Jith brings Christmas in Tinseltown, Texas to Colombo
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Secret rendezvous: The elf and Mrs. Claus. Pix by Mangala Weerasekera
Jith Peris’s fundraising Christmas show “Dashing through the snow” goes on the boards at the Bishop’s College auditorium on November 29 and 30 at 7.30 p.m. and promises an entertaining evening of music and theatre. It’s for a great cause too – the annual fundraising Christmas project of the Creative Arts Foundation of which Jith is the chairperson where more than 430 children are helped with gifts of uniform material (12 yards), a pair of school shoes and a school bag as well as the entire school booklist for the new year.
Amayaa Wijesinghe
Award-winning male choral group, The Revelations will open the show with several well known Christmas numbers. Then comes the drama, a three-act comedy set in Tinseltown, Texas, at Snowflake Manor, an inn “where anything could happen but nothing ever does.”
We meet Mrs. Claus who has come for a secret little romantic rendezvous with an elf! There are other guests at the Manor, who are just as intriguing like Lenora Benedict- a flamboyant actress, sadly past her prime with her partner Ainsley Danforth, two sisters still carrying on a 30-year-old argument and a brother and sister named George Bush and Mary Joe Austin who are trying to befriend the two sisters. There’s also Richard Nixon of the Bread and Breakfast Association who is there to review the Manor, Louida, a disgruntled housemaid and the innkeeper Trina Walcott who tries keep track of all the chaos happening at the Manor.
“This is my second drama with Jith and as always, it’s a great experience. The play is very easy and cosy,” said Nandun Dissanayake, who plays the elf. Nandun appeared in ‘No sex please, we’re British’ and within the past two years has made a name for himself as a comic actor. “Comedy comes easy to me and maybe that’s why I’m chosen for a lot of humorous characters but I do like to try my hand at serious characters and maybe play a villain one day,” he says.
Dharini Gnanapragasam
“Christmas shows are always fun and Jith is such a great director. He’s like a dynamo checking everything, always teaching us and he gives you the feel of your character,” says Amayaa Wijesinghe. Her Mrs. Claus isn’t the chubby grandmotherly character we have in our minds. “She’s young and sexy and she’s bored with Santa who is so busy in his workshop. Her need for attention makes her escape with the elf,” she chuckles. Amayaa also plays Paulette Coogan the stage manager of the actress, Lenora.
Nandun Dissanayake
The real stage manager of the show as well as the coordinator is Roshane Jayampathy, the youngest crew member, just after his Advanced Levels at St. Joseph’s College, Colombo. He plays Richard Nixon, the reviewer from the Bread and Breakfast Association. “Mr. Nixon is greedy and makes maximum use of his position as a member of the Association. He’s always bothering the staff for food but interestingly he never comes on stage only his voice can be heard.”
“Working with Jith is a dream come true for me. I’ve always been involved with drama and was the Drama president in school last year,” says Roshane, who was cast leader for the Shakespeare Competition last year from his school. The talented young actor has won the all island best actor award in his age group when he was only six and went on to win several other All Island awards. “I I feel so fortunate working with Uncle Jith and I have already learnt so much from him,” Roshane said.
Roshane Jayampathy
It’s also the first time for Dharini Gnanapragasam who joined the cast quite recently as the drunken housemaid Louida, another off stage character only speaking through the intercom. “Although I don’t have a big part in the play I still come in every day for practice because it’s fun and we are like one big family. We need more Christmas shows in Sri Lanka because drama is one of the best ways we can get the Christmas feelings across and there’s nothing better than a comedy to do this,” says Dharini.
The prima donna actress Lenora is played by Nicola de Zoysa, her partner by Danu Innasithamby, Trina the innkeeper by Viranthi Cooray, the two sisters by Sharini Mathangaweera and Christina Vancuylenburg and George Bush and his sister Mary Joe by Anuk Munasinghe and Saveeta de Alwis.
Tickets for the show are available at the Bishop’s College Auditorium.