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And What Will People Say?
SHOW DETAILS:
Thursday 9 – Sunday 12 July 2026
opening night: Thursday 9 July
duration: 70 minutes
times:
Thursday – Friday 7:30pm
Saturday 6pm
Sunday 2pm & 5pm
please arrive promptly, this show has a strict lockout
ticket price: $45 – $55
bookings: 03 9662 9966
warnings: This production contains theme of domestic violence
A powerful fusion of Indian dance, music, and poetry, this immersive theatre work confronts domestic violence with raw honesty, cultural depth, and the courage to discuss uncomfortable truths. Winner of two Sydney Fringe 2025 awards — Best in Category (Spoken Word) and Best Emerging Producer — this acclaimed production has moved audiences across communities and sparked vital conversations.
What happens when silence is survival — but speaking out is freedom?
And What Will People Say? is an electrifying 60-minute immersive theatre experience that blends Indian dance, original music, and spoken word to explore the unspoken realities of domestic violence within families and communities. Told through the eyes of a mother and her children, this powerful piece invites audiences into a deeply personal journey of love, fear, shame, and resilience.
Rooted in real experiences and shaped by the voices too often left out of the conversation, the production challenges cultural stigma and generational silence. It exposes the hidden stories that echo behind closed doors—those shaped not only by violence itself, but by the social pressures that keep people quiet. It is a story of pain but also of courage, hope, and radical truth-telling.
This is more than theatre. This is a conversation our communities need to have. And it starts here.
Producer and Director: Kersherka Sivakumaran
Writer: Amani Mahmoud
Dancer: Gayatri Krishnamurthy
Veena Player: Hari Sivanesan
Narrator: Khema de Silva
Percussionist: Pirashanna Thevarajah
Violinist: Narthana Kanagasabai
Hero image: Phil Erbacher
Ticket Prices:
Full: $55
Concession: $45
Group 6+: $45
EARLYBIRD: $49
Concessions:
Pensioners/Full-time students/MEAA members
Ticket sales are subject to a booking fee of $5.00 per ticket plus any merchant charges for payments by American Express
Ticket fees are charged reluctantly. As an unfunded CBD located venue, our expenses continue to rise. If fortyfivedownstairs is to survive, we are obliged to increase our revenue without inflicting costs on already struggling artists. Without support, we risk losing artists or having to close our doors. We do hope for your understanding!