The Iliad Out Loud

Upstairs Belvoir St Theatre, January 23-27.

William Zappa is one of our finest actors. Now he has taken on the Herculean challenge of his career. He will direct and perform his adaptation of Homer’s epic. The ancient tale of the Trojan Wars is full of meddling gods, love, bloody deaths and Greeks bearing gifts. Zappa is joined by Socratis Otto and musician Michael Askill. Presented in three parts over three nights or in one full day, it is a storytelling marathon and a perfect festival piece. Joyce Morgan

Neneh Cherry

Carriageworks, January 15-16.

She’s undoubtedly still best-known for her 1988 hit Buffalo Stance but Neneh Cherry has always had plenty more creative brilliance to offer, especially in recent years. Having a keen ear for inventive sounds and a hotline to various production legends has certainly helped: Kieran “Four Tet” Hebden steered last year’s breathtaking Broken Politics album, much of which will feature in these shows alongside favourites from Cherry’s first heyday in the late ’80s/early ’90s. She not only covers a lot of musical ground – hip-hop, jazz, electronic, pop, indie and more – she’s still a compelling live performer, too. George Palathingal

Man with the Iron Neck

Sydney Opera House, January 23-26.

Man With the Iron Neck is a physical theatre piece made for Legs on the Wall by Josh Bond and Gavin Robins with words by Ursula Yovich. The group's formidable aerial skills are harnessed to tackle the sensitive subject of youthful Indigenous suicide in a way that focuses on hope and solace via memories of a stuntman who feigned death jumping from bridges. Jill Sykes

Bridge of Dreams

City Recital Hall, January 12.

Jazz and Indian music have been flirting with each other in various guises since the 1960s. Bridge of Dreams takes the flirtation and chaperones it through to the marriage stage. Leading Australian saxophonist Sandy Evans has had a long-term fascination with Indian music, and with this project she pulls out all the stops, bringing together singer Shubha Mudgal, some truly exceptional Indian instrumentalists and composers, local tabla maestro Bobby Singh and the Sydney-based Sirens Big Band. The result has the Hindustani and jazz elements opulently intertwined. Step into an enchanted forest of sound. John Shand

Spinifex Gum

Opera House Concert Hall, January 25.

It has been a while since the much-loved Melburnians the Cat Empire have been especially relevant, which adds to making the Spinifex Gum project a very pleasant surprise. Founded by Cat’s singer, Felix Riebl, and keyboard player, Ollie McGill, and featuring the indigenous Australian Marliya choir, Spinifex Gum tell tales of WA’s Pilbara region through rich, rootsy and powerful songs. The project spawned an eponymous album last year and some of its most notable contributors will be joining the aforementioned to recreate it at this show: Aboriginal musical heroes Briggs and Emma Donovan, and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett. George Palathingal

One Infinity

Carriageworks, January 23-27.

One Infinity boasts the remarkable mix of performers from the Townsville-based Dancenorth and the Beijing Dance Theatre, recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey, Chinese gugin (a member of the zither family) master Wang Peng, all brought together by director-choreographer Gideon Obarzanek and composer Max de Wardener. They promise traditional and contemporary music and movement - plus audience participation. Jill Sykes

Sydney Festival runs from January 9-27.