NEW PERFORMANCE ADDED!
Due to popular demand we have added a performance at 5pm.

Riverside Theatres presents Maeve Marden’s
QUEERSTORIES
Featuring Jane Marsden, Miranda Aguilar, Mark Mariano, David Moutou, Naomi Mourra and Madhuraa Prakash

There’s more to being queer than coming out and getting married.

Queerstories returns once more to Western Sydney for an evening of unexpected tales, stories of pride, prejudice, resilience and resistance, delivered with warmth and humour by incredible local storytellers.

Vulnerable and powerful, hilarious and heartbreaking, Queerstories celebrates the culture and creativity of the LGBTQI+ community one true story at a time. A national storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, Queerstories has sold out at festivals and independent venues around the country, with a book and an award-winning podcast boasting nearly 250 stories.

Please Note:
Tickets to this event are sold to 75% of capacity. All Riverside patrons will be seated in line with current NSW Public Health guidelines, allowing patrons to be seated alongside each other. If you have any questions and would like to discuss this with a member of our team, please contact our Box Office staff on 02 8839 3399 or email BoxOffice_Riverside@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au

This production will be AUSLAN INTERPRETED

*Please contact Box Office directly for group bookings of 8 or more at $26 each, email boxoffice_riverside@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au or call 8839 3399.

This production contains course language and adult content and is recommended for ages 18+

Riverside Theatres is registered with the NSW Government as a COVID Safe venue. Our COVID Safe plan was developed in line with federal and state government health guidelines, and following consultation with Live Performance Australia, other NSW venues, and various government bodies, on enhanced health, hygiene and safety measures. These measures include: reduced audience capacity; social distancing; wearing face masks; mandatory Service NSW QR code registration check in; extra cleaning; increased sanitisation of high-touch surfaces; the provision of hand sanitiser, anti-bacterial wipes and hand washing facilities throughout the venue; traffic management plans to alleviate congestion in public spaces; and dedicated COVID Safe Hygiene Marshals.

Please review our Patron Safety Information before you visit us at Riverside.

It is also important that if you are unwell you stay home, we have updated our ticket conditions and our Box Office team are available to talk through your exchange and refund options. You can contact the Box Office on 02 8839 3399 or email BoxOffice_Riverside@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au

Thank you for keeping our community safe.

Mark Mariano is an Australian-born Filipino editor, writer, model, and social media whiz from Doonside in Western Sydney, on Darug land. Mark works at SBS in an editorial role and is also an active member of SBS Pride’s steering committee. He is also part of the Sweatshop Western Sydney Literary Movement, through which his debut poetry collection ‘Down From Doonside Station’ was published in 2019. Mark has worked closely with organisations such as Headspace and ReachOut, and currently volunteers as the editor for The Western – a community online magazine. Mark has also represented Australia twice at the Harvard University Project for Asian International Relations and was an artist at the 2020 National Young Writers’ Festival.

Jane Marsden is a learning and development professional and project manager. She commenced her career in the LGBTI+ communities in the early eighties, joining the organising committee of a Western Suburbs Social Group called Scandal. In the early nineties she was appointed to the Board of Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras on which she served for five years. Shortly thereafter she joined the Board of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Community Publishing Ltd (Sydney Star Observer). Jane was one of nine founding directors of The Aurora Group – A Ruby Foundation. She has remained an active participant in the community most recently as an advocate for the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Community Workshop.

Miranda Aguilar is a proud, queer, Filipinx writer, creative producer and community arts worker. They’re passionate about working with young people and providing inclusive, accessible pathways for people to tell their own stories. They write scripts and stories for soft-spoken brown weirdoes, spicy gay nerds and hopeful pessimists. Their first play, Let Me Know When You Come Home is a coming of age story about growing up queer in Western Sydney. It was due to premiere with National Theatre of Parramatta, in association with CuriousWorks, at Riverside Theatres in 2020, and has since been rescheduled for March 2021.

David Moutou grew up in Panania in Bankstown and has now returned to living in the Canterbury Bankstown area. For the last 10 years David has worked in local government in Western Sydney. Prior to this, David worked for Twenty10, a youth service for LGBTIQ young people, and was a Director and Chairperson of The Aurora Group, a LGBTIQ philanthropic foundation. In the years before YouTube and Smart Phones, David performed as Sandy Toggs at The Imperial Hotel. David is addicted to 1980s style aerobics and has a side hustle as a Civil Marriage Celebrant.

Madhuraa Prakash, also known as Mads, is an activist, formerly working with PLAN International Australia, and a drag king who performs under the name ‘Manish Interest’. Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Australia, she has spoken of her experiences as a queer brown woman on panels for organisations like Women’s Agenda and is keen to have another chance to share her voice with her community.

As Sydney’s only Lebanese, lesbian, ex-Jehovah’s Witness comedian, Naomi Mourra is your gateway woman to chicks, chickpeas, cults and culture. Her solo show, An Open Book, debuted in 2018 and she has since had sold out runs at the Sydney Fringe Comedy Festival and the Sydney Comedy Festival. She co-founded and co-produced What She Said, Sydney’s first weekly all women’s comedy night. Not satisfied with just waffling on stage, she also co-founded Sydney’s first bubble waffle cafe in Manly. She is currently working through some issues around feeling the need to do something first. Naomi grew up in Cabramatta.