experience, immersive and idea-filled, laced with horror and pain.” – The Stage UK
★★★★ “… the sheer boldness of Dark Noon is irresistible” – The Scotsman
★★★★ “Spaghetti Western movies depict frontier life with misty-eyed affection. Isn’t it time someone rubbed the Vaseline off the lens? Danish experimentalists fix+foxy reckon so.” – Financial Times
“One of the most innovative, provocative, powerful pieces of theatre I have ever seen. This immersive, myth-busting masterpiece had an almighty impact on me which will continue to unfold for a very long time”. – Phoebe Waller-Bridge
More five-star acclaim:
★★★★★ – Voice Magazine
★★★★★ – All That Dazzles
★★★★★ – Upstage Manchester
★★★★★ – Ungt Teaterblod
★★★★★ – A Young(ish) Perspective
Dark Noon
9 – 23 JAN
Sydney Town Hall
Dark Noon flips the script on the Wild West, envisioning US history as absurd, horrifying and deeply profound. A pioneer town springs up in real time as an extraordinary cast of South African actors reimagines the frontier through an outsider’s lens. With slapstick humour, satire and breathtaking stagecraft, this breakout hit of Edinburgh Fringe Festival and New York’s St. Ann’s Warehouse transforms Sydney Town Hall.
