Counting & Cracking

Counting and Cracking is one of the most ambitious and exciting theatre experiences ever to hit Sydney.  

Winner of 14 major awards including Helpmann Awards for Best Production and Best Direction, Counting and Cracking returns triumphant from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and Edinburgh Festivals, for a strictly limited season at Carriageworks from 28th June – 21st July, 2024. 

On the banks of the Georges River, Radha and her son Siddhartha release the ashes of Radha’s mother – their final connection to the past, to Sri Lanka and its struggles. Now they are free to embrace their lives in Australia. But a phone call from Colombo brings the past spinning back to life, and we’re plunged into an epic story of love and political strife, of home and exile, of parents and children. 

Featuring 19 performers from six different countries, speaking in five different languages, performing 50 characters, Counting and Cracking follows the journey of a Sri Lankan- Australian family over four generations, from 1956 to 2004.