Sunday Times 2
British Council Library transforms itself into a WW2 airbase for “One Dangerous Moment”
View(s):The British Council Library in Colombo was transformed last Monday. Bookshelves became fighter plane cockpits and sleazy downtown hotel bars and the librarian’s desks became the intelligence centre of a remote observational airbase in the 1940′s Ceylon, receiving radio messages of combat and conflict as ‘Only Soldiers’ a short play was presented to a select audience
The play, written and performed by ArunWelandawe-Prematilleke, Ruvin De Silva, Rajinda Jayasinghe and Brandon Ingram from Mind Adventures, recounted a pivotal moment in World War 2 where an Allied forces airbase in Sri Lanka, came under attack. Had this attack been successful, the outcome of the war could have been a very different story.
The production was based on Michael Tomlinson’s novel ‘The Most Dangerous Moment’, which was inspired by an actual interview with Winston Churchill in which the British Prime Minister very emotionally recalled the most dangerous moment of the conflict.
“The most dangerous moment of the war and the one which caused me the most alarm was when the Japanese Fleet was heading for Ceylon. The capture of Ceylon and the consequent control of the Indian Ocean would have closed the ring, and the future would have been black”.
Asked about their choice for the production, writer and director, ArunWelandawe-Prematilleke said, “‘The Most Dangerous Moment’ by Michael Tomlinson seemed a perfect choice for the event, because it dealt with a shared moment in both countries’ histories. This shared moment, is mostly forgotten despite being a completely fascinating and integral narrative.I felt that the project needed a certain simplicity in order to truly use the library space for all that it could be, to create another world within those four walls, to transport the audience using a minimum of effects.”
The British Council has been working with Mind Adventures for the past year, linking them with British theatre practitioners to encourage creative collaboration between Sri Lankan production companies and those in the U.K.
Audience member, David Allen, teacher at the British School of Colombo felt the effect was certainly achieved. “The performance was challenging and uncomfortable, and all the better for that! We are supposed to be challenged by a play where one of the main characters is killed in a war -shot down, even though he was so proud to be chosen. It was this unconscious going forward to destruction that made it so moving.”
The production was performed as part of the British Council’s Library Revolution, a project being conducted worldwide by the British Council to look at how to transform their libraries from mere book borrowing institutions into creative, collaborative spaces which can provide richer cultural exchanges for users.
Architectural Engineer, Sir Ian Jennings reflected on the interesting use of this public space, saying that the library “abounded in space”, which he said, was a mark of its quality. “By making full use of the space, facilities and ‘props’ available, the actors easily flew us back in time to the Air Force Mess and into the fighter spitfire that so fearlessly defended Sri Lanka against the Japanese aerial invasion.”