SILENCE
8 – 11 May 2024
In the Studio
Dance
Through raw physicality, humorous skits, and a power anthem soundtrack, we disrupt the silence of a 250+ year struggle. The same questions echoed through generations. SILENCE pulls the Treaty conversation out from under the rug and slams it back on the table. Because the conversation about a TREATY cannot be silenced in Australia.
| Date | Time |
| Wednesday 8 May 2024 | 7:15pm |
| Thursday 9 May 2024 | 7:15pm |
| Friday 10 May 2024 | 7:15pm |
| Saturday 11 May 2024 | 7:15pm |
Ticket | Price | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $45 | Adult |
| Concession* | $30 | Australian Senior, Australian Pensioner, Domestic Students, Children Under 18 |
| Mezzanine - Restricted View | $30 |
*Must provide valid ID
$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.
Young people under the age of 15 must be accompanied at all times. Children aged 0 - 23 months at the time of a performance may be seated on a parent’s lap free of charge. All children occupying a seat or aged two years and older must hold a valid ticket.
The only authorised ticket agency for this event is Sydney Opera House. For more information about Authorised Agencies, see the frequently asked questions below.
General Public tickets on-sale
9am, Wednesday 27 March 2024
In English
Wheelchair accessible
Find out more about accessibility at Sydney Opera House
Run time
The duration of this event is 60 minutes, without interval
Event duration is a guide only and may be subject to change.
Age
Suitable for ages 12+
Warnings
Dirt and dust, water-based haze and strobe lighting will be used in this performance.
Due to dirt and dust P2 N95 masks will be made available.
No alcohol permitted inside the theatre during the performance.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander audiences are advised that this show references people who have died.
Restricted View
Restricted View seats in the Mezzanine may be slightly obstructed by the balcony fence and may not be able to see the full view of one of the musicians.
Also on this page
Seating map
Is this the Commonwealth of Australia? Yes? This is your Landlords speaking!
Funny and irreverent and reverberating with power… If you think you know Australian contemporary dance, you haven’t seen SILENCE. With thrashing live drumming and a raw aesthetic, Thomas E.S. Kelly has combined intimate storytelling with significant moments in Australian history as SILENCE interprets an ongoing conversation for a new generation.
There’s silence between the stars as the Emu travels across the night sky. There’s silence in the dancer’s energy when they hit the cut, the rupture between rhythms and movement creating a vibrational glitch for the spirit world to enter. It’s also the deafening silence under White noise.
We have marched across our Country. We have had promises made and promises broken. We stand on a stage, to the beating of a live drum kit, as bodies thrash through white noise to continue the conversation. Towards action. Towards resolution.
Jhindu Lawrie’s audacious rock drumming full of dynamism, grunge and raw power calls back to Thomas E.S. Kelly’s choreography, in brash, yet vulnerable and visceral scenes, with Kelly’s trademark charm and wit interspersed in between.
SILENCE
CREATED BY KARUL PROJECTS
Produced by BlakDance
Sydney Opera House and Karul Projects present
SILENCE is produced by BlakDance and the national tour has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, through Playing Australia.
Richard BellSILENCE is bold and uncompromising
Stage WhispersA highly sophisticated piece of theatre, where entertainment happily weds subversion
Koori MailHigh intensity dance meets live percussion
Gallery
Credit: Gregory Lorenzutti
Listen to the revolution: Disrupting the 250+ year silence
SILENCE is a groundbreaking contemporary dance that pulls the treaty conversation out from under the rug and slams it back on the table.
Creators and artists
Thomas E.S. Kelly
Thomas is a proud Minjungbal-Yugambeh, Wiradjuri and Ni-Vanuatu man.
Thomas graduated in 2012 from NAISDA Dance College and has since worked with Vicki Van Hout, Shaun Parker and Company, Branch Nebula, ERTH, Chunky Move, Dancenorth, The FARM, Tasdance, Outer Urban Projects, GUTS and Urban Theatre Projects.
His choreographic credits include his Green Room Award winning work [MIS]CONCEIVE, CO_EX_EN, SILENCE, WEREDINGO and KURAMANUNYA. His works have toured nationally and nationally.
Thomas creates work that explores high intensity physical works stemming from a cultural practice fused with contemporary, which incorporates voice and physical percussion. Creating work that ebbs and flows whilst mimicking nature. Thomas creates work that reveals subject matters that offers an opportunity to learn and develop. Remembering the past to better understand the present so we can move forward into the future.
In 2017 Thomas co-created Karul Projects. A new company led by new First Nation voices telling new stories. Karul Projects is situated in South East Qld and Northern NSW, Australia.
Thomas is the 2018 Dreaming Award Recipient, a 2019 American Australian Association Alumni.
His work [MIS]CONCEIVE won a Green Room Award for Best Choreography from an Emerging Artist and a nomination for Best Male Dancer and in 2016 and Best Dance Award at the Adelaide Fringe 2020. CO_EX_EN was nominated for Best Work and Best Performer at the 2019 Green Room Awards. Weredingo was nominated for Best Male Supporting Actor and Best Projection and Animation at the 2021 Matilda Awards. In 2018 Thomas received the Dreaming Award.
Choreographer/Writer/Performer
Thomas E.S. Kelly, Minjungbal-Yugambeh, Wiradjuri and Ni-Vanuatu
Rehearsal Director/Performer
Taree Sansbury, Kaurna, Narrunga and Ngarrindjerri
Choreographic Dramaturg
Vicki Van Hout, Wiradjuri
Dramaturg
Alethea Beetson, Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi and Wiradjuri
Percussion Composer/Performer
Jhindu-Pedro Lawrie, Mirning and Wuthathi
Performers
Benjin Maza, Yidindji, Birri Gubba, Meriam Mer and Tanna Island
Keia McGrady, Githabul Migunberri-Yugumbeh
Glory Tuohy-Daniell, Indjalandji-Dhidhanu and Alyewarre
Olivia Adams, Wulli Wulli
Tamara Bouman, Birpai
Music/Sound Designer
Sam Pankhurst
Lighting Designer
Karen Norris
Costume Designer
Selene Cochrane
Producer
BlakDance
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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 min 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. Please stay home if you feel unwell and read more about our flexible ticket options.
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.
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