19 – 27 August
Counting and Cracking invites us to watch a Sri Lankan-Australian family over four generations, from 1956 to 2004. It’s an epic undertaking, featuring an ensemble cast of 16 performers.
The large cast are from four countries and speak six languages during the show; what is spoken in other languages is translated into English sometimes for comedic effect, sometimes to create a sense of tension or intimacy, usually to good effect.
The show opens with a young Australian-Sri Lankan boy, Sid, and his family performing funeral rites for a deceased grandmother in Sydney harbour. It’s comedic and sweet, and foreshadows the culture clashes which thread through the production, as it hops between different time periods. However, this is where some of the issues for this reviewer cropped up.
Sometimes the flashbacks feel like a distraction to the central plot rather than acting to push it forward. There was often an assumption of historical knowledge, something that alienates viewers; clear signposting or contextualising is easy to do simply and quickly.
Only at the climax of the play do the flashbacks really connect and serve the narrative, whereas earlier – while they explore interesting subject matter – it feels as if we are starved of attention to any one set of characters. Just as we settle in and begin to make sense of where we’re at, we’re 40 years ahead or behind.
Saying that, the characters were always likeable, the cast was excellent – special mention goes to Abbie Lee Lewis as Lily and Shiv Palekar as Sid – and the difficult subject matter was deftly handled, imbued with comedy where appropriate, but hit when it had to. It felt darkly topical for contemporary Britain.
The staging was beautiful, and smart in its simplicity, managing to indicate the time period – a necessity! – without the need for huge changes. Particularly beautiful was the small band of musicians centred almost out of sight on the far left of the stage who performed most (if not all) of the accompanying music.
Even if it was difficult to follow at points, Counting & Cracking always felt raw, and the performances powerful. There was an excellent story in there, but it’s difficult to argue that this delivered it as effectively as it could have been.
★★★☆☆ James Browning, 20th August, 2022
Photo credit: Belvoir
