Mary Coustas- This Is Personal

This Is Personal is a candid and intimate one woman show that combines the coarse tapestry of Coustas’ migrant upbringing in Melbourne’s suburbs and her recent experience of motherhood.

Brilliantly directed by Blazey Best (Well Behaved Women, Sensitive Guys, Kings for Pigs), Mary addresses questions from her inquisitive daughter, her answers forcing her to reflect on what she can offer from her own life experience… and more importantly what she can’t. The audience meets the hilarious characters from Mary’s family who have shaped her life – including Mary’s younger self who created the suit of armour we’ve come to know as “Effie”.

Mary Coustas has starred in multiple national tours (Wogs Out of Work, Effie the Virgin Bride) and brought powerhouse persona Effie into living rooms around Australia in the iconic sitcom Acropolis Now (for which she was awarded a Logie for Most Popular Comedy Personality in 1993) and Greeks on The Roof (Seven Network). Coustas is the author of Effie’s Guide to Being Up Yourself and critically acclaimed memoir All I Know.

This Is Personal is an unforgettable, powerful and kaleidoscopic exploration of love, loss, laughter and fear, and how all four come to define us.

“ But it’s her signature comedic flair that shines throughout, ensuring the performance is as hilarious as it is (sometimes) heartbreaking." Time Out

Event quotes

“I am ready to step away from the puppet and expose the puppeteer.” Mary Coustas

'This Is Personal’ is an absolute masterclass in theatrical storytelling. Mary Coustas is a seasoned pro and it shows in every minute that she knocks it out of the park at the Sydney Opera House. What a joy and a privilege it is to see a woman “of a certain age” absolutely owning her experience, creativity, talent, wisdom and most of all her inherited gift “to find the funny.” Theatre Travels