Merrigong Theatre Company’s annual artists’ program, MERRIGONGX returns in 2024, kicking off with Joshua Hinton’s A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen or How to Make the Perfect One-Pot Chicken Curry, at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre from the 8 to 10 August.

Theatre-maker and singer-songwriter, Josh Hinton, weaves together childhood memories and family folklore passed down the generations, exploring how they’ve shaped his adult view of himself, and how we are all made of memories and stories.

A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen fills the theatre with exotic smells as Josh attempts to make his grandmother’s chicken curry live on stage, telling stories of his grandparents’ formative experiences, transporting the audience from the backstreets of Sri Lanka to a bustling city in India, from a schoolyard in Iran to a South African farm, and finally to Wollongong.