WHITEFELLA YELLA TREE Returns To Sydney Theatre Company This September Before National Tour

Sydney Theatre Company will present the return season of Dylan Van Den Berg’s Whitefella Yella Tree at Wharf 1 Theatre from 19 September, kicking off a national tour. Following its critically acclaimed 2022 premiere at Griffin Theatre Company, the award-winning queer love story will be directed by Griffin Artistic Director Declan Greene and Wiradjuri and Worimi theatremaker Amy Sole.

The production stars Pertame and Tiwi actor Joseph Althouse (The Visitors) alongside Barrd, Noongar, Yamatji, Bunuba and Ngadju actor Danny Howard, making his STC debut.

Set against the looming threat of colonisation, Whitefella Yella Tree tells the story of two young Aboriginal men, Ty (Althouse) and Ned (Howard), from neighboring clans. Meeting under the branches of a lemon tree, their blossoming romance collides with a world on the brink of irreversible change.

This production marks the first STC staging of a play by Palawa playwright Dylan Van Den Berg, a former member of STC’s Emerging Writers Group. Van Den Berg has rapidly become one of Australia’s most compelling new voices, with accolades including the Griffin Award, the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award, the David Williamson Prize, and two NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.

“I never dreamed two lovestruck boys under a lemon tree would have such long legs!” Van Den Berg said. “I’m over the moon to see Whitefella Yella Tree return to the stage, once again under the sharp and generous direction of Amy Sole and Declan Greene. And I’m equally excited for audiences to meet our dreamy new cast, Joseph Althouse and Danny Howard, who bring heart, heat and cheek to these boys. This story means a great deal to me, and I’m so proud to see it take root again at Sydney Theatre Company.”

The creative team includes designer Mason Brown, lighting and co-designers Kelsey Lee and Katie Sfetkidis, composer and sound designer Steve Toulmin, and dramaturg Andrea James.

Performance & Tour Information

Whitefella Yella Tree plays Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf 1 Theatre from 19 September. Tickets: sydneytheatre.com.au.