July 5 - 27New Ghosts Theatre Company presents
CUT CHILLI
Written by Chenturan Aran
Directed by David Burrowes
A WORLD PREMIERE
“Your face is an ancestral mountain, carved by mothers who dreamed you beyond their lifetime.”
Jamie was abandoned as a baby in Sri Lanka. At least that’s what Katherine told him, as she raised him in the serene beach town of Mandurah, Western Australia. Katherine saved Jamie from the chaos of the Sri Lanka civil war, believing herself to be his forever mother, “bonded before time itself.” But when Jamie falls for Zahra, an activist who tells him about the shady history of international adoption, he begins to question his adoptive mother’s narrative and wonders why he’s never seen his adoption file.
Now Jamie’s heading home after a semester away, armed with clues he is wedged in a vast conspiracy in his homeland. He’s going to demand the truth from Katherine at his homecoming dinner, all while Zahra records it for her next podcast series. However the truth is knottier than they expect, and Katherine sees a wound being opened, one that will destroy their family forever.
This scorching new comedy from Chenturan Aran is a feast of cultural identity, displacement and ancestry. Inspired by pervasive adoption fraud in Sri Lanka, this is a play about difficult histories, and how we manage open dialogue to find vulnerability, truth, and sometimes love.
Cast and Creative Team
Producing Company: New Ghosts Theatre Company
Director: David Burrowes
Playwright: Chenturan Aran
Producers: Lucy Clements & Emma Wright
Production Manager & Lighting Designer: Isobel Morrissey
Assistant Director: Ryan Whitworth-Jones
Set Designer: Soham Apte
Costume Designer: Rita Naidu
Sound Designer: Sam Cheng
Stage Manager: Oscar Ali
Community Consultant: Lynelle Long
Cinematographer: Jamie Gray
Intimacy Coordinator: Shondelle Pratt
Assistant Sound Designer: Johnny Yang
Translators: Manjula Sivapalan & Nikki Sekar
Cultural Consultant: Yamane Fayed
Video System and Programmer: Keelan Ellis
Lighting Technician: Poppy Townsend
Cast (of 6): Ariyan Sharma, Kelsey Jeanell, Susie Lindeman, Brendan Miles, Noel Hodda, Nikki Sekar
Understudy: Ashlene Singh
This listing is updated as cast/creatives are confirmed in the lead-up to the production, and if there are changes to the team.
Photo Credit: Saz Watson
Dates + Ticketing
Season: July 5 - 27
Note- previews are 5/07 & 6/07, opening night (invite only) is 7/07
Times: 7pm Tues-Fri, 2pm & 7pm Sat, 5pm Sun
Ticket Prices:
Previews & Cheap Tuesday: $38.50 + booking fee
Adult: $49.50-82.50 + booking fee
Concession: $39.50-60.50 + booking fee
Approximate Run Time: 110 minutes
Content Warnings: coarse language, references to miscarriage, haze.
NOTE: this work was developed by La Boite, and Australian Plays Transform and La Boite Theatre in the La Boite x APT Development program (2022), and Melbourne Theatre Company in the Cybec Electric reading series (2022). Chenturan, the Cut Chilli team, and New Ghosts Theatre Company extend their sincere thanks to La Boite, APT, and MTC for these opportunities.
