SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE ANNOUNCES KIDS WINTER PROGRAM

Puppetry, play and fantastical adventures this June – August

Sydney – Tuesday, 29 April 2025. The Sydney Opera House today unveiled its winter program for kids and families, featuring a lively selection of international and Australian performances for bookworms, creative builders and lovers of the absurd.

The season features whimsical page-to-stage adaptations including unmissable theatre for all ages in Shake & Stir’s uproarious production of Roald Dahl’s beloved The Twits, and from Ireland, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings is a magic-realist production showcasing the imaginative world of Nobel Prize-winning writer Gabriel García Márquez. Masterful slapstick and puppetry will take to the Opera House stages with BullyBully from the Netherlands, a hilariously timely performance illustrating how toddlers and your average world leaders have a thing or two in common, and from Indonesia, A Bucket of Beetles takes audiences on a rainforest adventure based on the drawings of a four-year-old boy. For kids who prefer to keep their hands busy, City of Wonder offers a creative play space to build their dreams with recycled bricks, led by acclaimed Italian artist Raffaele Salvoldi.

A wide range of activities for lifelong learners has gone on sale, including choirs, dance groups and architecture workshops. Perennial favourite, Kids Music Playtime, returns to delight and introduce babies and toddlers to classical music.

Sydney Opera House Head of Children, Families and Creative Learning, Tamara Harrison says: “It’s an absolute delight to present a program full of whimsical adventure, laughter and discovery this winter. We are proud to offer intergenerational programming to warm the hearts of bibliophilic bookworms, and to lovers of storytelling, comedy and creative play. We’ve made sure we have a program curated from the best international and national work made for children and families, and to inspire our littlest but mightiest audiences!”

Winter highlights include:

CREATIVE PLAY (AGES 4+)

City of Wonder, a sustainable city built by kids || 10 – 18 July:

A collaborative workshop led by acclaimed Italian designer Raffaele Salvoldi in partnership with Sydney’s Kidwonder. In this immersive session, children and their families will co-create original cityscapes using over 30,000 planks made from 100% recycled plastic that was destined for landfill. Through play-based exploration, children will experiment and create while discovering how sustainability, teamwork and imagination can produce something bigger than themselves.

CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (AGES 3+)

A Bucket of Beetles || 7 – 8 June:

Through the magic of puppetry by world-renowned Yogyakarta-based Indonesian company, Papermoon Theatre, audiences 3+ follow a young boy named Wehea and his life-changing adventure with a special rhinoceros beetle. A Sydney Opera House debut, this immersive work highlights the importance of friendship, connection and empathy.

The Twits || 5 – 19 July:

Roald Dahl’s classic novel brought to life by one of the nation’s leading contemporary theatre companies, Shake & Stir. Full of wickedly funny pranks and trickery, this high-quality theatre production is a wonderful introduction to the art form for audiences 5+.

BullyBully || 6 – 12 July:

Created by Dutch company, Maas Theatre En Dans, this joyous and award-winning physical theatre features slapstick comedic dance battles and childish quarrels between two world leaders, highlighting the importance of kindness and understanding to children 3+ and families.

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings || 16 – 17 August:

Showcasing the imaginative world of Gabriel García Márquez, this Australian premiere takes audiences 8+ on a journey of magic realism. Told through the perspective of two young people who share a fable about a very old man with enormous wings, this Irish production by Dan Colley and Riverbank Arts Centre uses music, puppetry and live video to unfold the story.

See details about the other workshops here.