Counting and Cracking: how a three-hour Sri Lankan war epic became one of the great Australian plays

‘For those who came into early contact with [this] script, the production’s success feels like a vindication’ … Belvoir Street theatre's Counting And Cracking, which premiered at Sydney Town Hall in January 2019. Photograph: Brett Boardman Photography

Certain theatrical events are seared into the national consciousness, accessible even to those who weren’t privy to their actual performances. The monumental stage adaptations of Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet and Kate Grenville’s The Secret River, both directed by Neil Armfield, come to mind. Now we can confidently add Counting and Cracking to the list, another piece of epic theatre on a vast emotional canvas.

Written by S Shakthidharan (Shakthi, as he’s affectionately known) and directed by Eamon Flack, Counting and Cracking tells a gripping intergenerational story of cultural rift, of war and diaspora, family and politics. It splits its focus between several time periods and across continents – from the first stirrings of civil unrest in Sri Lanka circa 1956 to the hardening of the Migration Act in Australia in 2004. Its cast of 19 performers hail from six different countries and play a total of 50 characters.