Counting and Cracking heads to London's Soho Theatre Walthamstow in summer 2027

Counting and Cracking, a stage play about a Sri Lankan-Australian family, is coming to London. The production will run at Soho Theatre Walthamstow from 15 June to 10 July 2027, according to WhatsOnStage. A press performance is set for 18 June 2027.

The show is presented by Belvoir St Theatre and Kurinji, with House of Oz. It is written by S. Shakthidharan and directed by Eamon Flack. The two have worked together before on the play's follow-up, The Jungle and the Sea.

The cast has 19 performers from six countries, who between them play more than 50 characters. The play is performed in English, Tamil and Sinhalese, with live translation into English. Anyone who does not speak all three languages can follow the action through that translation, which is shown as the scenes unfold.

The running time is 3 hours 30 minutes, including two 20-minute intervals. That is a long evening, and the company has built the breaks into the schedule.

The creative team includes Dale Ferguson as set and costume designer, Damien Cooper as lighting designer, and Stefan Gregory as composer and sound designer. Anandavalli is choreographer, costume and cultural advisor. A cultural advisor is someone who checks that a production reflects the customs and traditions it portrays.

The play was first staged in Sydney, and it has since played Edinburgh, Birmingham and New York. Its earlier history includes four Sydney Theatre Awards, among them Best Mainstage Production. It also won the 2024 Victorian Premier's Drama Prize, a major Australian drama award, according to Belvoir.

The work was commissioned by the Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals, Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival and Belvoir St Theatre. Commissioning means these organisations paid for the play to be made in the first place. Several of them are festivals, which often fund new work in the hope that it will travel.

Soho Theatre Walthamstow is a newer venue in east London, a branch of the Soho Theatre company in the city's west end. Its London debut for this play will be its first run here.

For London audiences, the dates mean a little over four weeks in the early summer of 2027. Tickets and prices have not been announced, so anyone planning a visit should check the theatre's box office when sales open.