Elizabeth Moir sets ‘Rumors’ in motion
The Elizabeth Moir School, is setting the stage for their latest production, ‘Rumors’, a farcical play written by Neil Simon, which will be showcased at the Lionel Wendt on March 29 (Wednesday).
The play is presented in two acts. The scene opens up with a dinner party and builds-up into a series of rumours, with the exit and entrances of the ten characters. The production promises comedy, farce and mystery, all of which will keep its audience hooked.
We spoke to Anushka Senanayake, the production director, earlier during the week. Anushka is still afresh after directing her previous production, ‘Next to normal’. This will be her first time working with the Elizabeth Moir School, she tells us.
Anushka explains she loves working with scripts that are fresh, this was why ‘Rumors’ was chosen. The scene is set in New York, and she had worked it, to give it a modern flavour. “That’s what’s different about it. Aside from that, I think we’ve been good at honouring what the playwright wants,” she says.
It’s been a while since Anushka has directed a younger Sri Lankan cast, she tells us. Her last production with students in the country “was with Ladies College, seven years ago. So it’s been a long while.” She however adds that it’s been exciting to work with the cast of Elizabeth Moir, and the level they have achieved thus far is commendable.
The play is quite a mature one from a performance stand point. In a sense it involves a lot of plot twists and confusion at times. It also requires a lot of skill from the actors. Anushka tells us that the cast, however had immediately adapted to the roles.
“I’ve worked closely with the actors to bring out the humour and devise the movement,” she says. She adds, they have steered away from making it too slapstick. Aside from this they’ve also tried to make the play accessible to the younger audiences, whilst still giving the production, its own style.
They feel that the production would relate more to kids interested in murder and mystery, because the play itself revolves around it. Furthermore, according to Anushka, aside from its humour, ‘Rumors’ also comes packed with a message for its audience. Through the characters, it explores the consequences of spreading false rumours, building its focus on how “seemingly innocent or trivial rumours can snowball into becoming a web of blatant lies and how this can damage another individual in their personal and professional life.”
The audience can also expect to witness a lot of different things happening at the same time. They can also expect to be taken by surprise through a lot of unexpected twists.
“It’s one of those feel good plays, there are moral messages in there but it’s not kind of overly stated, I think it’s a lot of fun,” Anushka explains.
Tickets for ‘Rumors’ are priced at Rs.2000, Rs.1500, Rs.1000 and Rs.600. They are currently available at the Elizabeth Moir School, Colombo.