The Jungle and the Sea

Following an unexpected act of destruction that splits her family apart, Gowrie takes a radical vow of defiance by blindfolding herself, refusing to see the world again until her loved ones reunite. S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack's moving follow-up to the much-lauded Counting and Cracking follows one family's epic journey to retain their dignity and their safety against the backdrop of Sri Lanka's civil war, drawing on real-life testimonies, the Indian epic Mahabharatha and the Greek myth of Antigone.

Co-written and co-directed by S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack, with set and costume design by Dale Ferguson, lighting by Damien Cooper, composition by Arjunan Puveendran and sound design by Steve Francis. The cast features Anandavalli, Prakash Belawadi, Emma Harvie, Nadie Kammallaweera, Shiv Palekar, Dushan Philips, Kalieaswari Srinivasan and Rajan Velu, with live Carnatic music performed on stage.

Approx. 2 hours and 50 minutes, including 2 intervals. The season runs 14 August to 12 September 2026 at Southbank Theatre, The Sumner. Signature dates include Forum Night on Mon 24 Aug, an Education performance Wed 26 Aug 1.30pm, Community Night Wed 26 Aug, Audio Described performances Sat 29 Aug 1.30pm and Tue 1 Sep 6.30pm (Tactile Tour from 12.30pm on 29 Aug), Melbourne Theatre Thursdays on Thu 3 Sep, and Open/Closed Captioning Sat 5 Sep 1.30pm. Contains mature themes, occasional coarse language, haze and loud sound effects.