Displacement, cultural identity, colonisation and shifty adoption practices are in the firing line in Chenturan Aran’s compelling dramatic comedy Cut Chilli. The writer himself was culturally displaced with his parents by the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983-2009) and subsequent research and interviews informed the script.
Cut Chilli was inspired by pervasive adoption fraud in Sri Lanka. It concerns a young Sri Lankan-born man named Jamie (Indra Liyanaarachchi). Taken across the country, he was adopted by a West Australian couple, Katherine and Lee Mackenzie (Alexandra Sangster and Soren Jensen), at seven weeks of age.
Now grown, Jamie falls for a heavily opinionated Lebanese Australian activist and podcaster, Zahra (Anna Kaleeda). She tells him about the shady history of inter-country adoption. Doubts creep into his head about his adoptive mother’s narrative. She has never shown him his adoption file. He knows nothing about his background and who gave birth to him.
It is time to expose some home truths. So, he invites Zahra to fly with him to WA and meet his parents and uncle, Jeff (Ben Grant). But what he finds when he makes it home to the beach town of Mandurah is more prevarication. Tension and mayhem abound as Jamie demands answers and Zahra backs him all the way. The situation is incendiary and more than the odd word is exchanged in anger and frustration. The centrepiece of the play is a family dinner that veers off the rails.
Cut Chilli is moving, insightful, engaging and entertaining. It pushes buttons, just as it is meant to, and it has a big twist in its tail. Featuring strong, authoritative acting and direction, it has been very well researched, written and realised. The interplay between the characters is potent.
Indra Liyanaarachchi effectively transitions Jamie from naïve and accepting to questioning and needy. Anna Kaleeda brings a “know it all” mentality to Zahra, who, too, grows from her experience. She learns that she can’t control the outcome of her pushiness, that has real world consequences. Well meaning, as Katherine, Alexandra Sangster is desperate to hold onto a painful, deep-seated secret.
As her husband, Lee, Soren Jensen is on the local election campaign trail. Lee tries to move on and lighten the mood, which only serves to add to the chaos that unfolds. Ben Grant plays two roles, a hapless waiter at a trendy, new Indian/Aussie bush tucker restaurant, and Jamie’s big hearted, knockabout, inappropriate uncle Jeff. Jeff can’t seem to help himself and is forever putting his foot in his mouth. Grant and Jensen add to the laughter quotient that is an integral part of the piece, which has light and shade.
The production is balanced by video imagery representing Jamie’s birthplace and a mother’s (Miḷakāy, as portrayed on screen by Aarati Ilanko) sense of love and place. Director Isabella Vadiveloo sees the meat of action play out in the venue’s loading dock, which we only get to see when the curtains are parted, and it works a treat. All have approached the subject matter with sensitivity and care.
Set and costume designer Ishan Vivekanantham is big on evocative touch points that help propel the narrative. Aided by distinctive sound design from Nick Rinaldi and lighting design by Lana Rosalea, Cut Chilli is an important conversation starter that resonates and bites. One hour 50 minutes without interval, it is on at Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre until 23rd August, 2026.
Alex First
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- Wake in Fright (Malthouse Theatre) – theatre review
- Chemistry (The Little Theatre Co) – theatre review
- Exiles (fortyfivedownstairs) – theatre review
Alex First is the editor of The Blurb. Alex is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He also contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.
