From the internationally acclaimed playwright behind Counting and Cracking, fresh from winning seven 2025 Green Room Awards, including ‘Outstanding New Australian Writing’ and ‘Outstanding Direction’, comes a bold new story to captivate Melbourne audiences.
S. Shakthidharan returns with The Wrong Gods, playing until Saturday 12 July at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Fairfax Studio.
An intimate four-hander set deep in a remote Indian valley, this new work is rich with lyrical poetry and striking imagery, exploring the collision between ancient traditions and the disruptive force of globalisation.
After a successful run with Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, The Wrong Gods arrives in Melbourne hailed by The Guardian as “an absorbing drama” and praised by TimeOut as “rich, evocative and unflinching.”
Following the triumph of Counting and Cracking in Australia, and internationally, S. Shakthidharan proves once again why he is one of the most exciting voices in contemporary theatre.
For fifty thousand years, soldiers, missionaries, and monarchs have failed to conquer the valley Nirmala’s ancestors call home. But her daughter Isha dreams of the world beyond—and when a stranger arrives offering everything they’ve never had, the cost of acceptance may be far greater than either woman expects. The Wrong Gods is a thrilling, gripping tale of hope, betrayal, and the choices that shape generations.
Co-directed by S. Shakthidharan and Hannah Goodwin (The Almighty Sometimes), the production skilfully blends the personal and the political. It delves into questions of family, capitalism, environmental care, and the very meaning of freedom in a rapidly changing world. With just four performers on stage, the show becomes an intensely human reckoning with the promises and perils of modernity.
Melbourne Theatre Company’s Artistic Director and Co-CEO Anne-Louise Sarks says:
“Shakthi has such a gift for epic and emotional storytelling as we saw with the extraordinary success of Counting and Cracking. Melbourne Theatre Company is thrilled to present this new work in collaboration with Belvoir St Theatre.
The Wrong Gods is a fiercely resonant story of a mother and daughter, and the choices that shape generations”.
Written by S. Shakthidharan and co-directed along with Hannah Goodwin, The Wrong Gods’ creative team includes set and costume designer Keerthi Subramanyam, lighting designer Amelia Lever-Davidson, composer Sabyasachi (Rahul) Bhattacharya, sound designer Steve Francis, movement and fight director, intimacy coordinator Nigel Poulton, vocal coach Laura Farrell and associate sound designer Madeline Picard.
A co-production with Belvoir St Theatre and presented as part of RISING, performances of The Wrong Gods run until Saturday 12 July at Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio.
Tickets and more information via mtc.com.au.
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Images by Brett Boardman /used with permission
TINSEL and TAP SHOES 