Josie Alibrandi is in her final year of high school. Whip-smart and aspirational, she is a third-generation Italian teenager and scholarship kid, with the shadow of a family curse and a penchant for rule-breaking. Juggling grades, boys, and the claustrophobia of an overbearing nonna and saintly mother, Josie’s life becomes tangled in the webs of class, identity, and family history as she finds her place in a changing world.
Iconic novel and cult movie, Looking for Alibrandi is the honest and empowered portrait of 1990s Mediterranean culture that spoke for the first time about systemic racism in Australia from a migrant perspective. It defined a generation and to this day resonates with those caught in the stranglehold of identity and othering in this country.
Award winning director Stephen Nicolazzo (Loaded, Merciless Gods) brought Melina Marchetta’s best-selling novel to the stage for the first time, where Vidya Rajan’s AWGIE nominated adaptation joined three generations of women in a passionate, heart wrenching, and unmissable rendering of the Australian classic. With live pasata sauce making, traditional Italian music and a soundtrack of Australian pop classics, Looking for Alibrandi is a vibrant theatrical experience full of passion, laughs, and beauty.
Originally commissioned by Malthouse Theatre and co-presented by Malthouse Theatre and Belvoir, Looking for Alibrandi sold out both of its original Melbourne and Sydney seasons and saw record breaking student attendance, with over 2,200 students and 5 dedicated education matinee performances at Belvoir during the season. By the time it closed, this incredibly popular cult-classic, was one of Belvoir’s top selling shows of the past decade and had an audience of over 20,000 across Melbourne and Sydney.
Now, as part of Brink’s next chapter, this hilarious, spirited and heart-warming production returns for a national tour starring original cast members Chanella Macri, Lucia Mastrantone, Jennifer Vuletic and SA performers, Ashton Malcom, Riley Warner and Chris Asimos.
Show contains: Stage violence, suicide, sexual references, descriptions of domestic violence, discriminatory language, smoke and haze effects.
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
Cast subject to change
Suitable for ages 14+
2 hrs 20 mins [20 min interval]
Contains coarse language!
— Looking for Alibrandi was commissioned and first produced by Malthouse Theatre and Belvoir in 2022. —
CREATIVES
Director Stephen Nicolazzo
Playwright Vidya Rajan
Author Melina Marchetta
Set and Costume Design Kate Davis
Lighting Design Katie Sfetkidis
Sound Design Daniel Nixon
Musicians Rosa Voto + Renato Vacirca
Tarantella Choreography Rosa Voto
Dialect Coach Paulo Bongiovanni + Rosanna Morales
Cultural and Language Consultant Lucia Mastrantone
CAST LEG 1
Chanella Macri, Lucia Mastrantone, Jennifer Vuletic, Ashton Malcom, Riley Warner + Chris Asimos.
CAST LEG 2
Chanella Macri, Amanda McGregor, Natalie Gamsu, Ashton Malcom, Riley Warner + Chris Asimos.
CREW
Production Managers Lachlan Turner + Steve Tilling
Stage Manager Jacinta Anderson
Assistant Stage Managers Ashlee Scott + Charlotte Welden
2025 Reviews
★★★★★
“Blood and sauce – love and trauma – coexist in every family pot. Nicolazzo leans into this symbolism without overplaying it, letting imagery speak while grounding the characters in heartfelt interactions.” Scenestr
★★★★★
” A stunning adaptation of a book that so many Australians hold dear. With humour, heart, and good cooking, this play is a must-see before it closes.” Glam Adelaide
★★★★★
“A skilled and standalone theatre piece…” The Clothesline
★★★★
“It provides a rich tapestry of perspectives that resonate with contemporary audiences both young and old and the diverse and large opening night audiences frequently laughed and silently shed tears at what unfolded on stage.” Arts Hub
“A whip-smart, heart-tugging, laugh-out-loud delight” Stage Whispers
2022 reviews
★★★★★ “Clever, funny, heartening and well-crafted” Theatre Matters
★★★★1/2 “Comical and beautifully honest…a joyous and poignant experience…a ridiculously enjoyable sunbeam of a production” Arts Hub
★★★★ “Suddenly I was that awkward teenager again, and that is what makes great story telling. The ability to transport you to another place and time. To engulf you in a world that is not your own and yet feels so familiar. That is the magic of Looking for Alibrandi. A magic that continues to warm people’s hearts thirty years after Marchetta’s pen first touched the page” The AU Review
★★★★ “A heart-warming tale whose humour, honesty, radiant social relevance and narrative longevity can survive not only novel and film incarnations, but now, I’m delighted to report, a stage play too.” Theatre Now
“Dark and uncompromising. It will resonate with subsequent waves of migrants” The Australian
“Buoyant and entertaining, spirited and good-humored.” The Age
“Chanella Macri is an excellent Josie, with her quality eye-rolling and ability to deliver cheeky wisecracks injecting a vibrancy to the heart of the show that made this reviewer cackle more than once. Macri is a Josie for all of us in 2022, a world that has undeniably changed since the ‘90s, when high schools (nay, the world) were divided along hard lines of “skips versus wogs”. She brings her own intersections of identity to the role. Being both a woman in a bigger body and a woman of colour with a complex cultural mix, Macri is a perfect representation of what ‘otherness’ means for us today. She brings the essence of Josie’s experience in the ‘90s straight into the heart of a Sydney in 2022, where being skinny and Italian no longer means the same thing it did when Marchetta was writing back in the late 1990s.” Time Out
Please contact John Glenn: john@brinkproductions.com to discuss show touring
22 - 31 May 2025
Dunstan Playhouse
Adelaide Festival Centre
[Adelaide]
11 - 15 June 2025
Riverside Theatres
[Parramatta]
19 - 21 June 2025
Home of the Arts [HOTA]
[Gold Coast]
20 - 23 August 2025
The Story House
Geelong Arts Centre
[Geelong]
27 - 29 August, 2025
Theatre Royal
[Hobart]
2 -3 September 2025
Middleback Arts Centre
[Whyalla]
5 September 2025
Northern Festival Centre
[Port Pirie]
9 - 10 September 2025
Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre
[Mt Gambier]
12 September 2025
Chaffey Theatre
[Renmark]
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