S. Shakthidharan: Counting years, cracking silences

Chancing upon his great grandfather’s letters in a shoebox while on a visit to Sri Lanka gave life to Shakthidharan's highly acclaimed theatre production, Counting and Cracking, which follows a Sri Lankan-Australian family over four generations. Growing up in Western Sydney after his family left Sri Lanka, he says his mother barely spoke to him about the war that had broken her heart. And so, his journey of finding his legacy first began - but does a formula for discovering something we carry inherently even exist? Shakthi joins SBS Spice in the studios.

Featuring 19 performers from six different countries, speaking five different languages, and portraying 50 characters, Counting and Cracking traces the journey of a Sri Lankan-Australian family from 1956 to 2004 and is set to show in Melbourne and Sydney over June and July before touring to New York City in September.

Plunging into an epic story of love and political strife, of home and exile, of parents and children, it's a story that seems deeply derived from Shakthi's own battle with not knowing his history.

Amma never talked about Sri Lanka, I was in touch with Tamil arts, but not the stories and feelings and facts of my actual family and our history

S. Shakthidharan

Shakthi joins Dilpreet Kaur Taggar in the studio to talk about the treasures of his ancestry, the joys of breaking through when we write what we truly feel, the strength with which we must look beyond politics of division and of course, whether his Amma finally started to share with him and how much of that we’ll see in the show.

Tap the audio player to listen to the full interview.

SBS Spice breaks new ground with English language content for young South Asians in Australia by exploring what is making us tick or ick. Find us in your podcast app such as the SBS Audio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or LiSTNR and follow us on Instagram @SBSSpice