Édouard Louis
13 March 2024
In the Utzon Room
Talks and Ideas
Join Édouard Louis in his first appearance in Sydney and discover how a young gay man from the working class French provinces transformed both himself and the contemporary conversation about class, power and inequality.
| Date | Time |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 13 March 2024 | 6.30pm |
Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Unreserved Seating | $39 |
$8.95 booking fee applies per transaction
Prices correct at the time of publication and subject to change without notice. Exact prices will be displayed with seat selection.
The authorised agencies for this event are Sydney Opera House. For more information about Authorised Agencies, see the frequently asked questions below.
Sydney Opera House Insiders pre-sale
9am, Tuesday 30 January 2024
Become a Sydney Opera House Insider to receive exclusive pre-sale access
What’s On e-newsletter on-sale
9am, Wednesday 31 January 2024
General Public tickets on-sale
9am, Thursday 1 February 2024
Run time
This show runs for approx. 75 minutes.
60 minutes in conversation, 15 minutes direct audience engagement and Q&A.
Event duration is a guide only and may be subject to change.
Age
Age guidance: 15+
Performance may contain strong language and adult themes.
Children aged 15 years must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Édouard LouisWhat I tried to do was turn my own life into a weapon to challenge and to question social violence.
Reinventing a past, present and future
Édouard Louis’s first creative act was to reinvent himself - discarding his given name and becoming one of France’s most exciting and consequential writers today. His autobiographical novels cover his unbearable childhood in a working-class French town (The End of Eddy), a graphic description of sexual violence (History of Violence) his ultimate understanding that the father who had rejected him was brought to an early death by France’s brutal industrial system (Who Killed My Father) and, a moving appreciation of how his mother, inspired by her son, transformed herself (A Woman’s Battles and Transformations).
His latest novel, Change (March 2024), tackles the great themes of his work – social class and transformation – and looks at the perils of leaving the past behind.
In his first appearance in Sydney Édouard Louis will engage in a conversation that will delight and charm, as well as challenge our easy assumptions about class, the progressive left, and art’s duty to confront and make us uncomfortable.
Presented by Sydney Opera House
Édouard Louis
Édouard Louis is the author of two novels and the editor of a book on the social scientist Pierre Bourdieu. His work has appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian and Freeman’s. His first two novels, The End of Eddy and History of Violence, were translated into thirty languages, and have made him one of the most celebrated writers of his generation.
Chip Rolley
Moderator
Chip Rolley was appointed as Sydney Opera House’s Head of Talks & Ideas in 2021. He has been the artistic director of Sydney Writers’ Festival, and director of PEN America’s World Voices Festival in New York. He oversaw the prestigious PEN Literary Awards and a slate of literary programs that engaged traditionally underserved participants and audiences. He has edited the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s opinion and news analysis website, The Drum.
His writing has appeared in The Guardian (US), Wall Street Journal, Griffith Review, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, Vogue, Rolling Stone and he has translated writing from Chinese to English.
Other information
Venue information
Our foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer.
Getting here
The Sydney Opera House Car Park, operated by Wilson Parking, is open and available to use. Wilson Parking offer discounted parking if you book ahead. Please see the Wilson Parking website for details.
Please check the Transport NSW website for the latest advice and information on travel. You can catch public transport (bus, train, ferry) to Circular Quay and enjoy a six minute walk to the Opera House.
Covid-safe information
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We’re committed to making your experience safe, comfortable and enjoyable, with a number of measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. We remind our audiences and visitors to please stay home if you feel unwell. If you need to discuss your ticketing or booking options, contact our Box Office team on 02 9250 7777.
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We have a number of safety measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. While face masks are no longer required, we ask all our patrons and visitors to practise good hygiene.
The Sydney Opera House no longer requires patrons to show that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Frequently asked questions
Ticket purchases and collection at our Box Office is discouraged and eTicket or postal delivery methods should be used, wherever possible. However, if you are collecting your tickets from the Box Office, we recommend doing this at least 60 minutes before the event starts. If you have already received your tickets, the venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Please take your seats as soon as you arrive.
If you are late, we will seat you as soon as we can and, where possible, in your allocated seat. However, to reduce movement in the venue as well as minimise disruption to the performance and other patrons, ticketholders may be seated in an allocated latecomer’s seat. Please be aware that some events have lock-out periods. In these cases, latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance. On occasions, this may not be until the interval, or at all where there is no interval.
Details of our right to refuse admission can be found in our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Events.
In accordance with our venue security procedures, Opera House security will be scanning and checking bags under the Monumental Stairs, prior to entering the building. Bags will be scanned by an x-ray machine, and staff will wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling your belongings, such as gloves. Cloaking facilities will be open 60 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 60 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. However it is strongly encouraged that you travel lightly to minimise contact and queuing. Any bags larger than an A4 piece of paper will need to be checked into the Cloak Room.
The authorised agency for this event is the Sydney Opera House.
Only tickets purchased by authorised agencies should be considered reliable. If you purchase tickets from a non-authorised agency such as Ticketmaster Resale, Viagogo, Ticketbis, eBay, Gumtree, Tickets Australia or any other unauthorised seller, you risk that these tickets are fake, void or have previously been cancelled. Resale restriction applies. For more details, please refer to our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Attendance at Events.
Please contact Box Office on +61 2 9250 7777 as soon as possible to advise if you can no longer attend.
Foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
The venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances.
Please bring a credit or debit card for any on site purchases to enable contactless payment. You’re welcome to bring your own water bottle but no other food and drinks are permitted inside our venues.
The health, safety and wellbeing of everyone at the Sydney Opera House is our top priority. In line with this commitment, the Opera House became a smoke-free site in January 2022. Read our Smoke-free Environment Policy.
You may also like
Megan Cope and Raven Chacon
20 May 2025
Quandamooka artist Megan Cope and Diné winning composer and artist Raven Chacon explore how First Nations cultural work can work in defiance of Indigenous erasure, reasserting indigenous knowledge and processes.
RBG: Of Many, One
16 Apr – 17 May 2025
Returning by popular demand following a sold-out national tour, don’t miss Heather Mitchell’s critically acclaimed performance as the indomitable Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
UPU
7 – 10 May 2025
UPU is an exhilarating theatre experience featuring Oceanic performers from NZ, blending profound poetry, gripping storytelling and captivating performances to explore culture, identity and the Pacific Ocean’s rich voices.
