The Book of Liz

A runaway from an Amish-like religious sect falls down the rabbit hole in this cult off-Broadway comedy from memoirist David Sedaris and his writer-actor sister Amy – a show that makes zealots of everyone who sees it.

Imagine Peter Weir's Witness crossed with The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt by way of The Wizard of Oz and you’re getting warm, but nothing compares to the sheer wonder of The Book of Liz . In her Sydney Theatre Company debut, powerhouse comic sensation Celeste Barber stars in the Australian premiere production of this Sedaris marvel co-directed by Sydney Theatre Company Artistic Director Mitchell Butel and Tait de Lorenzo ( Anna X ).

Clueless about sex and the modern world but armed with a formidably sunny disposition, Sister Elizabeth Donderstock (Barber) runs away from her community after she’s forced to give up her recipe for cheese balls, the town’s chief export.

On the road she encounters a series of eccentric characters, including a Ukrainian migrant who sounds like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins and wears a peanut costume to spruik the themed restaurant that Liz may soon be managing.

What follows is a gloriously silly picaresque about finding your place and your worth, "a delightfully off-key hymn to cliches we all live by, whether we know it or not" ( The New York Times ).