The Jungle and the Sea
Published on 13. October 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
100 pages
978-1-76062-851-2 (ISBN)
Description
War makes things of people. The Jungle and the Sea is about a family who refuse to become things while they are still alive.
When violence escalates between the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a Tamil mother vows to remain blindfolded until her family is together once again. Gowrie, Abi and Madhu search the jungles of northern Sri Lanka for estranged son Ahilan, while Siva and Lakshmi migrate to Australia for safety, awaiting their family's reunion. Separated by the ravages of civil war but buoyed by humour, playfulness and love for each other, so goes the story of many a migrant family that has wound up in Australia.
Co-writers S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack continue their collaboration that began with Counting and Cracking, threading personal testimony from the Sri Lankan civil war with two ancient epics - the Mahabharatha and Sophocles' Antigone. The war may have ended in 2009, but Tamil memory endures in The Jungle and the Sea, calling together lives that eternally revolve, intertwine and bear witness to each other.
More details
Edition
Standard ed.
Language
English
Place of publication
Paddington
Australia
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 137 mm
Thickness: 7 mm
Weight
192 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-76062-851-2 (9781760628512)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
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.