The Wrong Gods - S. Shakthidharan

Shakthidharan, S.: - S. Shakthidharan is a western Sydney storyteller with Sri Lankan heritage and Tamil ancestry. He's a writer, director and producer of theatre and film, and composer of original music.

• Belvoir: The Jungle and the Sea (co-written with Eamon Flack) and Counting and Cracking (associate writer Eamon Flack)

He has in development a new play with Belvoir and a co-commission with the Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company. He has a feature film with Felix Media and a new TV project also in development. Shakthi's memoir Gather Up Your World In One Long Breath comes out in September 2025 with Powerhouse Publishing.

His debut play Counting and Cracking received critical, commercial and community acclaim. The script won the Victorian Premier's Literature Prize and the NSW Premier's Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting; the production won seven Helpmann and three Sydney Theatre Awards. Shakthi's most recent play The Jungle and the Sea, again was met with rave reviews and had a profound impact on the Sri Lankan community.

It won the 2024 Victorian Premier's Drama Prize and four Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Mainstage Production. Shakthi is the Director of Kurinji, was previously Director of Co-Curious, and was Founder and Artistic Director of CuriousWorks from 2003-2018. He is a Creative Australia and Sidney Myer Fellow, and a recipient of the Philip Parsons and Kirk Robson awards.