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 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. 

Abigail Williams

by Rebecca McNamee

Wharf 2, Sydney Theatre Company

Opening Gala

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.

Wharf 2 Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company

6pm, April 23rd 2025

Join us for an unforgettable opening gala evening as we kick off the HerStory Arts Festival! We are thrilled to welcome special guest speakers to be announced soon.

The evening also marks the grand opening of the HerStory Arts Festival, proudly presented by Lost Voice Inc. Stay with us to experience a selection of incredible new Australian theatre, celebrating the voices and stories that shape our cultural landscape. This is a night not to be missed, filled with connection, creativity, and the power of storytelling.

Admission is included with tickets purchased to The Amazing Lucas Girls 6:30 pm performance, April 23rd.

Visual Arts Displays

Atrium Space, Sydney Theatre Company

Explore a stunning collection of mixed-media works. This exhibition showcases a variety of pieces from emerging and established Sydney-based artists, all inspired by the theme of "HerStory." Some artworks will be available for purchase, offering a unique opportunity to support local talent while celebrating powerful, diverse narratives.

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 following reading times:

  • 2:00–2:45 PM, April 24

  • 7:00–7:45 PM, April 24

  • 1:30–2:25 PM, April 26

  • 5:30–6:15 PM, April 26

  • 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