A Mixtape for Maladies is an Auckland Theatre Company production that explores both the present day experience of Deepan and the past of his mother Sangeetha as they listen to an old mixtape from her youth. Together they delve into the intertwined lives of Sangeetha’s family history and experiences in Sri Lanka of the past.

Written by Ahilan Karunaharan and directed by Jane Yonge, Mixtape collates and interprets various stories of people connected to playwright Ahilan such as family, extended relatives, friends and community members. The narrative examines memory and nostalgia, punctuated by the impact of the Sri Lankan Civil War, resulting in an affecting and powerful production that would move both people connected to Sri Lankan history and those new to it.

Music is the key for Mixtape’s exploration of the past, and it is performed wonderfully by Ben Fernandez and Seyorn Arunagirinathan, who support the cast in performing classics and anthems of Hindi, Tamil and Western origin that featured in soundtracks to films from Sangeetha’s youth. Each track on the titular mixtape that Deepan and Sangeetha listen to together represent a different period of Sangeetha’s youth, and Mixtape uses this as the mechanism to explore this history.

The production’s cast are talented performers, and Mixtape asks much of them in bringing humor, humanity, pathos to their performances, along with musical and dance ability. It’s amazing to see such a display of talent, and utilised so well by director Jane Yonge.

A Mixtape for Maladies is a wonderful and powerful production from playwright Ahilan Karunaharan for Auckland Theatre Company that uses music to explore a period of Sri Lankan history in a novel and thoroughly entertaining way.