In 1996 Ms Cheetham was commissioned by the Olympic Arts Festival to write and perform a one-woman play for the Wimmin's Business series in the 1997 Festival of the Dreaming. The play, White Baptist Abba Fan, is an autobiographical account of Deborah's life and includes arias by Handel, Puccini, Catalanni, Dvorak, Gounod and Addams.
White Baptist Abba Fan premiered in the Playhouse of the Sydney Opera House and was received with critical acclaim.
"It's theatre which seems to halt time. It's as if, for 70 minutes, the trivia of everyday life ceases to be. She takes her audience into her world and transfixes us there."
Sun Herald 1997 (Australia)
This lead to an invitation to perform in at the Queer Up North Festival in Manchester (UK) where, once again to critical acclaim, Ms Cheetham made her European debut. Her 1998 national tour included the Melbourne International Festival, Brisbane Festival, Canberra Playhouse, The Peacock Theatre in Hobart and the Space Theatre at the Festival Arts Centre in Adelaide.
"Cheeky humour, poignant emotion and stirring revelations. her story is a truth that must be told, an aria in search of its rightful place." Canberra Times
In 1999, Ms Cheetham toured with White Baptist Abba Fan internationally, giving sell-out performances in The Edge (Auckland, NZ) as well as the Christchurch Arts Festival (NZ), and Zürcher Theater Spektakel (Switzerland).
".it is real, and it is definitely the most intense piece of theatre I have experienced."
New Zealand Herald
"With bitter irony, seldom sentimental, her witty torrent of words fascinates the audience."
Solohurner Zeitung, Theater Spektakel, Zurich
During 2000 Ms Cheetham performed to full houses at the Barbican centre in London and hosted the Australia Day celebration in Hanover for the 2000 World Expo.
