Celeste Barber Returns to Theatre in Kooky Comedy Play The Book of Liz
Celeste Barber returns to theatre for the first time in 20 years in kooky comedy play The Book of Liz. The Sydney Theatre Company's 2027 season features 13 plays, including a Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries play and an adaptation of Jenny Hocking's The Palace Letters.
Comedian Celeste Barber is set to make a triumphant return to theatre for the first time in 20 years, starring in the kooky comedy play The Book of Liz. Barber, known for her roles in Wellmania and Colin from Accounts, will play the relentlessly positive Sister Elizabeth Donderstock in the play, which premiered Off-Broadway in 2001.
Working at the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) was "on the bucket list" for Barber, who worked at the theatre's restaurant back in 2003. "I was cleaning cutlery at the end of the shift and looking down the corridor at them in the green room together running lines," she recalls. "I remember thinking, as I scrubbed crusty pasta off a fork, 'One day that will be me'. And now it's happening."
Barber was drawn to The Book of Liz because of its unique blend of humor and heart. "I loved [The Book of Liz] as soon as I read it," she says. "It made me laugh. I feel like a Sedaris play about an Amish cheese ball maker who is on a quest to find herself is exactly what the world needs: something funny, with heart."
STC artistic director Mitchell Butel was impressed by Barber's comedy and dramatic chops in Wellmania. The 2027 season will feature 13 plays, including a Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries play, and an adaptation of Jenny Hocking's The Palace Letters, starring Georgie Parker.
Butel says the company's success is expected to continue, with ticket sales for 2026 already surpassing last year. "There's always work to do and we have massive targets to keep the door open," he says. "But hard as it is to produce theatre that's commercially successful, it's a great privilege and honour to do it, and we should celebrate it."
The STC's 2027 season will also feature collaborations with theatre companies, festivals, and venues across Australia. One example is An Iliad, which will tour Melbourne in 2027, with more cities expected to be announced.
"Collaborations across Australian theatre like these are really important," Butel says. "Because you're sharing costs, there's suddenly an ability to up cast sizes."
Other productions in the STC's 2027 season include John Proctor Is the Villain, The Bookbinder of Jericho, and A Christmas Carol, starring Tim Minchin.