Laurinda at Southbank Theatre

Adapting Alice Pungs award-winning book, writer and comedian Diana Nguyen and director Petra Kalive bring Laurindas schoolyard setting to the stage for a fresh and feisty new work. Like Heathers or Mean Girls with a uniquely Australian flavour, this delightful take on the beloved novel stars Fiona Choi (The Family Law), Gemma Chua-Tran (Netflix's Heartbreak High), Georgina Naidu (Minnie & Liraz), Chi Nguyen (The Wilds), Ngoc Phan (Boy Swallows Universe), Roy Phung (Jasper Jones) and Jenny Zhou (Girl, Interpreted) in an incisive, funny study of a woman caught between cultures and class.Laurinda tells the story of Lucy Lam, a 38-year-old woman who still has a lot to learn from her 15-year-old self when she is thrust back to the year she won a scholarship to a prestigious private school. The smart and well-liked student is not prepared for the new world shes suddenly propelled into. Its a world of wealth and opportunity, overseen by The Cabinet a trio of girls who wield power over their classmates, and even their teachers. But when The Cabinet turn their attention to Lucy she has to make a choice: fit in and succeed, or stay true to herself. Either way, theres a cost.Whether high school is (thankfully) a distant memory or a current reality, this MTC NEXT STAGE commission offers a witty and moving insight into an all-too common experience as well as the inner strength it takes to speak truth to power.