OBSERVER: The Wrong Gods
What do we worship and what happens if beliefs clash with progress?
That’s an issue explored in the latest Melbourne Theatre Company/Belvoir St drama, The Wrong Gods, a new play by S. Shakthidharan.
Set in a remote Indian valley, we meet Mother Nirmala (Nadie Kammallaweera) and daughter Isha (Radhika Mudaliyar). Nirmala is a traditional rural woman whose gods are those responsible for the natural world. But Isha is part of an educated modern generation who wants to be a scientist. Immediately we see the clash of the ancient versus the modern.
Audiences see the seductive influence of commercialism in the form of a hydro dam that will be a huge success for a multinational corporation, but its eventual effect will decimate the life of Nirmala’s village and those like it.
Then Lakshmi (Vaishnavi Suryaprakash) from the multinational enters the picture with a tempting vision of how the village can prosper and make the new scheme work for it. Unsurprisingly, Nirmala refers to Lakshmi as the devil, and the stage is set for several confrontations.
Nirmala becomes a protestor against the scheme, assisted by Devi (Manali Datar), as Isha has left to follow her dream of becoming a scientist, eventually working for Lakshmi’s corporation.
The play shows not just the clash of the old and the new, but also the changing dynamics of the relationships between all four women, with an ending that acknowledges the inevitable, but brings mother and daughter closer again.
It’s a fascinating journey, and to have a play where the only roles are four strong females is a delight.
Co-directed by the author and Hannah Goodwin, this is a strongly written drama that makes us question the ongoing battle between the environment, multinational desecration, and the people caught in the middle.
The Wrong Gods runs at the Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne until July 12. Tickets can be booked at mtc.com.au
Julie Houghton