“The country isn’t what it used to be,” sings John Wilkes Booth in Stephen Sondheim’s off-kilter Assassins, a sentiment as true now as it was in Booth’s day – or in 1990 when the musical, which tells the story of nine presidential assassins (not all successful), premiered Off-Broadway. Dean Bryant’s wonderful production of Assassins – which has music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by John Weidman – opened at the Hayes Theatre last September and has now moved to the Sydney Opera House where it is thriving on the extra breathing room afforded by the Playhouse.

The cast of Assassins at the Sydney Opera House. Photo © Prudence Upton

In her review of the Hayes’ production, Limelight’s Editor Jo Litson described Bryant’s Assassins as “a stunningly inventive production in which every single element comes together brilliantly” and it’s even slicker at its new venue, while still retaining the gritty edge that made it work at the Hayes. Alicia Clements’ colourfully soiled set and costumes – Bryant has all the action take place at the run-down fun park that frames the musical – works beautifully in this space, with fairy lights hanging from the...