Relationships take centre stage
An interesting storyline, dialogues lined with subtle sarcasm and some gripping performances come together to make – “Aadara Wasthuwa” (Love Object) -, the latest play by well known director- playwright Rajitha Dissanayaka a very watchable stage production.
The play deals with the subject of the evolution of relationships over a period of time, both those relationships that are driven by greed for power and personal ambition as well as those built on romantic love.
Tense altercation: Shyam Fernando and Gihan de Chickera in a scene from the play
Rajitha Dissanayaka has drawn heavily from his days as a university student to tell the story, with all four characters in it being linked to the local university system. The characters include a university lecturer who also works part time as an advisor to a Government Minister, the only female character a journalist who, when she was an undergraduate was in a romantic relationship with the much married lecturer, a power greedy media mogul waiting to settle political scores (the lecturer and he were university batch mates) and the fourth, a student activist.
It is the meeting between the two former lovers after a lapse of 10 years and the ensuing conversation between them which is the highlight of the play. Rajitha uses both sarcasm and wit laced with humour to make the conversation between two lovers more than just talk that dwells on past mistakes and regrets but about how people change according to the opportunities that come their way in life. The lecturer has evolved into a self-centred man while his former lover, now a journalist questions him on how he’s allowed himself to change from being a person sympathetic to the cause of students’ rights to a person who more or less toes the government line on issues related to education.
The lecturer no longer sees the romanticism associated with student activism as he had in his younger years. The woman, meanwhile is eager to secure an assignment to work for her news magazine overseas and wants the lecturer to divulge information on the government’s policy on education that she could use. She also has another reason for prying for information which is linked to a bigger political game.
Into the scene comes the power-greedy media mogul, who, embittered by false promises made to him by those in political power, is plotting a coup. The lecturer also become a willing partner to the plans of the scheming media mogul but without realizing the true intentions behind the move. The outsider is the student activist who is opposed to the new Education Act that is to be introduced by the government and wants the lecturer cum advisor to openly air his opinion in the new polices.
It is the rather simplistic portrayal of the student in the play that somewhat reinforces stereotypes about local university students which could by and large be true but unfair by those who do not fit into the mould. Rajitha’s attempt is to examine and question if the emotional response of people to the break-up of a love affair is similar to their reaction when a close relationship that is driven by greed for power and personal ambition comes to an end. It would seem that love, hate, trust, betrayal, regret, anger and all such emotions come together when both kinds of relationships turn sour.
“Aadara Wasthuwa” is definitely a thinking person’s play with enough content that one would want to discuss at length after leaving the theatre. The cast of Shyam Fernando, Nadeeshani Peliarachchi, Gihan de Chickera and Nalin Lusena all put on absorbing performances that made the 90 minutes spent watching the play, time well spent,
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