Arts
Well met, young cast and weather gods
Remembering the Bard in the park- The Workshop Players Bring on A Midsummer Night’s Dream
For a person who has been dead for 400 years, Shakespeare has never been more alive. He is alive in our vocabulary – having moulded the English language, twisting verbs, nouns and adjectives to coin and tie over 1700 new words and well-known phrases. Words such as ‘monumental’, ‘critic’, ‘obscene’ and phrases such as ‘All’s well that ends well’, ‘Kill with kindness’, ‘Too much of a good thing’ and ‘Love is blind’ can be traced back to Shakespeare.He is alive when academics spar with each other, debating questions of authorship and untangling themes. He is alive in pop culture –Shakespearean themes, plots and archetype characters are periodically knitted into music, film, theatre and contemporary literature. He is also very much alive when agitated students seek refuge in coffee, expletives and condensed SparkNotes summaries of his plays, the night before exams.
In honour of the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death, the Workshop Players in partnership with the British Council Sri Lanka presented ‘Shakespeare in the Park’, bringing Shakespeare to life in Colombo. The theatre group are taking on three Shakespeare plays in the syllabi of local O/Level, A/Level and university curriculums. The plays chosen for the festival are A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice and Othello.
As dusk descended on the second evening of A Midsummer Night’s Dream staged late April, an enthusiastic crowd armed with mats, refreshments, fans and umbrellas arrived at the open air theatre at the Viharamahadevi Park in Colombo. Making the festival free immediately increased its accessibility and it was heartening to see large clusters of students in the audience(often entire classes in tow with their teachers), otherwise noticeably absent when there’s a hefty price tag attached to cultural events. The only dampener for the evening were the rumours of lightning and stray raindrops which ominously marked the beginning of the play and the false bursts of rain which punctuated it, sending people scuttling to seek refuge in tents or prop up their umbrellas. It seemed oddly appropriate that the heavier bursts of rain were reserved until the end of Act 2, after the four lovers clash in the forest – apparently even the rain gods have a sense of theatrical timing.
Shakespeare’s light-hearted comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream flits between love, the ethereal and the absurd. Drawing from a vat of references ranging from Greek mythology to varied texts, the play dances between reality and illusion, through the pairs of ill-fated lovers, never pausing long enough to dwell on substantial themes or character. In the Workshop Players interpretation of the play, it was refreshing to see fresh faces in lead roles and younger names taking on the mantle of director.Lahari Jayetileke’s Hermia and Amaz Irshad’s Lysander were skilful portrayals of a young, lovelorn couple with their backs against the world and how “the course of true love never did run smooth”. Dinendri Indatissa brought the insecurities of a plaintive, querulous Helena to life, whose character’s lamentations about love being a “winged Cupid painted blind” has a universality which still stands true today. The cadences in the chemistry – from playful banter, irritation, elation – between Oberon, played by Rehan Amaratunga, and Puck, played by Jerome Moritt was also noteworthy.
Perhaps areas of improvement were occasional instances of muffled diction and a penchant for over-enthusiastic performances when more measured, controlled acting would have been more powerful. While the first two acts were brisk, there was a tendency for the remainder of the play to occasionally lag in pace and energy.
Despite the erratic weather, it was immensely enjoyable seeing the Workshop Players’ work out of the confines of a theatre and with minimal sets – a nice departure from the theatre group’s fondness for elaborate sets in their standard repertoire of musicals. The production made good use of the open space– the anarchic carnival atmosphere, humour and chaos of the play is one that lends itself to open spaces – and was a solid effort by a young cast and crew.
| ‘Shakespeare in the Park’, presented by the Workshop Players in partnership with the British Council Sri Lanka was a part of the British Council’s global ‘Shakespeare Lives Programme’ which commemorates the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death. ‘The Merchant of Venice’ directed by Javin Thomas is being staged today, May 8 at 7 p.m. and the last of the festival’s plays ‘Othello’, directed by Jerome de Silva and Nadishka Aloysius will be staged on May 14 and 15 at 7 p.m. at the Viharamahadevi Open Air Theatre. |
