Matchmaking Lankan style!
Different scenes from the play (above and below). Pix by Mangala Weerasekera
The aunties inspired Indu Dharmasena. “They were simply hilarious,” he says of dealing with the lovely ladies during the run up to a family wedding. “I had to write about it.” It’s a formula he’s tried and tested over the years, and it’s yet to fail for Indu Dharmasena who trades in your everyday humour; the interfering aunties, opportunistic relations and established, slightly ridiculous social norms the rest of us follow like the sheep we’ve been conditioned to become. This time around it was a cousin’s wedding and the mayhem that preceded it. Nothing to get a Sri Lankan family into full gear like a bit of matchmaking, after all!
Things got moving pretty fast once Indu knew what his next premise was going to be. The script was written by August 2, the cast was assembled, and initial readings began. Indu and his team are used to working at super speed once a script is finalized-“I find it’s the best way to get about rehearsals,” he explains. “I’ll take quality over quantity any day.” The delightfully impromptu nature of these readings has always amused his cast; “It’s always great fun,” says George Cooke, who returns to the stage after a spell abroad.
‘Must be looking for a bride, no?’ unfolds as the name suggests, with Revantha Kahawatte- a longstanding bachelor- returning to Sri Lanka after 20 years. Revantha is the dream catch, with a degree from an Ivy League college, a successful career as a lawyer in the States and (presumably) the wealth that comes with it. More importantly he is a Kahawatte, an elite family with super connections. His return is a much anticipated event by the assorted Hedadeniyas and Gonagodas of Colombo, who assemble with kevum, kokis and the works to welcome him back to their embrace.
Particularly looking forward to the meeting are sisters Milanka and Thilanka Hedadeniya; Milanka (Sanwada Dharmasena) is married, and desperately wants sister Thilanka (Keshiya Leitch) out of her hair. Thilanka is a hard girl to please, though; she’s lived with her sister for a long time, unable to settle for simply any man who looks her way. Having overheard a conversation between her sister and husband, she decides that the time is right for her to move on-and what better man to do it with than the wealthy, influential Revantha Kahawatte? Never mind she had never met the man in her entire life-“little details,” laughs Sanwada. “Milanka just wants her sister to get married and move out, so she can live in peace with her husband.”
Thilanka may have a fair bit of competition in her hands from the Gonagodas, also eyeballing the very eligible bachelor for their daughter Raya. Cyril Gonagoda is a man who knows what he wants from life, and that includes a rich, well connected husband for his daughter. “He’s used to controlling everything,” says Yasal Ruhunage, who takes on the senior Gonagoda. “If that means his daughter has to marry the man he wants her to, so be it.”
Raya is no fool herself, says Senali Ranathunga. “She wants to go to law school in the States and knows that marrying Revantha is the best way to get about this.” Joining Cyril to dangle the proverbial carrot in front of their daughter is Yamuna Gonagoda, played by Chithranga Kariyawasam. “Yamuna might appear to be a pawn in her husband’s plans,” we’re told. “But she’s a cunning one, as you’ll find out.”
Joining Indu’s cast for the first time is Neshika De Silva, playing Revantha’s cousin’s wife Ashanthi. “I’ve been watching Indu’s plays since I was 10,” she says of catching the early productions of the playwright’s Tommiya series. “It’s amazing to be able to work with him and this cast now.” Playing cousin Priyantha, the man highly amused by the antics of his relatives, is George Cooke. Their characters are the relatively sensible ones in the fray, laughs Neshika.
Indu, will take on Revantha’s role-simply because it makes life much easier for him to not have to explain to another actor the minutest of details required for the character to be perfect. Playing a 40-year-old bachelor is more fun when it’s a case of mistaken identities, he winks. For when the cat’s away the tongues will wag loose, and in an Indu Dharmasena play they’ll have you laughing throughout!
Catch ‘Must be looking for a bride, no?’ on August 29, 30 and 31 at the Lionel Wendt, Colombo from 7.30 p.m. onwards. The August 29 show is presented by St. Anthony’s Girls College Kandy-Old Girls Association Colombo branch and the 30th show is by the Kingswood Union Colombo branch.