I’m scrapin’ Andrew’s floor with Gumption, list’nin” to a podcast ‘bout diet culture, when I realise I might technic’lly be a serial killer.

At age 23 Snakeface is cursed by her ex to live her life as a monster. Reclaiming the violence forced upon her, she rampages through the queer clubs and art studios of Sydney with a lifetime of silenced words and stolen power to unleash.

Inspired by the myth of Medusa, SNAKEFACE explores the tight loop of creation and destruction. Rejected and tested, Snakeface claws at her relationship with sex, sculpture, romance, and rage in a body that has never been afforded safety.

Awarded Runner Up in the Australian Theatre Festival NYC 2024 New Play Award, SNAKEFACE interrogates the beauty and brutality of moving through white Australia in a queer Black body.

Writer & Performer Aliyah Knight
Director & Dramaturg Bernadette Fam
Producer Madeleine Gandhi
Set & Props Designer Keerthi Subramanyam
Lighting & Video Systems Designer Rachel Lee
Costume Designer Wanyika Mshila
Movement Director & Choreographer Fetu Taku
Projection Designer Wendy Yu
Sound Designer Marco Cher-Gibard
Associator Director/Producer Rachel Seeto
Vocal & Dialect Coaches Laura Farrell and Erica Lovell
Production / Stage Manager Justice Georgopoulos
Marketing Manager Sean Landis
Community Engagement Lead Kelly Dezart-Smith
Wellbeing Consultant Shondelle Pratt
Access Coordinator Courtney Henson
Assistant Stage Manager Fletcher Scully
Photographers Teniola Komolafe and Abraham de Souza
Cinematographer Mia Schirmer

Performing at Belvoir Downstairs Theatre (25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills)

Tuesday 8 April 7:45pm - 9:15pm (preview)
Thursday 10 April 7:45pm - 9:15pm (preview)
Friday 11 April 7:45pm - 9:15pm (opening night)
Saturday 12 April 7:45pm - 9:15pm
Sunday 13 April 5:15pm - 6:45pm
Tuesday 15 April 6:45pm - 8:15pm
Wednesday 16 April 6:45pm - 8:15pm
Thursday 17 April 7:45pm - 9:15pm
Saturday 19 April 7:45pm - 9:15pm
Sunday 20 April 5:15pm - 6:45pm
Tuesday 22 April 6:45pm - 8:15pm
Wednesday 23 April 6:45pm - 8:15pm
Thursday 24 April 7:45pm - 9:15pm
Friday 25 April 7:45pm - 9:15pm
Saturday 26 April 7:45pm - 9:15pm
Sunday 27 April 2:15pm - 3:45pm (closing night)

Preview $20
Full Price $25

Excluding Booking Fee

NOTE: All tickets are General Admission

SNAKEFACE contains mature themes, including explicit descriptions of physical and sexual violence, child sexual assault, racism, homophobia, transphobia, body horror, misogyny, eating disorders and suicide.

This production uses strobe lighting.

Click here for SNAKEFACE access notes.

Belvoir St Theatre has level street access with limited street parking and one disabled spot out the front of the venue. The street access is on a slope and the entrance door opens automatically.

There is both a lift and a set of stairs to the ground floor of the venue which is where the 25a Theatre is located.

There is a large disabled bathroom on the ground floor which has a non-automatic, heavy door that opens inwards. There are other cubicled, non-disabled bathrooms on the ground floor as well.

25a has one wheelchair seat which can be booked. Other wheelchair users can be accommodated but these will need to be seat transfers. The seating banks also have seats which are on level access. To book in a seat transfer, the wheelchair seat, level seating, or if you have any other accessibility requirements relating to seating, please contact their Box Office on 02 9699 3444 or at mail@belvoir.com.au.

Belvoir St Theatre accepts companion cards. To book in a companion card, please contact their Box Office on 02 9699 3444 or at mail@belvoir.com.au.

If you have any specific accessibility questions or concerns, please contact Fruit Box Theatre’s Access Coordinator, Courtney Henson, at access@fruitboxtheatre.com.au

MEDUSA AT THE DYKE BAR 
The Bearded Tit (183 Regent St, Redfern)
Saturday 15 March
4 - 6pm
FREE (register here)

Join us for snacks and drinks at everyone's favourite dyke bar The Bearded Tit for an excerpt read and discussion with SNAKEFACE writer and performer Aliyah Knight and SNAKEFACE director and dramaturg Bernadette Fam. This bold new play invites you into Snakeface's queer haunts in all their joyful knotty-mess.

BLACK OUT NIGHT
Belvoir Downstairs Theatre (25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills)
Saturday 12 April
7:45 - 9:15pm
$15 Tickets (message @snakefaceau if you wish to join us)

We welcome you to Black Out Night, a special performance to hold space for Black African-diasporic and POC audiences while creating a theatre experience that centres Black storytelling. Please send us a message @snakefaceau if you wish to join us on this celebratory night.

PERFORMING WITH BODY: A POST SHOW ARTIST PANEL
Belvoir Downstairs Theatre (25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills)
Sunday 20 April
7:00pm - 8:00pm
FREE (with tickets to the Sun 20 April performance of SNAKEFACE. Book here)

Join us for a post-show panel with Community Engagement Lead Kelly Lovemonster (All Day Queer Dance), SNAKEFACE writer and performer Aliyah Knight, director, actor & musician Zindzi Okenyo (Play School, Critical Incident, Zindzi & the Zillionaires, Is God Is) and multidisciplinary artist Nancy Denis (Sami in Paradise, Cleverman, The Great Gatsby, Ma'p Boulé).

This artist panel will dive into the way identity and lived experience are explored and reflected in art made by those whose bodies become the site of their work. Through SNAKEFACE's lens as a play made for Black people, Queer people and sexual assault survivors, we aim to open up a dialogue about how intersectional bodies are presented on stage.

★★★★★
"A physical tour-de-force"
- Harriet Cunningham, Sydney Morning Herald

★★★★ "Knight gives an incredibly powerful and emotive performance" - Hayden Moon,
Time Out

★★★★ “Knight’s writing feels truthful. But further, it pushes boundaries and experiments with form; it takes risks not only in the story told but the way they choose to tell it.” - Pratha Nagpal, ArtsHub

★★★★ "Knight's writing is poetic, witty and beautifully crafted" - Bridget Whitford, Glassroom Company

★★★★ "Compelling, urgent and deeply human" - Donna Portland, What's the Show

★★★★ "Fierce and funny" - Sophie Highmore, Spot On Sydney

"This is a landmark one-person theatre event" - Paul Nolan, Sydney Arts Guide

"An unequivocal sensorial delight" - Suzy Wrong, Suzy Goes See

"A sensory feast of visuals and poetry" - Justin Clarke, Theatre Thoughts

 "This is a voice I want to hear more from" - Chad Armstrong, Cultural Binge

”Brave, audacious, and unapologetically real” - Faith Jessel, What’s on Sydney

“Stunningly poetic” - Paul Gilchrist, Theatre Red

“The performance moves effortlessly though time and space” - Kate Stratford, Theatre Now

“Visceral, bloody and extremely evocative” - Jeffrey Khoo, Stage Whispers

“Incredibly, heart-wrenchingly, sickeningly real” - Calum Boland, Honi Soit

“Imaginative and deeply personal” - Kate Gaul, Theatre Travels

“Moves effortlessly between time and space” - Kate Stratford, Theatre Now

SYDNEY THEATRE AWARDS 2025

Nominee: Best Newcomer (Aliyah Knight)

NSW LITERARY AWARDS 2026

Shortlist: Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting

Shortlist: UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing