By Iolanthe
26 June - 12 July 2025
Old Fitz Theatre
Griffin’s season of SISTREN is at capacity! Keep an eye on our ticketing page, as small handfuls of tickets may become available due to occasional cancellations.
With an eye on the future, Griffin Lookout champions works by the next generation of exceptional theatre makers.
Griffin Lookout provides Sydney’s most exciting independent theatremakers with a season at Griffin as well as producing and artistic support from the Griffin team.
SISTREN by Iolanthe is one of 2025’s Griffin Lookout productions, alongside Birdsong of Tomorrow by Nathan Harrison.
Griffin’s season of SISTREN is at capacity! Keep an eye on our ticketing page, as small handfuls of tickets may become available due to occasional cancellations.
The waitlist for SISTREN is now closed due to overwhelming demand. Your best chance to see SISTREN is by jumping online at 12pm Tuesday for a limited number of Rush Tickets.
Isla and Violet are a ‘lethal combination’. Their self-righteous headmaster thinks that’s an insult. They think it’s a cute name for a girl group.
Too-smart, too precocious and way too outspoken, it’s no surprise when these self-proclaimed soulmates are ‘separated’ until the end of the year. But the world outside their South London school is a divisive one for a cisgender Caribbean diva and her ‘Ethel Cain adjacent’ transgender bestie. As their cosmic connection is tested, one key question arises—will Isla and Violet be separated, or will they reign supreme?
The blazingly talented performer Iolanthe (seven methods of killing Kylie Jenner) makes her playwriting debut, sharing the stage with her IRL bestie, the extra-ordinary Janet Anderson (Overflow). The lines of fiction and friendship intertwine in this transcendent study of sisterhood across class, cultural and interdimensional boundaries.
Director Ian Michael
Production Designer Emma White
Lighting Designer Kelsey Lee
Composer & Sound Designer Daniel Herten
Video Designer TK Abioye
Dramaturg Dylan Van Den Berg
Voice & Accent Coach Angela Sullen
Stage Manager Cris Chavez
Community Engagement Strategists Janet Anderson, Iolanthe
Producers Leila Enright, Bernadette Fam, Janine Lau
With Janet Anderson, Iolanthe
Presented in association with Old Fitz Theatre
A Green Door Theatre Production
Venue
The Old Fitz Theatre*
129 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo
Previews 26 – 28 June
Opening Night 28 June
Season 29 June – 12 July
Performance Times
Tuesday – Friday 7pm
Saturday 1pm & 7pm
Sunday 5pm
SISTREN has an approximate run time of 90 minutes (no interval).
* Please note, the Old Fitz Theatre is an over 18 venue. Ticketholders under 18 are required to be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
2025 Lookout Pricing
GRIFFIN LOOKOUT
SISTREN | Birdsong of Tomorrow | |
General Release | $48 | |
Subscription | $42 |
This production of SISTREN contains depictions of transphobia, racism, cultural appropriation and PTSD as well as descriptions of sexual assault, child abuse, colonisation and religious trauma. The production also contains herbal cigarettes, flashing lights, strobe, blackouts, theatrical haze and loud sound.
Please reach out to the Griffin team if you require any further information or support.
“What we witness is a singular chemistry, distinguished by the two women’s shared humour, which shapes a theatrical experience remarkable for the intimacy of the world it opens to us.” ★★★★★—Suzy Wrong, Suzy Goes See
“Iolanthe is earnest and warm in her delivery, performing with conviction and a bubbliness befitting of a final year high school student while Anderson owns the stage with an incredible swagger and pizzazz.” ★★★★—Kiran Gupta, Musical Theatre AU
“This is what the show does excellently; the women onstage are nuanced, difficult, uncomfortable at times, vivacious at others, and insanely entertaining always. It is bold and refreshing.”—Grace Ackary, Theatre Thoughts
“Iolanthe and Anderson are performers dripping with charisma”—Jo Bradley, Limelight
SISTREN was supported by Australian Plays Transform through the Untold Stories Program.
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