The pros and cons of being Cyril
It was a lion cub named Simba who convinced Pasan Ranaweera to get serious about acting. Still quite young when the Workshop Players staged the Lion King in 2007, Pasan remembers being super impressed when people bought tickets to come and watch someone his age perform.
Pasan. Pic by Indika Handuwala
“That’s when I knew I could do that; that I wished I was doing that. It just clicked for me,” says Pasan. He’d been on stage before – from the time he made his debut in a Methodist nursery performance as Andare (he half suspects he won the lead because his mother taught at the same school) Pasan has had a passion for acting. He’s appeared in one film (Deepa Mehta’s ‘Midnight’s Children’) and a dozen productions since, most recent among which are Jith Peiris’ ‘He Comes from Jaffna’, Stages Theatre Group’s ‘Cast As Mother,’ Ruvin de Silva’s ‘After Class,’ the Workshop Player’s ‘Evita’ and most notably in the Pusswedilla series. Never a very dedicated student, Pasan did his O/Ls at S. Thomas’ Prep but may not have moved on to his A/Ls if he hadn’t discovered that Royal College offered drama as a subject.
(Aside from Methodist, he’s also studied at Ananda College, giving him a real chequered schooling history.) Being taught by Mrs. Ratna Lalani Jayakody was a real turning point as was being part of a very active Sinhala drama club.
The first time he saw Pusswedilla, Pasan was in the audience at the Lionel Wendt. “I loved that play. I have never laughed that much for any theatre production, in Sinhala or in English.” He remembers being impressed by the play’s daring and its incorporation of Sinhala in to the script. “It was just so Sri Lankan, which still feels rare sometimes,” he says. Since he had worked with Feroze on a previous production – ‘Hamlet at Elsie’s Bar’ – he asked to be considered for a role in Puss and was cast as Cyril, Hon. Pusswedilla’s inept secretary. It wasn’t until curtain call, when he took a bow (second only to Puss himself) that Pasan fully understood how central his character was. “You stand there and you can really feel how the audience has connected with you,” he says. “That was the moment I realised this was kind of a big deal.”
Now, Cyril Nitharamasuffering has his own dedicated Facebook page and a legion of fans. Two other actors had played the role before him, but Pasan has made it his own. Pasan who first played the part in the second edition of Pusswedilla (with Anuruddha Fernando in the lead) has been in the sequels as well as on the DVD. Over subsequent performances the character has evolved, his success closely linked with that of his boss’s. Having started as a random policeman assigned to be the bodyguard of MP Pusswedilla, Cyril is promoted to driver, than to peon before finally being made secretary to the President. As we’ve gone along, we’ve heard more about his background and been introduced to his family, says Pasan.
The script, penned by director Feroze Kamardeen, offers plenty of room for improvisation, something Pasan enjoys. “It was cool thing that Feroze allowed us to do that,” he says, explaining that rehearsals are kept casual and creative. He says some of Cyril’s ignorance isn’t feigned – Pasan doesn’t try very hard to keep up to date on local politics. Instead he relies on a blend of instinct and showmanship to ‘olways help Lokka.’ One of his proudest moments on the show came when they performed the (unedited) play for President Mahinda Rajapaksa, along with several members of Parliament. “It was a really different vibe that day,” says Pasan, remembering looking out over the audience and watching their guest of honour burst into laughter. “That was a side of him we never even knew existed.”
When I meet Pasan they’ve just wrapped up another marathon run of Pusswedilla which is in its fourth edition and seems to have only gained in popularity with several sold out performances. Being so closely associated with the Pusswedilla series has its pros and cons the actor reveals.
“It’s been great; I had so many opportunities out of the play.” He admits, quite frankly, to having to struggle against stereotyping – he is concerned that directors will hesitate to cast him in something other than a comic role. “If people recognise you immediately as another character, it affects the play.
I’m really trying for that not to happen. I hope this doesn’t define me as an actor,” he says, conceding that it’s going to take hard work and another exciting role to help him reinvent himself but being Cyril has taught him the skills he needs and given him the confidence to try.
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