Looking for Alibrandi
Newsletter
Theatre
Her Majesty’s Theatre and Brink Productions Presents
Looking for Alibrandi
A play by Vidya Rajan, based on the book by Melina Marchetta
17 Sep 2025
– 18 Sep 2025
Sessions
Information
Show type
Theatre
duration
2 Hours (plus 20 minute interval)
Location
Her Majesty's Theatre Ballarat
Time
Wednesday 17 September, 7:30 PM
Thursday 18 September, 11:00 AM
Thursday 18 September, 11:00 AM
Prices
Full: $59
Concession: $54
$30 under 30: $30
Cheap Seats (restricted view): $40
Mob Tix: $25
We are proud to offer Mob Tix. These are discounted tickets for self-identified First Nations People to selected shows at Ballarat’s Cultural Venues.
NOTE: for schools bookings please contact the box office via hermaj@hermaj.com or (03) 5333 5888
Concession: $54
$30 under 30: $30
Cheap Seats (restricted view): $40
Mob Tix: $25
We are proud to offer Mob Tix. These are discounted tickets for self-identified First Nations People to selected shows at Ballarat’s Cultural Venues.
NOTE: for schools bookings please contact the box office via hermaj@hermaj.com or (03) 5333 5888
Suitable for
Ages 14+
Additional information
Content Warnings: Please note that this show contains Coarse and Discriminatory Language, Stage Violence, Sexual References and Reference to Suicide, Descriptions of domestic violence, Smoke and Haze Effects.
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.
Looking for Alibrandi was commissioned and first produced by Malthouse Theatre and Belvoir St Theatre in 2022.
★★★★★ “Clever, heartening, full of detail and gravitas” - Theatre Matters
★★★★1/2 "A ridiculously enjoyable sunbeam of a production.” - Arts Hub
★★★★ “Perfectly cast” - 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
“Achingly raw…painfully, beautifully rendered…Timeless” - The Guardian
Content Warnings: Please note that this show contains Coarse and Discriminatory Language, Stage Violence, Sexual References and Reference to Suicide, Descriptions of domestic violence, Smoke and Haze Effects.
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
Performers used in promotional materials subject to change.
Photo by Daniel Boud
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.
Looking for Alibrandi was commissioned and first produced by Malthouse Theatre and Belvoir St Theatre in 2022.
★★★★★ “Clever, heartening, full of detail and gravitas” - Theatre Matters
★★★★1/2 "A ridiculously enjoyable sunbeam of a production.” - Arts Hub
★★★★ “Perfectly cast” - 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
“Achingly raw…painfully, beautifully rendered…Timeless” - The Guardian
Content Warnings: Please note that this show contains Coarse and Discriminatory Language, Stage Violence, Sexual References and Reference to Suicide, Descriptions of domestic violence, Smoke and Haze Effects.
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
Performers used in promotional materials subject to change.
Photo by Daniel Boud
Cast & Creatives
Chanella Macri
Josie Alibrandi
Josie Alibrandi
Amanda McGregor
Christina Alibrandi & Sera Russo
Christina Alibrandi & Sera Russo
Natalie Gamsu
Nonna Katia and Sister Bernadette
Nonna Katia and Sister Bernadette
Ashton Malcom
Ivy and John Barton
Ivy and John Barton
Riley Warner
Jacob Coote
Jacob Coote
Chris Asimos
Michael Andretti
Michael Andretti
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
Partners
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Chanella Macri
Josie Alibrandi
Chanella is an Italian-Samoan actor, writer, theatre practitioner and facilitator who grew up on Dharug Country. Trained at the Victorian College of the Arts, she graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Practice and as Valedictorian of the University of Melbourne VCA and MCM.
Now based in Naarm, Chanella is the co-Artistic Director and co-CEO of Western Edge. Theatre credits include; Atlantis (dir. Isabella Vadiveloo), I Sat And Waited (dir. Liv Satchell), Let Bleeding Girls Lie (dir. Liv Satchell), Lele (dir. Logo, Macri, Pelman), The View From Up Here (dir. Julian Dibley-Hall), House (dir. Luke Kerridge), Australian Realness (dir. Janice Muller), Whale (dir. Katrina Cornwell), Truly Madly Britney (dir. Hannah Fallowfield), Moral Panic (dir. Bridget Balodis), Suddenly Last Summer (dir. Stephen Nicolazzo)
Now based in Naarm, Chanella is the co-Artistic Director and co-CEO of Western Edge. Theatre credits include; Atlantis (dir. Isabella Vadiveloo), I Sat And Waited (dir. Liv Satchell), Let Bleeding Girls Lie (dir. Liv Satchell), Lele (dir. Logo, Macri, Pelman), The View From Up Here (dir. Julian Dibley-Hall), House (dir. Luke Kerridge), Australian Realness (dir. Janice Muller), Whale (dir. Katrina Cornwell), Truly Madly Britney (dir. Hannah Fallowfield), Moral Panic (dir. Bridget Balodis), Suddenly Last Summer (dir. Stephen Nicolazzo)
Amanda McGregor
Christina Alibrandi & Sera Russo
Amanda McGregor graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art and has performed nationally and internationally.
Amanda quickly became involved in the Sydney independent theatre scene since graduating. She has appeared in many stage productions including: Flat Earthers: The Musical, Metropolis, Pomona, Mercutio and The Prince of Cats, Cyprus Avenue, Crimes of the Heart and The Maids.
Her involvement in a new adaptation of Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories (adapted by Dan Giovannoni and Luke Kerridge) for Barking Gecko Theatre Company, culminated in a 2016 Helpmann Award win (Best Children’s Production) and nomination (Best New Work) for the production. The production’s success allowed the team to embark on a National and International Tour.
Amanda quickly became involved in the Sydney independent theatre scene since graduating. She has appeared in many stage productions including: Flat Earthers: The Musical, Metropolis, Pomona, Mercutio and The Prince of Cats, Cyprus Avenue, Crimes of the Heart and The Maids.
Her involvement in a new adaptation of Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories (adapted by Dan Giovannoni and Luke Kerridge) for Barking Gecko Theatre Company, culminated in a 2016 Helpmann Award win (Best Children’s Production) and nomination (Best New Work) for the production. The production’s success allowed the team to embark on a National and International Tour.
Amanda’s screen credits include various short films: Pretty, Dear Life and Love Like There’s No Tomorrow by Daniel Monks and Snatch a Sounding Snore by Stevie Cruz-Martin. She made her feature film debut in The Marshes, under the direction of Roger Scott and made her television debut on Home and Away.
Natalie Gamsu
Nonna Katia and Sister Bernadette
Ashton Malcom
Ivy and John Barton
Ashton Malcolm is an actor, theatre-maker and teaching artist based on Kaurna Country. She graduated from Flinders University Drama Centre in 2009 with First Class Honours, the Drama Prize and a University Medal and has studied intensively with Shakespeare and Company in the USA.
Her credits include Euphoria (STCSA and Country Arts) and Othello (State Theatre Company South Australia), Rumpelstiltskin (State Theatre Company South Australia and Windmill Theatre Co). The Wolves and How To Kill Your Hamster (RUMPUS), The Lighthouse and Yo Diddle Diddle (Patch Theatre Company), Guttered and Intimate Space (Restless Dance Theatre), Grug and Grug and the Rainbow (Windmill Theatre Co), Deluge (Tiny Bricks and Brink Productions), Cutaway: A Ceremony (Vitalstatistix) and Quiet Faith(Vitalstatistix and HotHouse Theatre).
She is thrilled to be making her directorial debut later this year with Scenes with Girls, as part of the STCSA stateside season.
Her credits include Euphoria (STCSA and Country Arts) and Othello (State Theatre Company South Australia), Rumpelstiltskin (State Theatre Company South Australia and Windmill Theatre Co). The Wolves and How To Kill Your Hamster (RUMPUS), The Lighthouse and Yo Diddle Diddle (Patch Theatre Company), Guttered and Intimate Space (Restless Dance Theatre), Grug and Grug and the Rainbow (Windmill Theatre Co), Deluge (Tiny Bricks and Brink Productions), Cutaway: A Ceremony (Vitalstatistix) and Quiet Faith(Vitalstatistix and HotHouse Theatre).
She is thrilled to be making her directorial debut later this year with Scenes with Girls, as part of the STCSA stateside season.
Riley Warner
Jacob Coote
When the Pink Power Ranger tells you to do something you listen. This is how Riley got his start in acting. Riley is a Pitjantjatjara actor born and raised in central NSW. After working under Angie Diaz (The Pink Power Ranger) at Naisda Dance college she advised Riley to move to Perth and study acting.
Riley has since graduated from WAAPA and has been a part of serval plays, including The Harp in the south, Nora: A Dolls House, Beautiful Burnout and Macbeth directed by Stephen Nicolazzo.
Riley has since graduated from WAAPA and has been a part of serval plays, including The Harp in the south, Nora: A Dolls House, Beautiful Burnout and Macbeth directed by Stephen Nicolazzo.
Chris Asimos
Michael Andretti
Chris Asimos grew up in South Australia and is an honours graduate of the Flinders University Drama Centre. Since graduating, Chris has worked steadily in theatre, film and television in both Melbourne and Adelaide.
State Theatre South Australia credits include: The Puzzle, Hibernation, Rip Cord, A View From The Bridge, Three Sisters and The Give and The Take.
Some of his many other stage credits include Looped, Glengarry Glen Ross, Everynight, Everynight and Boy’s Life (Curtain Call Award Nominee). Musical theatre credits includeScratch in the Japanese premiere of Once Upon a Midnight, Sportacus in the Australian tour of Lazytown and Ron Barassi in the Australian premiere of Barassi.
State Theatre South Australia credits include: The Puzzle, Hibernation, Rip Cord, A View From The Bridge, Three Sisters and The Give and The Take.
Some of his many other stage credits include Looped, Glengarry Glen Ross, Everynight, Everynight and Boy’s Life (Curtain Call Award Nominee). Musical theatre credits includeScratch in the Japanese premiere of Once Upon a Midnight, Sportacus in the Australian tour of Lazytown and Ron Barassi in the Australian premiere of Barassi.
Chris’s screen appearances on TV include Mckenzie in two seasons of the cult SBS TV series Danger 5, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries and House Husbands. Feature films include; Kangaroos Island, Double Happiness Uranium and Bad Language.