The 2025 season of HerStory Arts

Welcome to the inaugural HerStory Arts Festival 2025! This year, we’re showcasing an exciting and intimate lineup of fresh Australian works from some of the most promising emerging creatives. Come join us at the Wharf this April for an unforgettable experience…..

The 2025 HerStory Arts Festival Program

  • Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 4/5, 15 Hickson Road Walsh Bay

    4:15pm – Atrium (Foyer)
    Art & Book Display Opens
    Artist and author sales throughout the evening

    4:50pm – Atrium (Foyer)
    Live Music: Emily Harris (Vocalist)

    5:00pm – Atrium (Foyer)

    Opening Ceremony
    – Acknowledgement of Country – Dr. Carmel Benden
    – Keynote Speaker: Geraldine Doogue
    – Vote of Thanks: Dr. Carmel Benden
    – Vignette: Sarah, a convict woman – Ronda Gaffey
    – Poem: Bedlam Point – Antonia Reiseger (read by Kim Saville)
    – Travel Reflection: Expectations and Aspirations – Madeline Hoffman
    – Poem: Controlled Burn in Eden – Bronwyn Rodden
    – Essay: Don’t Get Hysterical – Dr. Carmel Benden
    – Presentation: Matruchhaya Women’s Refuge – Preeti Kotwal
    – Music: Emily Harris

    6:30pm – Wharf 2 Theatre
    The Amazing Lucas Girls by Cate Whittaker

    Produced by Lost Voices Inc.

    8:30pm – Wharf 2 Theatre
    Abigail Williams by Rebecca McNamee

    Produced by Redfern Lane Productions

  • 1:00 PM – Wharf 2 Theatre
    Abigail Williams by Rebecca McNamee (Post-show Q&A)

    2:00–2:40 pm – Atrium (Foyer)
    -Readings & Book/Art Display
    – Acknowledgement of Country – Prudence Weir
    – Memoir: Yellow Gate – Vicki Geraghty
    – Short Story: Uprooted – Susan Brooker
    – Tribute: Remembering Judith Wright – Colleen Keating
    – Memoir: One Piece – Gwen Biti
    – Essay: The Ghost Ship – Kaye Spence
    – Presentation: Matruchhaya Women’s Refuge – Preeti Kotwal or Lalita Kanakar

    3:00pm – Wharf 2 Theatre
    The Amazing Lucas Girls by Cate Whittaker (Post-show Q&A)

    6:30pm – Wharf 2 Theatre
    Abigail Williams by Rebecca McNamee

    7:00pm PM – Atrium
    Evening Readings
    – Acknowledgement of Country – Dr. Carmel Benden
    – Short Story: Limestone Idyll – Denise Young
    – Poem: Blood-Stained Shame – Meg Meyer
    – Essay: Reflections on Women in Medieval Medicine – Dr. Carmel Benden

    8:00 pm- Wharf 2 Theatre

    The Amazing Lucas Girls by Cate Whittaker

  • The theatre is dark due to ANZAC Day.

  • 1:00pm– Wharf 2 Theatre
    Abigail Williams by Rebecca McNamee

    1:30pm– Atrium (Foyer)
    Afternoon Readings
    – Acknowledgement of Country – Prudence Weir
    – Short Story: The Test – Caroline Panousis (read by Raechyl French)
    – Memoir: Sweet Resistance – Deb Roberts
    – Memoir: Violet – Tanya Smeaton
    – Essay: Memory’s Tidal Wave – Sandi Jessamine (read by Raechyl French)
    – Presentation: Matruchhaya Women’s Refuge – Preeti Kotwal

    2:30PM– Wharf 2 Theatre
    The Amazing Lucas Girls by Cate Whittaker (Post-performance Q&A)

    5:30pm – Atrium
    Evening Readings
    – Acknowledgement of Country
    – Short Story: DNA – Jocelyn Freeman
    – Poem: Stone Circle – Gail Robinson (read by Raechyl French)
    – Essay: Suffrage and Sisterhood – Dr. Karen Pack

    6:30 pm – Wharf 2 Theatre
    The Amazing Lucas Girls by Cate Whittaker

    8:30pm-Wharf 2 Theatre
    Abigail Williams by Rebecca McNamee

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The Amazing Lucas Girls

by Cate Whittaker

Wharf 2, Sydney Theatre Company

Wedding bells are drowned by drums of war for Clara and Wilf, as his mother pushes him to enlist, despite Clara explaining, “Australia’s not at war.“ Clara’s sister Tilly, (Lucas’ factory manager) believes the boys will have a ball and Ballarat proudly cheers them off, with  Clara’s kid brother and Wilf following.

Ballarat soon turns black with grieving mothers, wives and fiancés. Conscription is called for, but Clara leads the Lucas Girls to defeat it. Division, distress, and despair drag down the town till Tilly’s brilliant idea to bring life and hope back to Ballarat with the help of the Lucas Girls. 

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Abigail Williams

by Rebecca McNamee

Wharf 2, Sydney Theatre Company

After a sold-out season at NIDA’s Festival of Emerging Artists in 2023, the hauntingly beautiful Abigail Williams makes its wharf debut as part of the HERStory Art Festival in 2025.

A 17-year-old girl has an affair with a 35-year-old married man. Her master. A father. A leader in his community. And she’s the villain...? Welcome to Salem in 1692, Broadway in 1953 and Sydney in 2025.

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Writing Competition 2025

The HerStory Arts Festival is proud to have hosted a writing competition featuring categories such as essays, poetry, memoirs, and short stories, with support from Lost Voices Inc. After an incredible selection of entires, we are excited to announce the winners and highly commended participants, who will showcase their work through staged readings and presentations throughout the festival. Thank-you to all submitters; it was a pleasure to read your works. See our winners and highly commended.

Join us for the reading times, listed above.

  • 1st Bedlam Point Antonia Reiseger

    2nd Controlled Burn in Eden Bronwyn Rodden

    3rd Stone Circle Gail Robinson

    HC Remembering Judith Wright Colleen Keating

    HC Blood Stained Shame Meg Meyer

    HC Photograph of my grandmother

    as a Young Actress T Banks-Vittini

  • 1st Memory’s Tidal Wave Sandie Jessamine

    2nd The Ghost Ship in Lanarka

    Bay Kaye Spence

  • 1st Yellow Gate Vicki Geraghty

    2nd Sweet Resilience Debbie Roberts

    HC Violet Tania Smeaton

    HC One Piece Gwen Bitti

  • 1st The Test Caroline Panousis

    2nd Uprooted Susan Booker

    HC Limestone Idyll Denise Young

    HC A DNA thread creates a

    stitch in time Jocelyn Freeman