10 March 2024
In the Concert Hall
Talks and Ideas
In theatre and livestreamed
On the heels of her satirical sensation Yellowface crushing the bestseller lists, join Rebecca F. Kuang as she takes on the complexities of diversity, racism and cultural appropriation today – both through her own eyes and those of her latest protagonist Juniper Hayward.
| Date | Time |
| Sunday 10 March 2024 | 1pm-2pm |
| Ticket | Price |
| Standard | $35 |
| Livestream | $15 |
| Livestream Festival Pass Early Bird Price (7 - 18 Feb) | $55 |
| Livestream Festival Pass Standard Price | $70 |
$8.95 booking fee applies per transaction
Prices correct at the time of publication and subject to change without notice. Exact prices will be displayed with seat selection.
The only authorised ticket agency for this event is Sydney Opera House. For more information about Authorised Agencies, see the frequently asked questions below.
Sydney Opera House Insiders pre-sale
9am, Tuesday 5 December 2023
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What’s On e-newsletter pre-sale
9am, Wednesday 6 December 2023
General Public tickets on-sale
9am, Thursday 7 December 2023
In English
Wheelchair accessible
There are a number of wheelchair and companion seating locations available.
To book accessible seating contact Box Office via email or telephone on:
+61 2 9250 7777 (Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm AEST)
Auslan Interpreted
Auslan interpretation service is provided for audiences who are deaf and use Australian Sign Language (Auslan). Experienced Auslan interpreters stand to the side of the stage and translate what the speakers are saying into Auslan. A block of seats is reserved for users of this service to ensure a good view of the interpreter and the stage. To be seated in this area, please approach Front of House when entering the venue. BOOK NOW
Closed Captions
Captions are text descriptions that display the session’s dialogue, identify speakers, and describe other relevant sounds that are otherwise inaccessible to people who are deaf or have hearing loss. Captions will be available via your personal device (phone), to access the captions on your personal device (phone), scan the QR Code on the sign displayed at the entry to the venue.
Find out more about accessibility at Sydney Opera House
Run time
This event will run for 60 minutes.
Event duration is a guide only and may be subject to change.
Age
Suitable for all ages.
Children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied at all times.
The Opera House is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children that visit or engage with us. Read our Child Safety Policy.
Rebecca F. KuangI hate the feeling of being read just because somebody’s trying to tick off a diversity check box.
The satire cultural appropriation had to have
The novel Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang is a worldwide “zeitgeist” publishing sensation. When June Hayward's friend, the bestselling author Athena Liu, dies in a freak accident, June acts quickly - and steals Athena's manuscript about Chinese labourers. She doesn't exactly pretend to be Asian-American but she certainly doesn't correct anyone who mistakes her background, either. Brimming with dark humour and vindictive characters with dubious morals (so just like real life), Kuang’s smart and sardonic commentary has everyone asking questions. Who gets to profit off our hunger for cultural diversity? Do people with marginalised identities have to commodify family and personal trauma to make it big?
Join this conversation with Rebecca F. Kuang and Nakkiah Lui to explore a world capitalising on race and the complexities behind who gets to tell what stories.
Presented by Sydney Opera House
Livestream this event
Can’t make it to All About Women in person? Watch this talk live streamed from the Opera House stage directly to your living room.
Festival Multipacks
See more and save. Multipacks are available across the entire festival program, with the exception of workshops. See the All About Women program to help you plan your day, or read on to select your multipack by theme.
Rebecca F. Kuang (she/her)
Rebecca F. Kuang is the #1 New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Poppy War trilogy, Babel: An Arcane History, and Yellowface. Her work has won the Nebula, Locus, Crawford, and British Book Awards. A Marshall Scholar, she has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford. She is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale, where she studies diaspora, contemporary Sinophone literature, and Asian American literature.
Nakkiah Lui (she/her)
Moderator
Nakkiah Lui is a writer, actor, director, and Gamillaroi, Torres Strait Islander woman. She began her playwriting career at Sydney Theatre Company under the artistic directorship of Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett, since then she has worked with every major theatre company in Australia. In 2012, Nakkiah was the inaugural recipient of both The Dreaming Award from The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Arts Board of the Australia Council and the Balnaves Foundation Indigenous Playwright Award. In 2018, Nakkiah was also the recipient of the Patrick White Playwrights Fellowship at STC.
Nakkiah was actor in and writer and producer of the ground-breaking series, Black Comedy, which ran for four seasons from 2014-2019. From then she went on to create/write/star in the award-winning series, Kiki & Kitty, which aired on ABC in 2017. Most recently, Nakkiah is the co-creator/showrunner/star of the upcoming series, Preppers, as well as contributing to a number of Australian drama and comedy series.
Nakkiah is a young leader in the Australian Aboriginal community. She is a regular guest on ABC’s Q&A, The Drum, and Channel Ten’s The Project, as well as contributing to The Guardian, New York Times, and a variety of other news outlets. Nakkiah has been a columnist for Australian Women’s Weekly and is the co-host and co-creator of the award-winning podcast series, Pretty for an Aboriginal and Debutante with Miranda Tapsell. In 2020, Nakkiah teamed with Australia’s largest independent book publisher, Allen and Unwin, to launch her own imprint, JOAN.
Other information
Venue information
Our foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer.
Getting here
The Sydney Opera House Car Park, operated by Wilson Parking, is open and available to use. Wilson Parking offer discounted parking if you book ahead. Please see the Wilson Parking website for details.
Please check the Transport NSW website for the latest advice and information on travel. You can catch public transport (bus, train, ferry) to Circular Quay and enjoy a six minute walk to the Opera House.
Covid-safe information
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We’re committed to making your experience safe, comfortable and enjoyable, with a number of measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. We remind our audiences and visitors to please stay home if you feel unwell. If you need to discuss your ticketing or booking options, contact our Box Office team on 02 9250 7777.
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We have a number of safety measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. While face masks are no longer required, we ask all our patrons and visitors to practise good hygiene.
The Sydney Opera House no longer requires patrons to show that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Frequently asked questions
Ticket purchases and collection at our Box Office is discouraged and eTicket or postal delivery methods should be used, wherever possible. However, if you are collecting your tickets from the Box Office, we recommend doing this at least 60 minutes before the event starts. If you have already received your tickets, the venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Please take your seats as soon as you arrive.
If you are late, we will seat you as soon as we can and, where possible, in your allocated seat. However, to reduce movement in the venue as well as minimise disruption to the performance and other patrons, ticketholders may be seated in an allocated latecomer’s seat. Please be aware that some events have lock-out periods. In these cases, latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance. On occasions, this may not be until the interval, or at all where there is no interval.
Details of our right to refuse admission can be found in our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Events.
In accordance with our venue security procedures, Opera House security will be scanning and checking bags under the Monumental Stairs, prior to entering the building. Bags will be scanned by an x-ray machine, and staff will wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling your belongings, such as gloves. Cloaking facilities will be open 60 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 60 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. However it is strongly encouraged that you travel lightly to minimise contact and queuing. Any bags larger than an A4 piece of paper will need to be checked into the Cloak Room.
The authorised agency for this event is the Sydney Opera House.
Only tickets purchased by authorised agencies should be considered reliable. If you purchase tickets from a non-authorised agency such as Ticketmaster Resale, Viagogo, Ticketbis, eBay, Gumtree, Tickets Australia or any other unauthorised seller, you risk that these tickets are fake, void or have previously been cancelled. RESALE RESTRICTION APPLIES. For more details, please refer to our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Attendance at Events.
Please contact Box Office on 9250 7777 as soon as possible to advise if you can no longer attend.
Foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
The venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances.
Please bring a credit or debit card for any on site purchases to enable contactless payment. You’re welcome to bring your own water bottle but no other food and drinks are permitted inside our venues. Opera Bar, Opera Kitchen and Portside are also available for you to enjoy.
The health, safety and wellbeing of everyone at the Sydney Opera House is our top priority. In line with this commitment, the Opera House became a smoke-free site in January 2022. Read our Smoke-free Environment Policy.
Chaotic Social Lounge
The Chaotic Social Lounge will have a range of fun social activities based in the Western Foyers throughout the day of the festival.
Anne Enright
10 Mar 2024
The Booker Prize-winning author Anne Enright’s latest novel, The Wren, The Wren, considers the legacy of terrible cruelty within one family. How to live with betrayal and loneliness, yet still love those close to you?
