Belvoir presents ‘The Wrong Gods’ – Brand New Play from ‘Counting and Cracking’s’ S. Shakthidharan

Following the runaway success of S. Shakthidharan’s criBcally-acclaimed epics Counting and Cracking and The Jungle and the Sea, Belvoir is pleased to present the world-premiere of The Wrong Gods, a gripping tale of local jusBce and global power by the seven-Bme Helpmann Award-winning playwright on from 3 May – 1 June.

In a valley in India, painBngs on a cave wall bear tesBmony 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 educaBon, 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 (Coun%ng 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) BhaYacharya.

Belvoir’s Artistic Director, Eamon Flack:

This is a fine play of ideas, for fine actors. Here with just four actors and ninety minutes, Shakthi’s wriBng 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.

S. Shakthidharan:

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.

Co-director Hannah Goodwin:

Shakthi is one of the most exciBng playwrights working in the country right now, so if you love new Australian wriBng this should be right at the top of your list.

Filled with hope, betrayal, tradiBon and self-discovery, catch this thrilling new work by one of theatre’s most exciBng voices before it heads to the Arts Centre Melbourne in early June.

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Season Details

Venue: Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre
Date: 03 May – 01 June 2025

For more information click HERE