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Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon Counting and Cracking single work   drama  
Note:

(2019: co-production)
Issue Details: First known date: 2019... 2019 Counting and Cracking
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'On the banks of the Georges River, Radha and her son Siddhartha release the ashes of Radha’s mother – their final connection to the past, to Sri Lanka and its struggles. Now they are free to embrace their lives in Australia. Then a phone call from Colombo brings the past spinning back to life, and we are plunged into an epic story of love and political strife, of home and exile, of parents and children

'Counting and Cracking is a big new play about Australia like none we’ve seen before. This is life on a large canvas, so we are leaving Belvoir St and building a Sri Lankan town hall inside Sydney Town Hall. Sixteen actors play four generations of a family, from Colombo to Pendle Hill, in a story about Australia as a land of refuge, about Sri Lanka’s efforts to remain united, about reconciliation within families, across countries, across generations.'

Source: Belvoir St Theatre.

Notes

  • Additional Awards:

    2019 Helpmann Awards

    Best Scenic Design (winner).

    Best Sound Design (winner).

    Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play (winner).

    Best Male Actor in a Play (winner).

    Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play (nominated).

Production Details

  • Produced by Belvoir St Theatre, 11 January - 2 February 2019, Sydney Town Hall. co-produced with Co-Curious.

    Director: Eamon Flack.

    Cultural Advisor: Anandavalli.

    Set & Costume Designer: Dale Ferguson.

    Sound Designer & Composer: Stefan Gregory.

    Lighting Designer: Damien Cooper.

    Cast: Prakash Belawadi, Nicholas Brown, Jay Emmanuel, Rarriwuy Hick, Nadie Kammallaweera, Monica Kumar, Gandhi MacIntyre, Shiv Palekar, Monroe Reimers, Hazem Shammas, Nipuni Sharada, Vaishnavi Suryaprakash, and Sukania Venugopal.

    Performed at Carriageworks, Sydney : 28 June - 21 July 2024.

    Director: S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack.

    Cast: Rodney Afif, Prakash Belawadi, Antonythasan Jesuthasan, Nadie Kammallaweera, Ahi Karunaharan, Abbie-Lee Lewis, Gandhi McIntyre, Shiv Palekar, Sukhbir Singh Walia, Kaivalya Suvarna, Nipuni Sharada, Rajan Velu and Sukania Venugopal.

    Musicians: Kranthi Kiran Mudigonda, Janakan Raj, and Venkhatesh Sritharan.

    Costume and Cultural Advisor: Anandavalli.

    Set and Costume Designer: Dale Ferguson.

    Lighting Designer: Damien Cooper

    Sound Designer and Composer: Stefan Gregory.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 2019
    • Strawberry Hills, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,: Currency Press , 2020 .
      image of person or book cover 8593355102473955415.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 128p.
      Note/s:
      • Published November 2020
      ISBN: 9781760623395
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Works about this Work

Belvoir 2024 Season Goes Big with Sri Lankan Australian Epic Counting and Cracking, American Family Drama August : Osage County Dee Jefferson , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , September 2023;
— Review of Counting and Cracking S. Shakthidharan , 2019 single work drama

'Belvoir's 2024 season will be a "gift" for audiences, says artistic director Eamon Flack, who has designed a distinctly accessible program headlined by tried and tested audience favourites — including new productions of Broadway and West End juggernaut The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and Tracy Letts's Pulitzer Prize-winning American hit August: Osage County.' (Introduction)
The Jungle and the Sea, Follow-up to Counting and Cracking, Uses Theatre as a Safe Space to Discuss Sri Lankan Civil War Hannah Reich , Kim Jirik , 2022 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , November 2022;

'When S. Shakthidharan first told his mum that he wanted to look into their family history, she quickly shut him down, telling him: "That is a very stupid idea."'
y separately published work icon S. Shakthidharan and Counting and Cracking Dino Dimitriadis (presenter), 2021 25305976 2021 single work podcast
Powerful Epic of Love and War, Exile and Reconciliation John McCallum , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 17 January 2019; (p. 9)
— Review of Counting and Cracking S. Shakthidharan , 2019 single work drama

'One of the characters in this political family drama sums up the crisis in Sri Lanka in 1957, when the United National Party proposed removing Tamil as a language and adopting a Sinhala-only policy, as “two languages, one country; one language, two countries”.'  (Introduction)
[Review] : ‘Counting and Cracking’ Steve Dow , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Monthly , October no. 160 2019; (p. 52)
— Review of Counting and Cracking S. Shakthidharan , 2019 single work drama
[Review] : ‘Counting and Cracking’ Steve Dow , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Monthly , October no. 160 2019; (p. 52)
— Review of Counting and Cracking S. Shakthidharan , 2019 single work drama
Powerful Epic of Love and War, Exile and Reconciliation John McCallum , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 17 January 2019; (p. 9)
— Review of Counting and Cracking S. Shakthidharan , 2019 single work drama

'One of the characters in this political family drama sums up the crisis in Sri Lanka in 1957, when the United National Party proposed removing Tamil as a language and adopting a Sinhala-only policy, as “two languages, one country; one language, two countries”.'  (Introduction)
Belvoir 2024 Season Goes Big with Sri Lankan Australian Epic Counting and Cracking, American Family Drama August : Osage County Dee Jefferson , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , September 2023;
— Review of Counting and Cracking S. Shakthidharan , 2019 single work drama

'Belvoir's 2024 season will be a "gift" for audiences, says artistic director Eamon Flack, who has designed a distinctly accessible program headlined by tried and tested audience favourites — including new productions of Broadway and West End juggernaut The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and Tracy Letts's Pulitzer Prize-winning American hit August: Osage County.' (Introduction)
Counting and Cracking : The Story behind Belvoir Street Theatre's Most Ambitious Play to Date Steve Dow , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 17 January 2019;

'As epic and Australian as Cloudstreet or The Secret River, the multilingual play charts a family from Colombo in the 50s, through the Sri Lankan civil war, finally arriving in western Sydney in the 21st Century.' (Introduction)
A Modern Epic David Knight , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: The Adelaide Review , March no. 469 2019; (p. 8)

'Speaking to The Adelaide Review after Counting and Cracking's premiere season in Sydney, director Eamon Flack is overwhelmed by the response to the three-and-a-half hour Sri Lankan/Australian epic written by S. Shakthidharan [Shakthi] that features renowned actors from across the globe.' 
Helpmann Awards Show Theatre Is Winning Diversity Race in Australian Entertainment Michaela Boland , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , July 2019;

'Diversity has finally triumphed in Australian live entertainment, with key categories of the 19th Helpmann Awards going to a Sri Lankan immigrant family saga and a rollicking Indigenous musical.' (Introduction)
y separately published work icon S. Shakthidharan and Counting and Cracking Dino Dimitriadis (presenter), 2021 25305976 2021 single work podcast
The Jungle and the Sea, Follow-up to Counting and Cracking, Uses Theatre as a Safe Space to Discuss Sri Lankan Civil War Hannah Reich , Kim Jirik , 2022 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , November 2022;

'When S. Shakthidharan first told his mum that he wanted to look into their family history, she quickly shut him down, telling him: "That is a very stupid idea."'
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (8)

Awards

VIEW ALL AWARDS (10)
Last amended 23 Oct 2023 15:28:49
Subjects:
  • c
    Sri Lanka,
    c
    South Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
Settings:
  • Colombo,
    c
    Sri Lanka,
    c
    South Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
  • Pendle Hill, Parramatta area, Sydney, New South Wales,
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