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Looking for Alibrandi returns to the stage at Riverside Theatres Parramatta

Article | May 2025
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The beloved Australian classic novel and film Looking for Alibrandi is returning to the stage at at Riverside Theatres Parramatta from 11 – 15 June 2025.

The stage production of Looking for Alibrandi (based on the novel by Melina Marchetta) is brought to life by acclaimed director Stephen Nicolazzo (Malthouse Theatre’s Merciless Gods, Loaded) and adapted by Vidya Ryan (SBS TV’s The Feed). The ensemble includes actors Chanella Macri (Malthouse Theatre’s Australian Realness), Jennifer Vuletic (Foxtel’s Wentworth) and Lucia Mastrantone (Belvoir’s The Cherry Orchard) as the Alibrandi women, with Ashton Malcolm (STC’s The Dictionary of Lost Words), Riley Warner (Professional Debut) & Chris Asimos (State Theatre Company of SA’s The Puzzle).

ABOUT THE SHOW

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.

Duration: Approx. 2 hrs 20 mins (with Interval)

Where: Riverside Theatre, Riverside Theatres Parramatta – Corner Church & Market St, Parramatta NSW
2150

Tickets: Riverside Members from $49 | Non-Members from $75

Recommended Ages: 12+

See more information and purchase tickets here

Looking for Alibrandi_Belvoir Theatre_credit-Daniel Boud

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