Entranced by the dramatic
They met as contemporaries at St Joseph’s College over a common ground of Shakespearean verse. One, a teenage boy entranced with the dramatic his whole life, rather in awe of the other who already had a few years of theatre under his belt. It was 2000-and Kevin Cruze was auditioning for his first stage role as part of the ensemble cast in St. Joseph College’s production of Julius Ceaser, and Anuk De Silva was playing one of the leads.
Fourteen years later the duo are seated across each other on a warm Saturday evening, reminiscing of times past and their collective love for theatre. Today both Kevin and Anuk are professionals in the corporate world but theatre lives on as their first love, which they indulge with their very own group Cold Theatre 7. Fresh off a successful production of an Agatha Christie classic ‘And Then There Were None’, the group of individuals whom Kevin likes to call ‘the cream of the last decade’ are regrouping for their next major production to be staged during the latter part of the year.
“I didn’t know it but theatre was in my bones since I was a child,” says Kevin, who formed and directs the group at present. Kevin was 13 when he saw Jehan Aloysius’ production of Richard III at the ’98 Shakespeare competition. “I had goose bumps,” he remembers. In 2000, when Aloysius called for auditions for that year’s competition the aspiring young actor didn’t have to think twice. That was where he met Anuk, who was completing his last school production as Marc Antony in Ceaser.
Anuk is the more reluctant thespian of the two, having had to be coerced initially into taking part in a school production back in ’97. “I’m a late entry,” he laughs as he recounts going for his first r production at the Wendt with his cousin, aged 14 and rather nervous at the thought of being spotted by his peers. Anuk was perhaps lucky-he caught the 1996 Workshop Players production of Les Miserablés and was hooked. “But I still thought theatre was for an elite group of people,” he remembers-so when he was persuaded by his seniors to join the ’97 cast of Hamlet and he was pleasantly surprised. In 2000, Anuk’s final year, St. Joseph’s College emerged at the finals under Aloysius’ direction, following that up with wins in 2001 and 2003.
For Kevin, who had begun his school stage career that very year, drama was a way of life. He was soon taking part in school productions, eventually stepping into Aloysius’ shoes as director in 2004. The school reached the finals that year and the year after, when Kevin directed again, they made it all the way to the champion’s trophy. After leaving school and finding a career in banking, he decided to go to England for a while to study theatre by attending as many plays as he could. In particular, he found himself attending Shakespeare productions to understand why English actors seemed to possess a natural flair for bringing out the bard’s best. The answer was simple, and not the most obvious one. “They weren’t trying too hard to be someone else,” he shares. “To be a good actor you can’t imitate-you have to possess the imagination and creativity to put yourself in that position.”
Anuk, for his part, was making steady progress – he was part of a University of Colombo production along with Ruwanthie De Chickera and spent four years with his mentor Jehan Aloyisus’ group CentreStage Productions, notably playing Peter Quince in Pyramus and Thisby (2008). During those four years he learnt quite a bit about stage management in addition to acting; skills that came in handy in stage management for last year’s Workshop Players production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’.
It was frustration at seeing some of Colombo’s best actors not taking to the stage that prompted Kevin to form Cold Theatre 7. “I had these friends from school, work and people I’ve worked with before who were fantastic actors and I hadn’t seen them on stage in a while,” he explains. To remedy the situation, he adapted his own localized script from Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, aptly titled ‘Lankawe Twins Kalabala’. The play, initially conceptualised with immense support from his workplace and team leaders found a very receptive Sri Lankan audience. It was also an experiment of sorts, setting the foundation for the formation of Cold Theatre 7.
This year the ensemble of actors cross-cutting a variety of genres and theatrical backgrounds staged ‘And Then There Were None’, which ran for three days at the British School Auditorium. From this experience they’ve learnt quite a bit, little titbits here and there from everywhere that will be taken into account next time around. Personally, Kevin would like to contribute a little more to the individual development of his actors as well. It’s a situation they hope to remedy with this year’s production of which we know nothing more except that it will be of the same genre as the former. Watch this space for more!