Clear your calendars! Tomorrow night marks the electric opening night of Sistren — a blazing letter to sisterhood and Sydney’s unmissable theatre moment. Featuring real-life besties Iolanthe and Janet, and marking Iolanthe’s playwriting debut (big, huge deal), prepare yourself for top-tier vibes and relatable chaos.
And yeah, we’re first to admit it’s hard to get off the couch in the cold miserable depths of winter, but there is no better reason to don your fluffiest coat, grab a mate or two and scooch across town to the Old Fitz Theatre to be entertained (and support the arts). You’ll leave warmer, we promise.
Ahead of curtain-up, we caught up with Iolanthe and Janet for a cute lil’ shoot with Photographers Richmond Kobla Dido & Hameed Akinwande and sweet angel stylist Laura Mazikana. Then we handed the mic over and asked the besties to quiz each other, think of it as your all-access pass to the group chat. Go on, be a fly on the wall…
Iolanthe: What does the word ‘whimsy’ mean to you?
Janet: I’m not gonna bother googling the definition, so I’m just going off vibes. Whimsy brings to mind barefoot girls in speckled sunshine, leaving the house without a plan or a charger, following the sound of techno down the street, and pulling faces to make Io laugh on the tram.
Iolanthe: When was the first time you saw yourself on stage?
Janet: I think the first time I saw a trans woman perform on any kind of stage was at a ballroom Kiki night at Kinselas (alongside Iolanthe funnily enough). Seeing a lineup of femqueens perform inches away from me was pure magic. I didn’t see a trans woman on stage in a theatre until me and — you guessed it — io snuck into Ethel Cain’s show at Dark Mofo. LIFE. CHANGED.
Iolanthe: One thing that you and I do best is laugh and laugh and laugh. Have you always been this stoopid?
Janet: I mean, you and I met through a side-eye and a giggle. Two stoopid girls in a sea of straighty-one-eighties. We’ve spent hours on the couch consuming Broad City or Atlanta, our stoner sensibilities leading us toward the absurd.
I came out of the womb with a microphone and a tight five. In school I wouldn’t bother making the other thicco students laugh, the teachers were much more my speed. I would simply rattle off my Joan Rivers or Dorothy Parker lines and have them asking how old I was. Too easy.
Iolanthe: You have unlimited funds on a card for 24 hours. What pieces are you buying?
Janet: Ok first things first, an apartment block for all my friends to live rent-free (Planet Janet’s Doll Hideaway). Next, I want a boat, a Sasha Colby pony extension, studio space for my sewing and painting pursuits and a lifetime supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills.
Janet: Theatre has a class issue in this country and across the globe. Tickets are hard to afford, shows are expensive to put up and wages are hard to come by. How can shows like Sistren change our theatre culture to being for the people by the people?
Iolanthe: That’s a great question babe [laughs], I’ve always wanted to say that. I think what’s important with shows like Sistren is that the creator or creatives are genuinely embedded within the community that the work is made for. This just makes the community engagement side of things smoother and more authentic, because we have a genuine understanding of what they are looking for or how they’ll engage.
The target demographic of Sistren is not necessarily avid theatre goers. And so finding ways to engage these individuals has to come with fresh and innovative promotion, direct invitation and to be honest, a decolonised view of theatre making - purrr.
Janet: When was the first time you saw yourself on stage?
Iolanthe: I’d have to say Lavender in Matilda the musical (if you know the lore, you know the lore). I also remember seeing Sister Act on the West End and gagging for how ridiculous Deloris Van Cartier was. Also, fab name!!! In terms of plays that genuinely spoke to my essence, watching the first season of Seven methods of killing Kylie Jenner was...crazy.
Janet: Best Caribbean food in Sydney?
Iolanthe : *crickets* I wish this question wasn’t as hard to answer.
Janet: What does sisterhood mean to you, chosen or otherwise?
Iolanthe: Everything. Sisterhood relationships break me down, build me back up, make me an oat hot chocolate, remind me to bring my edge control, sit in empty theatres for hours with me, introduce new ideas to my world and cement themselves in my speed dial contact list. There is no Iolanthe without the chosen family that made her.
Janet: We were in NYC last year for Juneteenth/Pride month. Describe the Sistren international chapter.
Iolanthe: Omg it was faaaaaab. One thing about Janet and I? We could yap to a goddam brick wall and have a time. So the sheer amount of extroverts that mirrored our energy was so affirming. Particularly seeing duos like us - black baddie + trans baddie besties - storming the streets fabulously was something I didn’t realise was possible. It felt so sweet to be seen, granted immediate entrance into clubs, showered in compliments on the subway, gorging on pastrami bagels on the stoop, and, one of my favourite moments, was walking in the NYC pride parade with Miss Janet by my side – duh!
Iolanthe: Where next for Sistren? Surely a SCU (Sistren cinematic universe)?
Janet: Both of us have already spent countless hours dreaming up the next adventures of Isla and Violet. First up is Sistren TV, followed by Sistren 420 style (can’t give too much away shhhh). I have to check with io about what I can and can’t say lol. Thoughts, bestie?
Iolanthe: J’agree. One thing's for sure, I want Sistren to be a platform for so many of the artists we know and love (and some we’re yet to meet) to put their creative energies into.
Sistren is playing at the Old Fitz Theatre in Sydney until the 12 of July 💕.
Photos: Richmond Kobla Dido & Hameed Akinwande @ HAKD Fashion: Laura Mazikana Beauty: Eve Lyn Fashion Assistant: Charlotte Edwige
We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the traditional owners of the land on which this shoot took place.
