Looking For Alibrandi REVIEW July 13 2022 ***1/2

THEATRE

Adapted by Vidya Rajan from book by Melina Marchetta

At Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse until July 31, 2022

Reviewer: Kate Herbert 

Stars: ***1/2

This review was first published in The Age Arts online on Thur 14 July and in print on Friday 15 July 2022. Click this link  Looking for Alibrandi to read the review in The Age online. K

7. Chanella Macri, Lucia Mastrantone c Jeff Busby

The 17-year-old Josie Alibrandi (Chanella Macri) is a product of Australia 30 years ago – or more. Her story, told today, feelis dated, and unrepresentative of Italo-Australians in 2022 – however, Vidya Rajan’s stage adaptation of Melina Marchetta’s youth fiction novel, Looking For Alibrandi, is buoyant and entertaining.

 

The production is book-ended by the annual ritual of tomato passata bottling which Josie calls “National Wog Day”. Be warned: only Italians, quips Josie to audience, may use the term “wog”. The play, like the novel, depicts Josie’s experiences during year 12 as a successful, scholarship student at a privileged Catholic girls’ school. Josie’s life is inextricably entwined with her single mother, Christina (Lucia Mastrantone), and her domineering Nonna (Jennifer Vuletic). Her family expands upon the arrival of her long-absent father, Michael Andretti (Ashley Lyons), a successful lawyer.

 

Stephen Nicolazzo’s production begins as broad, bold, playful comedy littered with stereotypes of Italo- and Anglo-Australians. Macri’s Josie is audacious, brusque and smart-mouthed, Mastrantone is warm and engaging as beleaguered Christina, and hilarious as Josie’s ditzy pal, Sera, while Vuletic’s Nonna is long-suffering and judgmental.

 

The three generations of Alibrandi women suffer repression, judgement, shame and the Italian superstitious curse, “Malocchio” (evil eye) that mars the lives of Josie, Christina and Nonna. Older, more traditional Italians may recognise such repressive attitudes toward unwed girls falling pregnant. In our era of increased cultural sensitivity, such Italo-Australian cultural stereotypes may be offensive, and references to being spat at or called a “dirty wog” may be triggering.

 

The second half raises dramatic themes and reveals dark secrets leading to the Alibrandi women finding common ground. Marchetta’s novel balances humour and comical cultural references with these emotional layers and complexity, but Rajan’s script omits subtlety and detail, leaving scenes abbreviated and relationships flattened.

 

Chanella Macri, Lucia Mastrantone, Jennifer Vuletic_c Jeff Busby

Because it begins like sketch comedy, the play struggles to translate two-dimensional characters into three dimensions, so the final scenes lack the intended intensity and poignancy. Because John Barton’s character is thinly drawn and played by a petite woman (Hannah Monson) in a comically bad wig and suit, this depressed schoolboy is not credible, and the impact of his tragic end is diluted.

Depicting the passata-making ritual, Kate Davis’s whimsical design includes a huge drum of cooking tomatoes and stacks of tomato-filled crates arranged upstage. However, Nicolazzo does not utilise the empty, central space effectively and often tucks scenes into a corner by the drum or amongst the crates. The staging could be more flexible, possibly framing areas with movable crates and tables, while more evocative lighting (Katie Sfetkidis) could define space and create atmosphere, particularly in later scenes.

 

Although this stage re-imagining of Marchetta’s teen fiction is diverting, spirited and good-humoured, it has not translated fully into mature, adult theatre.

 

_END

 

CAST:

Chanella Macri as Josie Alibrandi

 Lucia Mastrantone as Christina Alibrandi

Jennifer Vuletic as Nonna Katia Alibrandi

Ashley Lyons as Michael Andrettii

John Marc Desengano as Jacob

Hannah Monson as Ivy and John.

 

Director -Stephen Nicolazzo

Set & Costume -Kate Davis

Lighting -Katie Sfetkidis

Sound/Composer- Daniel Nixon