Following his smash hits Counting and Cracking and The Jungle and the Sea, S. Shakthidharan is back with his new play, The Wrong Gods, presented by Belvoir and co-produced with Melbourne Theatre Company, showing in Sydney (3 May – 1 June) and Melbourne (6 June – 12 July)
Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre
Press Release
Sydney/Melbourne
In a valley in India, paintings on a cave wall bear testimony to the presence of people – and their gods – for fiQy thousand years. Close by, Nirmala farms the soil as her ancestors did, but her daughter Isha wants something more – a city education, and the opportunity it promises. And there are outsiders in the valley now, bringing new crops, new technologies, new visions of the future. There are new gods loose in the valley. But they are asking Nirmala and her people to pay a heavy price.
Co-directed by S. Shakthidharan and Belvoir’s Resident Director Hannah Goodwin (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Never Closer), The Wrong Gods features an all-star cast of four including Manali Datar (Fangirls), Nadie Kammallaweera (Counting and Cracking), Radhika Mudaliyar (Counting and Cracking), and Vaishnavi Suryaprakash (Counting and Cracking, Nayika: A Dancing Girl), with set and costume design by Keerthi Subramanyam (Never Closer) and original music by Hindustani musician Sabyasachi (Rahul) Bhattacharya.
Belvoir’s Artistic Director, Eamon Flack said, “This is a fine play of ideas, for fine actors. Here with just four actors and ninety minutes, Shakthi’s writing is even bigger than ever, modelling in this small patch of India the impact of capitalism on the planet as a whole. What a writer.”
“We’ve finally arrived at a point where this incredible family and community that Counting and Cracking and The Jungle and the Sea have created, have allowed this show to happen in its full power. We can now say that a show set in remote India can speak to us as Australians
as much as anything else,” said S. Shakthidharan.
Co-director Hannah Goodwin said, “Shakthi is one of the most exciting playwrights working in the country right now, so if you love new Australian writing this should be right at the top of your list.”
Filled with hope, betrayal, tradition and self-discovery, catch this thrilling new work by one of theatre’s most exciting voices before it heads to the Arts Centre Melbourne in early June.
The Wrong Gods
Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre
Dates: 3 May – 1 June 2025
Prices: $41- $97
Tickets: https://belvoir.com.au/productions/the-wrong-gods/ or (02) 9699 3444
