The Wrong Gods
The Narmada River is classified as the oldest river in India and the only one to flow in opposite direction to the other rivers. It is the mother of all the rivers and known to have purifying qualities personified as a divine lady - the goddess Narmada in the Hindu religion.
The Wrong Gods is written by S. Shakhidharan and co-directed with Hannah Goodwin. You may know the playwright from his previous, critically acclaimed work Counting and Cracking - an epic three-and half-hour cross-generational Sri Lankan immigration story with fifty different characters.
The Wrong Gods is less than half the length, with four female characters, a mother and daughter, a representative from a multinational company and a teacher. The characters are named after deities; they have traits from their namesakes giving them purpose and strength. The play is set around the development of the Narmada Valley Project, known as ‘the greatest planned environmental disaster’. An active protest movement was formed against the modern developers during a time when millions of people were displaced from their tribal villages, resulting in countless deaths.
A teenage girl dreams about her future. Her name is Isha (Radhika Mudaliyar) and she has plans to study science at a university and to travel the world. Isha’s mother is calling her. Nirmala (Nadie Kammallaweera) appears on stage gripping a machete. Burdened by the hard daily toil to survive and feed her family, she reprimands Isha for her laziness and for not having prepared the evening meal. Isha playfully fights back, knowing too that her dreams are probably only fanciful, as she walks over to her collection of small symbolic deity statuettes.
S.Shakhidharan’s lyrical, and witty dialogue provides sharp and contrasting values and morals for each of his characters. The ‘sweet natured’ Lakshmi (Vaishanavi Suryaprakash), or is she an insidious multinational recruiter, procures trust in Nirmala to take Isha under her wing with promises to help the land with the fertilizer and seeds, while in exchange her daughter will be educated and will travel the world. Lakshmi, a strong believer in progress, is duplicitous.
In the second half of this two-part drama, Narmala has not seen her daughter for seven years. In the interim she has befriended Devi (Manali Datar), a well-to-do teacher who moved from the city to be part of the protest movement against the Corporation. Isha and Lakshmi pay the village a working-on-site visit. Narmala’s bitterness is evident; she hits on Lakshmi for her fake promises to save the Narmada Valley and for stealing her daughter, only to take part in the devils’ work.
In the culminating scenes between mother and daughter, the tension rises, coinciding with a timely deluge of rain and a powerfully charged fight scene led by Narmala, who summons the gods to empower her. It is highlighted with a climatic change of dramatic pace and a final reckoning between the four women that is exciting, uplifting and hopeful.
The four women are exceptional actors, including a stellar performance by Nadie Kammallaweera, directed with skill and precision by the co-directors. The set is earthy, simple and minimal (set and costume designer by Keerthi Subramanyam) and the costumes are colourful. The sound design (Steve Francis) and Composer Sabya (Rahul) Bhaltacharya provide evocative, multi layered sounds; lighting is moody and striking (Amelia Lever–Davidson).
The Wrong Gods is a powerful production that provides dynamic and challenging drama for the audience.
Flora Georgiou
Photographer: Brett Boardman
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