Is it Fascism Yet? M Gessen and Jason Stanley with host Anna Funder
Is democracy failing in Australia’s number one ally?
Event details
| Date | Time |
|---|---|
| Sunday 28 September 2025 | 4pm - 5pm |
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Standard | $45.00 |
| Buy 2-3 sessions and get 10% off Book a multipack | $40.50 |
| Buy 4 sessions and get 15% off Book a multipack | $38.25 |
$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 15 July 2025
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What’s On e-newsletter pre-sale
9am, Wednesday 16 July 2025
General Public tickets on-sale
9am, Thursday 17 July 2025
For those requiring assistance, wheelchair or companion seating, accessible seating locations are available. Bookings can be made by calling the Box Office on +61 2 9250 7777 or by email.
Please note all tickets are Unreserved Seating (General Admission)
Event duration is a guide only and may be subject to change.
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.
Jason StanleyYou know you’re living in a fascist society when you’re constantly going over in your head the reasons why you’re safe.
About the speakers
M Gessen (they/them)
M Gessen is an opinion columnist with The New York Times and the author of 11 books of nonfiction, most recently Surviving Autocracy and The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, which won the National Book Award in 2017. Gessen is also a distinguished professor at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.
Jason Stanley (he/him)
Jason Stanley is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University and a member of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School. He writes and speaks about authoritarianism, propaganda, free speech, mass incarceration and other topics. Jason is a descendant of Holocaust survivors – his uncle served several years in Auschwitz, his mother was raised in a Siberian labor camp, and his father experienced the madness of Kristallnacht. The impact of his family’s experiences led him to dedicate much of his work to studying the ideology and structure of injustice, and how it is enabled and concealed.
Anna Funder (she/her)
Host
Anna Funder’s latest book Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life, hailed as ‘spellbinding’ (Financial Times) and ‘electrifying’ (Observer), was a New York Times Notable Book, a Sunday Times Bestseller and won France’s prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger. Anna’s Stasiland, a contemporary classic, won the Samuel Johnson Prize for best non-fiction published in English in 2004. Her novel All That I Am won the Miles Franklin Award and was a finalist for the International IMPAC Dublin Award and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. All of Anna’s books are international bestsellers published in many countries. Before turning to writing full time, Anna was an international lawyer, specialising in human rights and constitutional law.
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Attending this event
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.
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 +61 2 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.
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.
Location and access
Concert Hall
The Concert Hall is located beneath the largest of Sydney Opera House’s roof sails, filling the upper levels of the west side of the building. Best accessed through the covered concourse. All Sydney Opera House foyers are 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).