Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Star site
By Ishani Ranasinghe
It's a first for any Sri Lankan film star. A website dedicated to her that has everything a fan needs to know. yashodaw.com, a website for Yashoda Wimaladarma was launched at "Boom" earlier this month among a galaxy of celebrities.

The website with its links to Yashoda's biography, career and achievements, a tribute to her father, the people she admires, fan appreciation, memoirs, a photo gallery and screen savers, will be the perfect opportunity for this much loved actress's numerous fans to get to know her better.

The website was dedicated by Yashoda to her father, who passed away a few months ago.

Speaking at the launch Dr. Lester James Peiris said, "There is a mysterious love affair between the camera and her face," adding that this was part of Yashoda's charm.

Commenting on the website, Yashoda says it is something for everyone in the industry. "This is a first step towards good management for the artiste." Such websites will undoubtedly proliferate, but how does it benefit the stars? "Technology has become so powerful that it will be easy for everyone to know what's happening through the website," she said while adding that this opens the door to many opportunities.

"It's one thing to launch a website but you also have to maintain its standards," says Yashoda assuring that yashodaw.com will be updated regularly.

An intriguing mix
Director Tracy Holsinger on '3 Star K', Mind Adventures' new production.

When the Mind Adventures theatre company produced Seneka Abeyratne's 'Virgo Intacta' in 1999, the Sunday Times' critic had this to say: "Wow! Now this is much more like the sort of theatre Sri Lankan audiences should be getting... Seneka Abeyratne's Virgo Intacta was a refreshing breath of fresh air... thought provoking, not only in its subject matter but in the fact that serious drama can put bums on seats in Colombo." (Culture Vulture. 14/3/99)

Four years and several productions later, Mind Adventures is tackling Seneka's latest play, the intriguingly titled '3 Star K.' Although we usually take our productions into alternate spaces such as gardens (Virgo, Ubu Rex, A Merry Regiment of Women) and nightclubs (Slag), Mind Adventures is trading fresh air for air-conditioning and producing '3 Star K' at the Lionel Wendt on July 4 and 5. Come and see it. You won't be sorry.

Most of Abeyratne's plays deal with the less explored side of human behaviour, and this one is no different. A murder story on the surface, this play exposes uncommon views on the institutions of family, religion, sex and politics. The four characters on stage wash their dirty laundry, and pull skeletons out of closets with the energy and brutality of wrestlers, and leave you wondering just how much lies beneath the mundane realities of 'ordinary' people and their everyday lives. How much do you really know about the people around you?

Now don't panic. It's not all doom and gloom from start to finish - in fact it's quite the reverse. What prompted me to direct this play - apart from a desire to highlight the issue of domestic violence, which is largely ignored in this country - was the absolutely wicked humour through which these characters deal with themselves and each other. You might catch yourself laughing when you least expect it - and guiltily at that! You might feel that you're eavesdropping on arguing neighbours, or looking into someone else's life. Humanity is amazing, and that's what this play celebrates: that we are capable of laughter - even in the face of fear; that a person who is capable of great feats of bravery and love, can also be corrupt and horrible at the same time; that even the best of us is capable of sinking pretty low.

The play also looks at relationships between husband and wife, mother and son, and the bond between friends. Sometimes the very ones we are supposed to love the most are the ones we hate the most. Bonds in a family, which should be strongest, are more brittle than they appear. When does love turn to hate? How? Why? What drives men and women to murder?

'3 Star K' features the acting talents of relative newcomers to the English theatre scene in Sri Lanka. Ryan Holsinger - most recently in 'The Mirror Making Factory' and 'Ubu Rex' - plays Mevaan - a volatile chef with a somewhat peculiar taste in thirst quenchers, and unusual views when it comes to love and romance. Piyumi Samaraweera (A Merry Regiment of Women) plays Mevaan's wife Shani - a long distance swimmer with some pretty curious beliefs and motives. At first, it seems like a marriage made in heaven, but when a particularly vicious confrontation between them goes horribly wrong, we learn perhaps more than we're prepared for. Making her debut on the Sri Lankan stage, Jennifer Tickle plays Mevaan's mother - a woman who has given literally everything to her son, and who decides she can take no more.

Deshan Devasagayam (Run For Your Wife, A Merry Regiment of Women) plays Ruwan, Mevaan's best friend - an arms dealer with a conscience, and a crush to boot. Put them together, and you get a mixture of murder, madness and mirth that will leave you reeling.

'3 Star K' contains explicit language and some scenes that are for mature audiences only.

Tickets are available at the Lionel Wendt theatre, but Mind Adventures will not be selling tickets to those under the age of 16, without assured parental guidance. The performance will begin at 8 p.m., and latecomers will not be admitted into the main house, but will be accommodated in the balcony.

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