Broken Brains With Jamila Rizvi and Rosie Waterland, hosted by Benjamin Law
4 May 2025
In the Drama Theatre
Talks and Ideas
Join Jamila and Rosie for a deeply personal conversation, scattered with humour and lived experiences, covering exactly what they wish they’d had at the height of their illnesses: comfort, solidarity and understanding. Hilarious and unflinchingly honest, this conversation is essential for anyone who has ever been ill or loved someone who was.
| Date | Time |
| Sunday 4 May 2025 | 3pm |
| Ticket | Price |
| Standard | $35 |
$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, Wednesday 2 April 2025
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What’s On e-newsletter pre-sale
10am, Wednesday 2 April 2025
General Public tickets on-sale
10am, Wednesday 2 April 2025
Auslan Interpreted performance
Experienced Auslan theatre interpreters stand to the side of the stage and translate what the actors are saying or singing into Auslan. A block of seats is reserved for users of this service to ensure a good view of the interpreter and the stage. Book here
Wheelchair accessible:
There are a number of wheelchair and companion seating locations in our theatres. To book accessible seating contact Box Office:
Telephone
+61 2 9250 7777
(Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm AEST)
Email bookings@sydneyoperahouse.com
Find out more about accessibility at Sydney Opera House.
Run time
This event will run for approximately 75 minutes. Books will be available to purchase and be signed after the event.
Event duration is a guide only and may be subject to change.
Age
Recommended for ages 15+.
Turia PittJamila and Rosie don’t just share their stories – they crack themselves wide open, revealing the reality of living with illness.
Useful information:
Physical brain health and mental brain health, and how they coexist
At the age of 31 Jamila Rizvi was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour. When she shared her diagnosis with loved ones, good friend Rosie Waterland proposed the tumour eventually be named ‘Jam’s Jerky’ and kept on display in a jar. While this sensitive proposal was politely declined, there was a reason Jamila had turned to Rosie for support. Rosie knows what it’s like to live with a broken brain. After a childhood of abuse and neglect, she had been dealing with significant trauma symptoms for years. Jamila and Rosie soon discovered their broken brains had more in common than they could ever have imagined.
Join acclaimed authors and close friends Jamila Rizvi and Rosie Waterland as they tell Benjamin Law about their Broken Brains, the subject (and title) of their new co-written book.
Jamila and Rosie are available for signing following the event.
Presented by Sydney Opera House
Jamila Rizvi
Jamila Rizvi is a broadcaster, public speaker and social policy expert, as well as the bestselling author of Not Just Lucky and The Motherhood. As deputy managing director of Future Women, Jamila champions women’s economic security and gender equity in Australian workplaces. She has been named one of Culture Amp’s 25 Emerging Global Culture Creators, included in the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence and won the Women and Leadership Australia Award for Excellence in Women’s Leadership in 2020. At age 31, Jamila was diagnosed with a rare type of recurrent brain tumour and now lives with complex disabilities due to acquired brain injury.
Rosie Waterland
Rosie Waterland is an author, comedian, podcaster and public speaker, but mostly calls herself a writer. Her first two books, The Anti Cool Girl and Every Lie I’ve Ever Told, were critically acclaimed, national bestsellers. Her podcasts Mum Says My Memoir is a Lie and Just the Gist have over 20 million combined downloads, earning her an Australian Commercial Radio Award and an Australian Podcast Award. She has written for various TV projects and nationally toured three one-woman shows. Rosie has spent much of her adult years dealing with the debilitating symptoms of trauma caused by prolonged exposure to abuse and toxic stress in her childhood.
Benjamin Law
Moderator
Benjamin Law is an Australian writer and broadcaster. He’s the author of The Family Law, Gaysia, the Quarterly Essay Moral Panic 101 and editor of Growing Up Queer in Australia.
Benjamin is also an AWGIE Award-winning screenwriter. He’s the co-executive producer, co-creator and co-writer of the Netflix comedy-drama Wellmania, creator and co-writer of three seasons of the award-winning TV series The Family Law and playwright of the sold-out mainstage play Torch the Place. He has a PhD in creative writing and cultural studies from the Queensland University of Technology.
Every week, Benjamin co-hosts ABC Radio National’s weekly national pop culture show Stop Everything and interviews public figures for Good Weekend. He hosted ABC TV’s two-part feature documentary on Chinese-Australian history Waltzing the Dragon, and has appeared on TV shows like Australian Survivor, Filthy Rich and Homeless, Q&A, The Drum and The Project. He has also written for over 50 publications in Australia and beyond—including the Monthly, frankie, Guardian, Monocle and Australian Financial Review—and is a literary scout for Hachette Australia.
Plan your visit
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 7-10 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.
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