Belvoir St Theatre

Have you ever seen somebody embody joy? Someone so comfortable and proud of where they have come from, of where they are now, that they vibrate with unwavering enthusiasm? That’s what it’s like to watch Mandela Mathia perform. Lose to Win is an autobiographical work that tells the story of Mathia’s journey to Australia, or what he calls “Paradise”. From his birth in South Sudan, to the bustling streets of Egypt, to the rickety boat that brought him to Australia as a refugee, Mathia finds poetry in his smallest wins. This deeply personal performance lands at Belvoir St Theatre in 2024 after premiering at the Old Fitz Theatre in 2022 under Red Line Productions. Sharing the same warm and minimalistic staging as Belvoir's concurrent production of Nayika: A Dancing Girl, Director Jessica Arthur has kept the communal campfire feeling from the original staging, focusing the activity in a semi-circle around a simple black dance mat. Props, including traditional jewellery, clothing and other adornments sit within reach behind Mathia. Beside them, sits musician Yacou Mbaye and his assortment of wooden instruments including several different kinds of drums. We need more theatre makers like these, so that we might learn and share in the joy of what it means to lose to win. These elements create an inviting and immersive experience, but it's Mathia’s command of the monologue that calls us to attention. Interspersed with the more harrowing parts of his journey are funny quips, like which

In paintings dating back to the 18th century, the Nayika (the heroine) can be seen with her Sakhi (her confidante). In ancient Tamil poetry, songs and dance forms such as Bharatanatyam, the cherished Sakhi – the friend, accomplice, and at times, the witness – is a catalyst for the heroine to wrestle with and ultimately to accept her truth. It is thus fitting that in Nithya Nagarajan and Liv Satchell’s Nayika: A Dancing Girl, we meet our heroine (Vaishnavi Suryaprakash – Counting and Cracking) as she is reconnecting with her childhood best friend. Beginning with a meeting over over-priced entrees in Sydney, the story explores bursts of the forgotten joy and sorrow the pair shared in Chennai, India, over four formative years as our heroine learned about love, met a boy, began a relationship and ultimately escaped its perils with her own scars. Satchell and Nagarajan’s script is moving, humorous and sensitive in its exploration of heartbreak and trauma. With dramaturgy support from Nick Enright Prize winner S Shakthidaran (the creator of critically acclaimed works Counting and Cracking and The Jungle and the Sea), Satchell and Nagarajan’s script is moving, humorous and sensitive in its exploration of heartbreak and trauma. As the only actor on stage, Suryaprakash is a captivating performer – she utilises accents effectively to indicate shifts in time and place, and is infinitely expressive as a smitten 13-year-old, finding the giddy exasperation of love with ease.  On the violin