CUT CHILLI

CUT CHILLI

Jamie was abandoned as a baby in Sri Lanka. At least that’s what Katherine told him, as she raised him in the beach town of Mandurah, Western Australia.

But when Jamie falls for Zahra, an activist and podcaster 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, with a cultural lineage demanding to be felt and a determination to uncover the truth of his past, all the while with Zahra recording live for her podcast series, “Decolonising My Boyfriend”. The truth, however, is more complicated than expected, and Katherine fights to cover up an old wound being opened, one that will reshape their family forever. 

Nominated at the 2025 NSW Literary Prizes, this scorching new comedy from Chenturan Aran is a banquet 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 acceptance. 

Writer:Chenturan Aran 
Director & Co-AV Designer:Isabella Vadiveloo 
Producer:Briannah Davis 
Set & Costume Designer: Ishan Vivekanantham
Sound Designer: Nick Rinaldi
Lighting & Co-AV Designer: Lana Rosalea
Stage Manager: Noemie Huttner-Koros
Photographer: Sarah Walker

CREATIVE TEAM

Performers: Indra Liyanaarachchi, Anna Kaleeda, Alexandra Sangster, Ben Grant, Soren Jensen, and Aarati Ilanko

PERFORMED BY

★★★★ ½
A beautifully constructed tale of family in all its manifestations.
— MusicalTheatre.au

AUDIENCE TESTIMONIALS

★★★★ ½
Cut Chilli is one of the most accomplished, meaningful and entertaining plays of recent years
— Diana Simmonds, Stage Noise
★★★★★
A wildly entertaining play to get you excited about Australian theatre again.
— Kate Prendergast, Sydney Morning Herald
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