Our History

Whitefella Yella Tree

23 Oct – 8 Nov 2025

Once in a blue moon, in the middle of nowhere, two teenage boys meet under a lemon tree. When they look at each other, it’s tense, exciting, and strange.

Ty and Neddy fall madly in love, as teenagers are wont to do. After a rough start, a fragile friendship fruits into a heady romance.

If history would just unfurl a little differently, the boys might have a beautiful future ahead of them. But without knowing it, Ty and Neddy are poised on the brink of a world that is about to change forever.

It’s the early 19th century. Ty is River Mob. Neddy is Mountain Mob. And the earth they stand together on is about to be declared ‘Australia’.

Featuring Pertame and Tiwi actor Joseph Althouse (The Visitors) and Danny Howard (Jacky), who has Barrd, Yamatji, Noongar, Bunuba and Ngadju ties, Whitefella Yella Tree is the La Boite debut of award-winning Palawa playwright Dylan Van Den Berg, winner of the Griffin Award, the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award, the David Williamson Prize and two NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.

Co-directed with subtlety and sophistication by Griffin Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Declan Greene and Wiradjuri and Worimi theatremaker Amy Sole, Whitefella Yella Tree is a heart-warming and heartbreaking story about love, Country, and Blak queerness.

Whitefella Yella Tree was developed as part of Griffin Studio, an initiative of Griffin Theatre Company, with support from the Malcolm Robertson Foundation and Griffin Studio donors, and through Melbourne Theatre Company's Cybec Electric Play Reading Series. The premiere production was supported by Griffin's Production Partner program.

Cast
Joseph Althouse
Danny Howard

Playwright
Dylan Van Den Berg

Co-directed by
Declan Greene and Amy Sole

Design
Mason Browne

Lighting Design
Kelsey Lee and Katie Sfetkidis

Composer and Sound Design
Steve Toulmin

Dramaturg
Andrea James