'In Tamil we don't say goodbye. Only, I will go and come back.'
S. Shakthidharan's extraordinary multilingual play (English, Tamil and Sinhalese) Counting and Cracking traverses countries and decades to bring us an epic tale of family, love and politics.
On the banks of a river in Sydney, Radha and her son Siddhartha release the ashes of Radha's mother so she can be at peace with her ancestors. Into the water go the particles of one life, but unknown to Siddharta, Radha still holds onto the ashes of her beloved grandfather, brought with her when she left Sri Lanka 21 years before. And so begins a story that spirals out across Australia and Sri Lanka, taking in four generations of a family and their connection to a country that continues to give them equal measures of sorrow and joy.
It is an exhilarating, moving and necessary tribute to people of all backgrounds who are forced to live in exile and build a new home from the heart up.
යක්
'A story of survival and hope, of human connectedness, and our deep desire to understand three things – our history, our identity and what "home" means to us.' —Community response
Counting and Cracking was the winner of the 2020 Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting.
SHAKTHI is a Western Sydney storyteller with Sri Lankan heritage and Tamil ancestry. He’s a writer, director and producer of theatre and film, and composer of original music. His debut play Counting and Cracking (Belvoir and Co-Curious) received community, commercial and critical acclaim at the 2019 Sydney and Adelaide Festivals. The script won the Victorian Premier’s Literature Prize and the NSW Premier’s Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting; the production won seven Helpmann and three Sydney Theatre awards. Shakthi has a new commission with Sydney Festival, a number of new plays in development with Belvoir and a feature film in development with Felix Media. He’s the Artistic Director of Kurinji and Artistic Lead at Co-Curious. Co-Curious is a sister company to award-winning community arts company CuriousWorks, where Shakthi was the Founder and Artistic Director from 2003 to 2018. Shakthi was the inaugural Carriageworks Associate Artist, is currently a Belvoir Associate Artist and is a recipient of both the Phillip Parson’s and Kirk Robson awards.
| Cast Info | 6F, 7M, 10+O, (doubling available) |
| Genres | Drama, Epic, Poetic, Naturalism / realism |
| Themes | Multicultural themes, Political/Social themes, Significant female roles, Large Cast, Full length play |
| Audiences | Adult, Secondary: Years 10-12 |
| Extent | 160 |
| Edition | First |
| Size | 137 x 210 mm |
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