Poetic. Queer. Teen Romance.
After a runaway premiere season at the SBW Stables Theatre in 2022, Whitefella Yella Tree is back to wow audiences in 2025—presented by Sydney Theatre Company, La Boite Theatre and University of Melbourne Arts and Culture (UMAC).
Once in a blue moon, in the middle of nowhere, two teenage boys meet under a lemon tree. After a rough start, a fragile friendship fruits into a heady romance.
If history would just unfurl a little differently, the boys might have a beautiful future ahead of them. But without knowing it, Ty and Neddy are poised on the brink of a world that is about to change forever.
Palawa playwright Dylan Van Den Berg has won most of Australia’s major playwriting awards—including the Griffin Award, the David Williamson Prize and the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for playwriting (twice!).
In Whitefella Yella Tree Dylan has penned a heart-warming and heart-breaking story about love, Country and Blak queerness through history. The extraordinary Joseph Althouse (Green Park) makes his return to Griffin, alongside the directing team of Griffin’s Declan Greene and Wiradjuri/Worimi theatremaker Amy Sole.
★★★★★—Suzy Wrong, Suzy Goes See
★★★★—Cassie Tongue, The Sydney Morning Herald
★★★★1/2—Dennis Clements, ArtsHub
Co-Directors Declan Greene & Amy Sole
Designer Mason Browne
Lighting Co-Designers Kelsey Lee and Katie Sfetkidis
Composer & Sound Designer Steve Toulmin
Dramaturg Andrea James
With Joseph Althouse
Sydney Theatre Company | Gadigal Land, Eora
19 September – 18 October
La Boite Theatre | Turrbal and Jagera Land, Meeanjin
23 October – 8 November
University of Melbourne Arts and Culture | Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong Land, Naarm
13– 15 November
Book tickets at sydneytheatre.com.au, laboite.com.au and umac.melbourne.
Whitefella Yella Tree contains haze, loud noise, blinding lights, sex scenes and weapons. It contains descriptions and representations of colonial violence.
“Everything one could possibly ask of a playwright, Van Den Berg delivers, through the greatest of acuity and sophistication.” ★★★★★—Suzy Wrong, Suzy Goes See
“The actors create something impossibly tender that still bites with gloriously lived-in detail. As they fall in love with each other, we fall in love with them.” ★★★★—Cassie Tongue, The Sydney Morning Herald
“It is the best of theatre writing where you feel you ‘have learned’ but did not experience ‘being taught’. Subtle, clever and straight to the heart.” ★★★★1/2—Dennis Clements, ArtsHub
“Whitefella Yella Tree is exceptional work all-round; a uniquely Australian story told by a largely Indigenous cast and crew […] I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I left the theatre.” ★★★★—Chad Armstrong, The Queer Review
“The direction, design, script, and performances of Whitefella Yella Tree were masterfully orchestrated for a truly beautiful production with a powerful ability to deconstruct colonisation and its myths about First Nations people, culture, and love.”—Julia Clark, Night Writes
“Once again, Griffin Theatre Company has demonstrated that when it comes to telling diverse, meaningful, nuanced stories about who we are – they are leading the way.”—Vaanie Krishnan, The Theatre Enthusiast
“This story guides with a firm, yet gentle hand, and doesn’t try to be anything other than it is: brilliant.”—Charlotte Smee, Theatre Thoughts
Whitefella Yella Tree was developed as part of Griffin Studio, an initiative of Griffin Theatre Company, with support from the Malcolm Robertson Foundation and Griffin Studio donors, and through Melbourne Theatre Company’s Cybec Electric Play Reading Series. The premiere production was supported by Griffin Theatre Company’s Production Partner program.
@griffintheatre