A dalliance with political jabs and humour
A scene from the play. Pix by Anuradha Bandara
When State Minster Ranjith impatiently waits for a wood apple juice at the Ward Place Hotel he little realizes that his problematic beverage order is just merely the warm up for an afternoon of mayhem.
At the hotel with his wife Dimi on a relaxing getaway Ranjith’s well-constructed plan for an afternoon of fun with his mistress while his wife is away at a party ends in confusion, chaos and cringe worthy, rib tickling encounters in Jith Pieris’ recent production that unfolds in the title itself- ‘An Affair at Ward Place Hotel.’
The veteran director’s latest production which concluded recently at the Lionel Wendt was a tongue in cheek satire on current Sri Lankan politics played in a very different, unpolitical backdrop and incidentally the playwright’s own address- Ward Place. “There are two ways a political comedy can be put across,” Jith explains. The more conventional approach he says, involves a political surrounding or environment such as the Parliament, etc. a plot background to which Colombo audiences have frequently been invited to in another political comedies.
Jith’s take on Sri Lankan political comedy however steps away from a political scenario to a more familiar, everyday setting. While the one hour long comedy spewed a consistent stream of political jabs, the casual setting and everyday banter which provided the base for the play lent the hilarious scenarios a sense of reality and flow to the characters’ dialogue
Keeping with his classic style of old fashioned elegance and a raucous punch, the play’s male characters led by Eraj Gunewardena anchored the comedy. Eraj’s comic timing and expressions did justice to the required over the top slapstick humour which he did with an intelligent mix of subtlety, melodrama and timing.
Special mention must be made of the Hotel’s Indian staff who dealt with the often difficult task of performing with an accent with natural ease and clarity while feeding off each other and thus maintaining the energy of the play.
Within an hour, Jith and the Creative Arts Foundation managed to consistently keep audiences glued to the consistent physical comedy and witty dialogue.
With it’s Ray Cooney style of humour and gasp and giggle worthy entrances, exits and general confusion, “An Affair at Ward Place Hotel” was an invitation for an evening of undiluted entertainment which Jith hopes to bring back soon with a revival.
Audiences can look forward to a Part II and III in what he hopes will be a three part series of entertainment and contemporary Sri Lankan politics.
Jith Pieris
