Looking for Alibrandi
The beloved Australian classic novel and groundbreaking film comes to the stage for the first time in July 2022.
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 rulebreaking. 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. Director Stephen Nicolazzo (Loaded, Merciless Gods) brings Melina Marchetta’s best-selling novel to the stage for the first time, where Vidya Rajan’s adaptation will join three generations of women in a passionate, heart wrenching, and unmissable rendering of the Australian classic.
Starring Chanella Macri (Australian Realness), Lucia Mastrantone, and Jennifer Vuletic (Because The Night) as the Alibrandi women with Ashley Lyons, Hannah Monson, and Dion Williams.
"The story has always compelled me because it spoke so directly to the conflict I experienced, socially and internally. I was scared to embrace my identity for fear of not being able to access an Anglo-centric world. Josie was the first character I had ever read or seen on screen that understood what it was like. She made me proud to be a wog and I will thank Melina for creating her every single day."
Malthouse Theatre and Belvoir present Looking for Alibrandi.
Partners
WRITER
Director
SET & COSTUME DESIGNER
COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER
LIGHTING DESIGNER
CAST
CAST
CAST
CAST
CAST
STAGE MANAGER
Event & ticketing details
Accessibility
Dates & Times
| PREVIEWS | 7.30pm Fri 8 Jul, 7.30pm Sat 9 Jul, 6.30pm Mon 11 Jul, 6.30pm Tue 12 Jul |
| OPENING NIGHT | 6.30pm, Wed 13 Jul |
| TIME TO TALK | 6.30pm, Tue 19 Jul |
| AUSLAN INTERPRETED | 7pm, Fri 22 Jul |
| AUDIO DESCRIBED | TBC |
Location
Merlyn Theatre
The Malthouse, 113 Sturt St, Southbank 3006
Get directionsTrain
Any train to Flinders Street, then a 12-minute stroll through Melbourne’s sparkling Arts Precinct.Tram
The No. 1 South Melbourne tram goes right past our door. Get off at Stop 18. Any tram down St Kilda Road—jump off at Grant Street, Stop 17 and take a 3-minute walk.
