Like many parts of the entertainment and arts world, theatre still has room for improvement when it comes to authentic representation – not just in terms of multiculturalism or gender, but in terms of body size and LGBTQIA+ and disability communities too. But, progress can and should be applauded. It’s why the new play, The Wrong Gods is worth acknowledging.
Written and co-directed by S. Shakthidharan, whose previous production, Counting and Cracking won seven Green Room Awards, The Wrong Gods just wrapped up a Sydney run at Belvoir St Theatre. It has now opened for a month-long season in Melbourne with the Melbourne Theatre Company, and the undeniable selling point is that it’s an all-female cast with a powerful mother-daughter storyline at its centre.
For those who’ve watched S. Shakthidharan’s previous works like Counting & Cracking or The Jungle & The Sea, you’ll recognise the likes of Radhika Mudaliyar, Nadie Kammallaweera and Bharatanatyam dancer/actor Vaishnavi Suryaprakash (who was also the lead of Nayika: A Dancing Girl). The fourth actor rounding out this stellar cast of four women is Indian Australian actor Manali Datar – yes, she played the role of Rose Granger-Weasley in the Aussie stage version of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child.
But whether you’ve watched these talented women in action before, or are new to their work, I can assure you (as someone who’s watched The Wrong Gods), that their presence on stage is mesmerising and moving, reminding us of the power of diverse female-led storytelling.
Without giving too much away, a quick rundown is that Nirmala (Nadie Kammallaweera) farms the soil as her ancestors did, but her daughter Isha (Radhika Mudaliyar) wants a city education and the opportunity it promises. But outsiders arrive in the valley, bringing new technologies and asking Nirmala and her people to pay a heavy price.
The play transports you right back to the valley in India where Nirmala and Isha live, and we see family, cultural connection, politics and business come to a crossroads – creating conflict, testing loyalties, fuelling ambitions, but also generating so much love.
Today, I speak to Nadie Kammallaweera and Manali Datar about their experience working on The Wrong Gods.
Nadie and Manali, congratulations on The Wrong Gods. The first aspect of this play that stands out to me is its all-female cast. Did this have an impact on your decision to accept the role?
Manali: It had an impact on my decision to even audition. I already love Shakthi’s work, but on top of that, I had seen Radhika and Nadie in Counting and Cracking and Vaishnavi originated the role of Priya in White Pearl, which I then played for its next season. So, I had been an admirer of all of them for a really long time, and had never had the chance to work with them. So 100%, that it was going to be all-South Asian women was very exciting to me. But on top of that, it was these three specific women that made me really excited to audition for the show.
Nadie: No. But it was an interesting idea for me as I had not worked with an only-female cast before. I was excited about it, but honestly it didn’t have any impact on my decision to accept the role.
How important is it that Australian theatre continues to showcase female-led storytelling on stages? How can the industry ensure that this representation is also intersectional, spotlighting Indigenous, women of colour, queer and disabled women?
Manali: It’s extremely important to me as an audience member, when I go and see shows that depict the experiences of people who are like me, and aren’t like me but are also similarly underrepresented in theatre and in the media – I feel elated, I feel so excited, and I feel like I learn a lot. It really feeds my curiosity and from the shows we’ve done so far, it has seemed like the audiences that we’ve had, had a feeling similarly as well. [They’re] learning about something they may never have heard of before, or just getting some insight into an experience they might never have considered.
I think it’s really important for theatre and art to be a space where people can learn as well as be entertained, and be able to find some escapism occasionally. But, I do think that art is inherently political. I think that if you’re going to come and see a show that is marketed as such – and is about a marginalised community and has a really specific perspective or brings up subjects that we don’t talk about enough that are important to discuss – I think that’s really valuable.
I think it is essential that the Australian theatre, film and TV industry continues to champion the voices of Indigenous folk, women of colour, queer and disabled folk, and I just feel really lucky to have been a part of it. I hope that later on in my career, I can keep doing work like this. It’s been extremely fulfilling.
Nadie: To me, it is inspiring that female artists have a way more significant and powerful presence in Australian theatre compared to where I am coming from. In Sri Lanka, still the theatre and most other performing arts industries are male dominant. More and more Australian theatre companies should invest in telling stories of migrant women, Indigenous communities and other marginalised groups.
A question for you Nadie: The Wrong Gods is from the incredible team behind Jungle and The Sea and Counting and Cracking. What was it like working with the team again?
Nadie: It is such a joy to keep working with the same artists whom I have so much respect for and who I feel are like my family. All these three plays are Shakthidharan’s scripts. Some of the actors I have worked with in Counting and Cracking and Jungle and the Sea are performing with me in The Wrong Gods. Manali, the amazing actor from Melbourne is the latest addition to our family. I am very happy, comfortable and confident working with these beautiful and extremely talented people.
What are the similarities and differences between The Wrong Gods and those previous productions?
Nadie: Counting and Cracking and Jungle and the Sea were massive productions in many terms. Both were long plays in duration, almost three hours. Both plays had a big cast. Jungle and the Sea was performed in a non-stopping revolve theatre. Different times, different generations, different places and so many characters were in these two plays. But The Wrong Gods has only four actors, just women actors. The play is only 90 minutes long. The story happens in one setting. It is more intimate than the previous two. But in another way, The Wrong Gods addresses heavy universal themes, such as capitalism, consumerism, destruction of nature and human rights. So, although it is “small” in scale than the previous two, it is also significantly “big”.
What draws you to your character most? What do you love most about her?
Nadie: The authenticity of Nirmala, her very strong convictions, and fierce fighting spirit attracted me to the character. Her stern stubbornness, and also the flexibility to be open to learn and listen to new ideas is very interesting to me. I love experimenting on how to bring out Nirmala on the stage.
Manali: We are living through a time where there is a lot of violence and horror and tragedy in the world, and we can feel really overwhelmed and helpless when it comes to trying to make the world a better place – of figuring out how we can actually be of assistance. What’s been great about exploring a character like Devi is that here is someone who is using all of the tools in their arsenal, and using all of the skills and knowledge they have available to make as much of a real change and a real difference as they can and to be as productive as possible.
You get to see her go on this journey of what it means to have tried the diplomatic, democratic way, and if that doesn’t work, where does that leave a person? So that’s been really interesting. I think there’s something about her that resonates in all of us.
Manali, how does my role in The Wrong Gods differ from roles like Rose and Edna (in Fangirls)?
Manali: I think the biggest difference is that I’m not playing a child in this show. I have loved playing the kids and teens that I have played, but it’s really great to play someone who’s written to be in their early 30s, which is a little bit older than I am, but I still think it’s really exciting to get to explore that side of myself in this character. It’s such a departure from other roles I’ve played that have been children – those two roles specifically– and I think what’s nice is I still get to bring my sense of humor to the role. I still get to bring strength and power as the other two characters also have, but in a different way.
This character of Devi that I play in The Wrong Gods is extremely well-educated, like, full tactician. She’s diplomatic, intelligent, extremely experienced when it comes to business acumen. It’s a completely different world from mine and from those two characters. So, that’s been really interesting and fun to portray. Also what the character stands for in terms of our ideology and the perspective that she has on capitalism and environmentalism has been really interesting.
Nadie, you portray Nirmala, whose daughter Isha has different ideas of what she wants in life. What may viewers learn about the relationship between a mother and daughter in this play?
Nadie: They will see the conflicts, the pains, frustrations, disappointments and misunderstandings, and also the immense power of love Isha and Nirmala experience throughout the play. Audiences will realise that “stupid miserable love is all we have” and they will question whether it is a “curse or a blessing”.
What is it about the story that you love the most, and that you hope resonates with a diverse audience?
Nadie: This play confronts the audience with several important questions. Viewers will be compelled to stop and think about the choices they make in everyday life, their big political decisions and what they will pass on to the younger generation. This is what I value most about this incredible play.
Manali: What I think this play does so well is take inspiration from real events that are so complicated and so immense and distill them down into the voices of four unique women and really concentrates on and dive into the individual. When we talk about these kinds of awful, horrifying global tragedies, we do tend to talk about it in a sense of numbers and statistics, and what I love about this play is that we see the real people and the real impact this can have on just these four people. Then we extrapolate it up to all of the people that it affects.
I think seeing a South Asian story with a full South Asian cast is really important. I’m really excited that the story is being told. I’m really, really lucky to have been a part of it. I think it’s a play that will stay with me forever, but is going to stay with audiences for a long time too.
The Wrong Gods is showing in Melbourne from June 6 to July 12 at The Melbourne Theatre Company. Ticket details are available here.
