Arabic version: سيليست باربر تعود إلى المسرح في «كتاب ليز»
According to ABC News, comedian and actor Celeste Barber will return to theatre for the first time in 20 years, starring in Sydney Theatre Company’s 2027 production of The Book of Liz. Barber last appeared on stage in 2006 and said the role is “a dream come true” after previously describing work at STC as being “on the bucket list”.
Barber will play Sister Elizabeth Donderstock, the relentlessly positive central character in the comedy by American siblings Amy and David Sedaris. The play, which premiered Off-Broadway in 2001, follows Liz after she leaves her cloistered community when she is forced to give up her cheese ball recipe. She then takes work as a waitress at a family-run restaurant and encounters a series of eccentrics.
The actor worked at STC’s restaurant in 2003, shortly after finishing drama school. She recalled cleaning cutlery while watching her then-roommate run lines with Hugo Weaving in the green room for Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing, thinking that one day she would be performing there herself. Barber said the Sedaris siblings’ play made her laugh and described its story as “something funny, with heart”.
The Book of Liz is among 13 productions in STC’s 2027 season, the second under artistic director Mitchell Butel. The program also includes Oedipus, starring Richard Roxburgh and Heather Mitchell; Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries: Death by Deckchair; and A Christmas Carol, which will bring Tim Minchin to a Sydney stage in his first play since 2013. STC reported its first surplus since 2022, $765,759, while ticket sales for 2026 had already surpassed the previous year.
