S Shakthidharan

Backstage

Shakthi joins Regina to talk about The Jungle and The Sea and the power of theatre. On at Belvoir Theatre at the moment.

Shakthi is a Western Sydney storyteller with Sri Lankan heritage and Tamil ancestry. He’s a writer, director and producer of film and theatre, as well as a composer and performer of original music.

Shakthi’s debut play Counting and Cracking had a sell-out season at Sydney Festival 2019, followed by the Adelaide Festival, with rave reviews and a profound impact on the Sri Lankan community. The script won the Victorian Premier’s overall Literature Prize and the NSW Premier’s Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting. The production has gone on to win 7 Helpmann Awards including 2 for Shakthi – Best New Australian Work and Best Direction of a Play. It also won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best New Australian Work and was nominated for Best Direction of the Mainstage Production. The play toured the UK in August 2022 including a run at the Edinburgh International Festival.