Looking for Alibrandi
3 – 4 October
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 passata 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. ★★★★★ “Clever, heartening, full of detail and gravitas” - Theatre Matters ★★★★1/2 "A ridiculously enjoyable sunbeam of a production.” - Arts Hub “Dark and uncompromising. It will resonate with subsequent waves of migrants” - The Australian “Achingly raw…painfully, beautifully rendered…Timeless” - The Guardian
Looking for Alibrandi was commissioned and first produced by Malthouse Theatre and Belvoir in 2022. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
Photo: Looking for Alibrandi, Belvoir Season 2022. Cast subject to change.
Credit: Daniel Boud
Show details:
Synopsis
3 – 4 October
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 passata 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.
★★★★★ “Clever, heartening, full of detail and gravitas” – Theatre Matters
★★★★1/2 “A ridiculously enjoyable sunbeam of a production.” – Arts Hub
“Dark and uncompromising. It will resonate with subsequent waves of migrants” – The Australian
“Achingly raw…painfully, beautifully rendered…Timeless” – The Guardian
Looking for Alibrandi was commissioned and first produced by Malthouse Theatre and Belvoir in 2022. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
Photo: Looking for Alibrandi, Belvoir Season 2022. Cast subject to change.
Credit: Daniel Boud
dates & times
Friday 3 October, 7.30pm (Opening Night)
Saturday 4 October, 1.30pm & 7.30pm
Details
PRESENTED BY:
Canberra Theatre Centre by Brink Productions.
DURATION:
Approximately 2 hours 20 minutes, including interval.
LATECOMERS:
For most performances, latecomers cannot be admitted until a break in the performance. Please allow plenty of time to cover traffic and parking delays.
WARNINGS:
This performance contains smoke and haze effects. This performance contains coarse language, stage violence, suicide, sexual references,
descriptions of domestic violence and discriminatory language.
AGE SUITABILITY:
This performance is suitable for audiences 15+ or with parental discretion.
VENUE:
Canberra Theatre
SEATING PLAN
ACCESS INFORMATION
Cast & Creatives
Director: Stephen Nicolazzo
Writer: Vidya Rajan (based on the novel by Melina Marchetta)
Set and Costume Design: Kate Davis
Lighting Design: Katie Sfetkidis
Sound Design: Daniel Nixon
Musicians: Rosa Voto and Renato Vacirca
Tarantella Choreography: Rosa Voto
Dialect Coach: Paulo Bongiovanni
Cultural and Language Consultant: Lucia Mastrantone
Cast: Chanella Macri, Amanda McGregor, Natalie Gamsu, Ashton Malcom, Riley Warner + Chris Asimos.
TICKETING & SAFETY
Canberra Ticketing is the authorised ticket seller for Canberra Theatre Centre events with tickets sold and issued by QTIX as the ticketing agent. You will receive various communications from both Canberra Ticketing and QTIX while purchasing tickets in the new system.
Please be aware that Canberra Theatre Centre has no obligation to honour tickets purchased via unauthorised re-sellers. If you attend the event with a ticket purchased via an unauthorised re-seller such as Ticketmaster Resale, Viagogo, The Ticket Merchant, Ticketbis, eBay, Gumtree, Tickets Australia or otherwise, you may be refused entry to the event.
Find further information on ticket resale and scalping here.
Concessions
A range of concession prices are available to all our Canberra Theatre Centre patrons, and the exact nature of concessions will vary from show to show. We recommend that you check the specific pricing of each show when making your purchasing decision. Where concession prices are listed, proof of eligibility for concession must be presented at the Canberra Ticketing Box Office upon collection of tickets or full price may be charged.
Your safety is our priority
Here at Canberra Theatre Centre, we are committed to delivering safe & enjoyable performing arts experiences. View important information at COVID Safe Operations.