Above : Mother and daughter Nadia Kammallaweera and Radhika Mudaliyar in THE WRONG GODS
The setting to acclaimed playwright S. Shakthidharum’s (Counting and Cracking) latest play THE WRONG GODS) is in the midst of modern India. Fifties something mother Nirmala and her daughter Isha are living in a quaint village, situated between two mountain ranges. A river runs through it.
Nirmala and Isha have a close relationship but there’s noticeable tension. A bright young woman, Isha sees a life beyond her village home. She wants to go to University in the city and do a Science degree. Mum is, of-course, opposed.
Then, out of the blue, one day a young business women Lakshimi arrives in the village to talk to them. They have never met her, however, very spookily, she knows a lot about them. She knows that Nirmala is a a proud, difficult woman, and Isha is a bright, restless young woman.
Things come to a head when Lakshimi offers to pay for her to go to Uni. Isha is torn. Does she have the courage to break away from her mother along with al the traditions and expectations that go with it, and start a new life for herself?!
THE WRONG GODS is highly charged drama with the principal theme being how old ways, even if they have much to recommend in them, are jettisoned by the inevitable push of change and that dubious word progress. This subject is an ages old theme explored by many playwrights over the years. Fiddler on the Roof, The Cherry Orchard, Death Of A Salesman come immediately to mind. Shakthidharan’s addition to this ‘genre’ is solid though unremarkable.
This premiere production is well directed by
Hannah Goodwin along with the playwright.
The cast of four give their all in tightly focused performances; Nadie Kammallaweera as Nirmali, Radhika Mudaliyar as Isha, Vaishnavi Suryaprakash as Lakshimi and Manali Datar as Devi, Isha’s school teacher.
There was good work by the design team; Keerthi Subramanyam as set and costume designer, Amelia Lever-Davidson as lighting designer, Steve Francis as sound designer with Madeleine Picard as her associate, and Rahul Bhattacharya’s evocative sitar soundscape.
The play’s heartfelt tone is exemplified in Nirmala in heart to heart talk with her daughter says, “If I let you go. You must remember. You are this place. Your gods are in this forest, and in this river. This will never change.”
A co-production by Belvoir Street Theatre and the Melbourne Theatre Company, THE WRONG GODS is playing upstairs at Belvoir Street until 1 June 2025. It is then travels to Melbourne.
